If requiring cars to contain 90 percent 'local content' to qualify as 'national' cars has made Proton makes more expensive and uncompetitive compared to imported cars, perhaps it's time to reduce the requirement to 40 percent, said a leading member of Parliament today.

Parliamentary Backbenchers' Club chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad said there was no need to require such a high local content if the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) requires only 40 percent.

"If Afta requires only 40 percent local content, there is no need for us to go up to 90 percent, unless it makes Proton cheaper and more competitive," he said in a Bernama report.

"We have to make a rational decision. If our cars are expensive due to high local content, we need to reduce the price by reducing the local content," he added.

"We should not be in a situation in which Malaysia does not gain from Afta," he stressed.

Better and more efficient

Shahrir was commenting on remarks by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad who, in a television interview yesterday, questioned the national car status of Naza's Ria model on account of its low local content.

Mahathir claimed that the approval for the car's status was made by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry without his knowledge.

Shahrir also urged local automotive vendors to produce better parts and more efficiently in order to compete in the market.

"They have already been operating for more than 20 years. If the quality of their products is still not up to standard and cannot be exported, they should close down," he said.

"If they are still not efficient, they should not be in this industry," he added.