DRB-Hicom chief executive officer Syed Faisal Syed Ali Reza Albar today said the government must seek to maintain Proton’s market reputation as Malaysia’s national car.

Syed Faisal told reporters that he had raised the matter during a Council of Eminent Persons briefing session this morning, together with the Malaysian Association of Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders (Pekema) as well as China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd (Geely) as Proton’s strategic partner.

“We explained to them that (they) have to ensure confidence of the automotive market, in terms of Proton as (our) national car, and Perodua as well.

“In that sense, we have related the information that the (market)’s confidence has to be maintained,” he said when met after the meeting at Ilham Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

Syed Faisal said they also raised the matter based on the positive response given by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who last month performed a test drive on the Boyue Geely SUV model which has yet to be launched.

“We loaned Dr Mahathir the car (SUV Geely) and we could see that he liked it.

“So this indirectly showed his personal confidence towards Geely’s technology (used) in Proton cars,” he said.

Malaysiakini previously reported that Mahathir had met with Syed Faisal, tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, and a top official from China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd on June 25 to discuss Proton’s future direction.

Proton is expected to sell locally assembled versions of Geely's Boyue by the end of this year.

Syed Mokhtar controls DRB-Hicom, which owns 50.1 percent of Proton, while Geely holds a 49.9 percent stake.

‘Discussions ongoing with Indonesia’

Asked on Mahathir’s plans to pursue a collaboration with Indonesia to come up with an Asean car, Faisal said that discussions are ongoing on the matter.

“We will continue our discussions on the matter,” he said briefly.

Mahathir first spoke of the possibility of reviving the proposed project of a Malaysia-Indonesia car for the Asean market during his inaugural official meeting with Indonesia’s President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in Jakarta last month.

Mahathir also revealed the idea was first brought up in February 2015 when he test-drove a Proton car with Jokowi, who was on an official visit to Kuala Lumpur, sitting in the passenger’s seat.

Mahathir, who founded Proton in 1983, was at the time Proton adviser - a position he held until 2016 - when he resigned after a falling-out with then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Following Mahathir’s latest meeting with Jokowi, Proton and Indonesia’s PT Adiperkasa Citra Lestari had signed a memorandum of understanding stating their commitment towards researching the feasibility of an Asean car.