PARLIAMENT | The government is considering a move to tighten rules for the import of foreign cars into Malaysia, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

"We need to review the possibility of imposing certain conditions against the (import of) foreign cars so they would not have easy access into the country," he said during the question-and-answer session at Dewan Rakyat today.

"This will give a chance to Proton and other national cars to dominate the local market. This is something we are mulling," Mahathir said.

"We are in a free-trade era where the countries are not supposed to impose any restrictions on others by imposing higher taxes.

"However, some of the developed countries are imposing certain conditions, such as the Euro 5, which defines the limits of carbon monoxide emissions. Other countries impose agriculture taxes against (us)," he cited.

"But, we remain very open, we allow all cars, including those made from ‘Milo tins’ to enter Malaysia," he said.

‘Milo tins’ refers to a joke among Malaysians that once described the soft body panels of Proton and Perodua models that originate from Japan.

Mahathir said the government, in its effort to review the national automotive policy, will also look into setting up a new national car, development of local companies, and enhance research and development to boost the export of national cars.



At this point, Fong Kui Lun (Harapan-Bukit Bintang) asked if the government would be co-operating with any automotive giant in developing the next national car.

Mahathir said that the government may agree to work with an automotive giant but the government should be in control and also participate in the management of the company.

"This is because we have reached the level where we can manufacture a car from A to Z, from the design to the marketing," he added.

He blamed the policy, which appeared to prioritise imported cars over national cars, for Proton's lacklustre performance.

Proton, which began operations as Malaysia’s first national car in 1984, was Mahathir’s brainchild. He had also enacted protectionist policies that drove up the prices of imported cars.

However, 49.9 percent of the company’s stake was sold to the Chinese auto-manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group last year, while DRB-Hicom, which is owned by the tycoon Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, holds the remaining 50.1 percent.

Since then, Mahathir has mooted the idea of setting up a new national car on several occasions. During his visit to Japan last month, he said he hoped that Asean countries and other partners could chip in towards the project.

However, the plan was met with scepticism by various observers.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said on June 15 that he had informed Mahathir that the government could not spare the funds necessary to launch a new national car. Instead, it would have to be financed by the private sector.