Is Proton Worth Having ?

With the rising costs of fuel , electricity , food and water , ..the cost of living has also increased rapidly . Yet , many of us still dream of having that car that we have always wanted..like a Mercedes , BMW , Audi , Honda , Toyota and so on . Did you know that before Proton was formed , we had Mercedes cars as taxi's ?..cool right.. However , our National Automotive Policy (NAP) and automotive industry has been designed in such a way by our government that we are basically left with one option of a car...Proton .

Proton was formed in 1983 . It was the vision of Tun Mahathir as he wanted Malaysia to have its own national car , show that Malaysia can compete with international vehicle brands..bla bla bla ...but the thing is , after 25 years in the business , Proton still can't produce high quality cars yet alone design most of the models themselves . All Proton cars especially from the 80's and 90's are just rebadged Mitsubishi cars . For example , the Saga is a copy of the 1985 Mitsubishi Foire , the Wira has the headlights of a 1992 Mitsubishi Colt , and tail lights from the 1987 Mitsubishi Galant hatchback . Today Proton just copies the design of Mitsubishi cars..but build it on their own..with the help of Lotus..which sucks too .

After 25 years , Proton still can't fit in materials for the dashboard that won't fall off after a few months , still can't make sure that the power windows won't get jammed , still can't fit power steering as a standard feature in all their models , still can't fully design its own cars , and still needs the protection of the government to survive . In order for Proton to survive , import tax , sales tax and all the other types of taxes were increased drastically . Some new type of taxes were also added . The import tax of foreign-made vehicles were 140% to 300%(depending on the engine capacity) !! . So the government has wiped out the competition and paved the way for Proton to succeed .

Later on , about 3 years ago , the NAP was revised..the government started giving less protection to Proton..Since then , Proton has only been making losses and sales dropped terribly . Many people started to buy foreign-made cars of better quality..Even our ministers rarely travel in Protons..only in official government meetings they use their Protons . On other occassions they will come in Mercedes , BMW , Jaguar and so on . I've seen it myself ..Tun Mahathir came to my school in a BMW 7 Series..Dato Seri Hishammuddin bin Tun Hussein also came to my school in a Jaguar I think ...and all the other unknown ministers who follow them like a posse will also come in those kind of vehicles..why aren't they proud to come in a Proton ?

The bottom line is , as prices of fuel increases , prices of vehicles should be decreased ...and this can only be fully implemented when Proton is shut down . More hybrid cars can also be sold in the country at a cheaper price compared to the ridiculous prices now . I realise that many people will lose their jobs , but in the long run , i feel this would be the best decision for the entire nation as millions of people can benefit from this . The public's financial burden can be decreased and people can finally get a better chance to own their dream car...Besides , what's wrong if Proton shuts down when we already have the way more successful Perodua as a national automobile manufacturer?..