Proton looking to secure govt funding

SHAH ALAM: Proton Holdings Bhd, which plans to introduce a new model by end of this year, will apply for a government incentive as part of its initiative to boost its research and development (R&D) effort in a move to produce quality vehicles, said its CEO Datuk Abdul Harith Abdullah.
Abdul Harith said R&D requires a lot of funding and stated that the national car maker spends between RM200 million and RM300 million on R&D for one model.
"We have spent a lot on R&D. The government made it clear that they are supporting all R&D programmes for every industry," he told reporters after the launch of Proton's Perdana Global Peace Foundation by its chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad here yesterday.
"If there is an incentive programme offered by the government, we will apply for the incentive. We have been building cars over the last 30 years. We have never received any annual incentives," he said.
"It has been part and parcel of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) like us to introduce a new model. The plan is every year we come up with a new model," he said.
He said this was to ensure that the brand remained relevant in the market.
"We are introducing one this year. Hopefully, we continue to introduce at least one every year to make sure we have continued survival and continued followers," he said, but declined to elaborate further.
Abdul Harith said Proton has always been working on the Energy Efficient Vehicle (EEV) initiative but is still studying other options and its relevance and practicality in the market.
Public Investment Bank in a research note yesterday opined that the key near-term catalyst for DRB-Hicom will be the launching of Proton's B-segment global small car at the end of the third or early fourth quarter this year.
"While we note DRB's dismal year-to-date performance reflected Proton's drag on DRB it has unjustifiably overshadowed the value of other businesses and assets within the sprawling DRB group," it said.