Pro-Net’s chief branding officer Salawati Mohd Yusoff and product marketing assistant manager David Tiah have been interviewed by the Jangan Kecam podcast in a Proton eMas-sponsored episode.
The Proton eMas distributor has seen fit to respond to allegations that its vehicles are simply rebadge jobs and not true national cars, and that Proton has been ‘gamed’ by Geely, referring to the Chinese carmaker entering regional right-hand drive (RHD) markets with its own brand rather than Proton as outlined in the past.
“There are a lot of work and processes which need to be done to make sure the cars that are brought into this market are suitable for the rakyat and our roads. We have to make sure everything is durable, all the technology when it’s brought here, it won’t inadvertently fail, and so on,” Tiah said.
“eMas vehicles were developed as left-hand drive (LHD), but with Proton’s collaboration, RHD was developed and then brought to market. There are multiple benefits. When we develop the car for RHD, it’s not easy, it’s not a straight-up rebadge, it takes a lot of effort.
“We actually send Malaysian talents and engineers to China. They are not just people who do project management, they do electrical, electronic, powertrain. They collaborate with our friends in Geely to develop RHD and give input on suitability for Malaysia,” Salawati said.
“Every time people mention ‘rebadge’, I don’t think we’re doing justice to our young Malaysian talents. Some of them have been there two years, maybe more,” she added.
It’s worth mentioning that the eMas 7/Geely Galaxy E5 was developed as a global model from the get-go, so it was designed to also be RHD from the start as opposed to being converted later. However, Proton indeed led the RHD conversion work for earlier Geely-based models.
As for local tuning, both the eMas 5 and 7 PHEV use global suspension setups that are not developed by Proton’s ride and handling team.
On allegations that Proton has been ‘gamed’ by Geely with regard to RHD export markets, Salawati explained: “Going into Thailand and Indonesia needs economies of scale so that we can be competitive.”
“The rule of thumb in selling any item is we have to have a brand premium, for you to command certain prices, and therefore a certain volume, and therefore a certain share, to make the business viable.
“I think Geely (went) first (entering certain markets) because Geely has slightly higher capabilities in this area (economies of scale) than Proton,” Salawati said, adding that the Geely-Proton relationship has become very close after nine years.
“If Geely were to go first (entering certain markets) and afterwards we will follow, that is still possible. So to say we got ‘gamed’ and that there are no benefits for Proton, I don’t think that’s a real thing,” she said.
Proton entering ASEAN markets where Geely has ‘paved the way’ sounds like a tall order, as the whole brand introduction process would have to be restarted, and market acceptance would have to start from scratch.
Geely has already established CKD EV plants in Thailand and Indonesia, and it’s unlikely that the Chinese carmaker would do so with a view to let Proton take over in the near term.
If anything, the opposite happened recently when Geely entered the South African market, which Proton already existed in. And as it played out, it appears that Proton will soon exit the SA market as Geely takes over.
To be fair, Geely has ramped up the use of Proton’s Tanjong Malim plant to produce vehicles that are to be exported to Geely markets like Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. So the promise of Proton being the regional production hub is being fulfilled somewhat, even if the cars wear Geely badges.
In fact, it goes beyond ASEAN too – Tanjong Malim-made Geelys are shipped as far as South Africa. And while they may not be marketed as Protons, they should count into the Malaysian company’s export tally.
On the eMas side, the vehicles are already being exported to several markets, though initially with CBU China units shipped via Malaysia. These should transition to locally-assembled units as CKD operations ramp up, crucially now using localised dedicated hybrid engines (DHE), transmissions (DHT) and electric drive units (EDU).
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gomen will again force people to buy these local trash. The way is as usual, impose high tariff on non-national brands. Gee, thanks Proton.
Rebadge still needs to give so much explanation. Just say rebadge lah.
Everyone knows
China owns Proton
not China, its just Geely. China’s not interested in this tiny ant.
A rebadge means,discard the Geely logo,paste the tiger logo.
Do u need Albert Einstein to enlighten u?
And P1 pandai pandai mark up the prices ,apart from the punishing car taxes.
Asking Pronet, which P2 models are true national cars? The answer is none. Yet people still buy their trash cars. So?
Thank you. Someone finally said it!
The eMas 5 equivalent, the Geely Xingyuan, was the best selling No.1 BEV in China in 2025, up against the whole gamut of Chinese offerings
You can’t grow shit with Proton. Ironic as that statement is, since shit is very good fertilizer. Almost a decade with Geely and still struggling to be #1 AT HOME. No wonder Geely took back the foreign RHD markets.
At this point Geely is a bigger name than Proton globally, why would they need a Proton badge to sell cars overseas anymore? The fact that Geely doesn’t even allow Proton to localize their designs for the local market anymore is telling.
Geely said “Screw it, the Msians like and buy our cars anyway. Why waste money?” Pretty soon, they won’t even need the ‘grill’ engineers/designers anymore. When Geely gets anything close to their initial investment, they’ll drop Proton entirely. They only wanted Lotus, DRB had to strong-arm them into taking Proton as well. It is known.
Wow, what a very good comment in a comment section where nobody really cares.
the answer is obviously yes, anyone with a functioning brain and pair of eyes can see that, but Protong gay fanboys will be triggered by the truth. Stupid pathetic embarrassing Protong fanbase with no dignity
As much national as Perodua.
What we have are Geely and Daihatsu with no excise duty.
I don’t buy it. Period.
Dengar Boleh, Percaya Jangan.
Yeah, Performax International doesn’t claim that the Corvette, Charger and many American cars as their own developed models when they convert the cars into RHD for Australia market. I don’t think Proton actually have any input on those cars except for the badge. Geely already develop these cars in RHD and LHD guises, it’s not Proton’s input.
Sounds like standard homologation stuff that is required for all imported cars. Proton doing slightly extra doesn’t make it “homegrown” and as such should not enjoy tongkat from the public. Proton has been rebadging for decades and enjoying R&D grants in the hundreds of millions.
Yeap, Geely for sure gamed Proton. They let Proton do the hard work of converting to RHD then took the design and export/CKD in other RHD markets. Yes, they did use Proton plant to produce parts/vehicle for export, but only if it’s cheaper for Geely to do so.
Spin it however you want, Proton didn’t gain any know how or capability to develop a car from scratch that can compete at Geely level. If today Geely decides to end the partnership and sell back all shares to Malaysia, what car can Proton sell or produce after taking out all the Geely model? Same old Saga, Persona and Iriz?
At least perodua has some courage to come up with their own designed EV. Look at proton now….
just look at the korean duo of hyundai and kia, they also rebadged the japanese cars in their infant stage, but look at how far they are ahead of us now. proton has got no shame because its just a glc company sucking blood from taxpayers on an annual basis, yes hyundai is also a glc, but they are a company with pride and innovation. and yet us rakyat have no other choice but to buy what they sell, its not that their product is bad, but maybe they can do more than just rebadging something after 40 odd years.
Just to clear up a common misconception: Hyundai is not a GLC.
During the 1960s–70s, the Korean government provided policy loans and tax incentives to private companies like Hyundai to drive export growth. Receiving strategic national backing during industrialization is not the same as being a state-owned enterprise.
Hyundai is a family-controlled, private conglomerate owned by private shareholders, not a government-linked company.
Joke of the year. Long explanation for things that we already knew. If proton bukan kena game, then why RHD market such as UK and Australia still being sold under geely? And not proton? Kawkaw kena game i tell you
As long it’s more powerful, spacious and sophisticated,
Don’t sell traditional old car not matching to China new Standard.
public got gamed. drb reaps profits.
Convert to RHD is not the rocket science. No need to explain long for silly thing. Just admit Proton is a failed junk that no else can be sold except in bolehland.proton kena scam and they scam the rakyat
Better debadge than having a sales record like QVE. Like Mies van der Rohe said, it is better to be good than to be original.
chief branding officer, on a sponsored show by an influenza. what an insult to the rakyat if she thinks this propaganda will work.
Imagine you work at proton r&d in China and all you ever need to do is to swap logo.
I call BS. Just a rebadge.
An inexperienced Chief Branding Officer, and very new to the automotive industry.
Before lecturing the public about Proton’s technological credentials, perhaps the focus should be on answering some very basic questions.
So what exactly is the Malaysian customer paying the premium for?
If the argument is that the Proton badge represents substantially more than a rebadge, then Proton should clearly identify what Malaysian engineering, R&D, powertrain development, software, battery technology, vehicle calibration and intellectual property went into the product—and quantify that contribution.
“Made in Malaysia” is not, by itself, proof of Malaysian technological ownership. Assembly and localisation are important, but they are not the same thing as originating the underlying technology.
And if Proton wants to claim genuine engineering capability, it should be able to explain precisely where Proton’s contribution begins and Geely’s ends.
If your professional background is branding and marketing, then stay within your remit. The public is entitled to challenge automotive claims on engineering, technology, localisation and value without being dismissed by someone whose expertise is principally communications.
Don’t sell Malaysians a narrative. Show them the engineering. Show them the IP. Show them the localisation numbers. Show them the technology developed in Malaysia. Then let customers decide whether the premium is justified.
Needed tongkat 43 years ago
Still needs tongkat 43 years later
Despite being a COO, she’s talking rubbish and make no sense.
It makes good sense if proton local supply chain can be absorbed into geely mainstream products. It is not necessarily have to be proton badged to be a national automotive product. Having built supply chain into mainstream and achieve high volume,then it will benefit proton and Malaysian consumers as volume allows for scale of economic that enables lower priced parts
As far as I’m concerned, if the car is great, who cares about whether it’s rebadged or not rebadged?
If Proton develops a car from ground up but the car sucks, what’s the point? People won’t buy it and the company will still get bombarded by the people. Look at the JUARA, TIARA, SAVVY…
Analogy: If Proton manage to rebadge a BMW , and sell it at affordable price, will you complain it is not our national car??
Jgn businglah! Ada rebadged kereta bagus and murah tak baik me? Proton mana keupayaan buat sendiri? Juratera Proton tak berguna Lansing! Sudah 40 tahun, apa pun tak tahu!
Except the Saga all proton cars are rebadged. No need for sugarcoating everybody knows.
Hahaha, kawkaw nak kasi cuci, tapi mereka tidak tahu yang rakyat lebih tahu tentang Proton
If it at least had the proton ride and handling trademark all this fluff piece is more believable..otherwise rebadge is a rebadge..if u want me to clap for u sure i can do it..
frankly, why do we keep bailing out P1 and P2 even though they are statistically “failed” businesses? maruah, but at what costs???