Cross over models seem to be the popular among car makers these days with Mercedes, BMW and several others introducing their new cross over models. The trend started with BMW with the first generation X6. The car was an odd ball design that didn't quite seem practical in my opinion. Unlike a traditional SUV where the real trunk has a boxy design which is convenient to load luggage or cargo but the design of the SUV is not very sporty looking. Enter the X6 which had a swooping rear roof line and made the car look more sporty and coupe like but at the expense of rear trunk space.
The rear trunk space of the X6 was easily 30% smaller than the X5 and couple that with the swooping roof line it meant that loading tall items a real challenge. Mercedes then thought that they wanted to join the party and introduced their GLC couple and GLE coupe models. Both are similar in look but only difference is the size of the car. Both had swooping roof lines which meant that the rear trunk space would be compromised to some degree.
The question now comes: are the cross overs really practical? I find that the Mercedes GLC and GLE coupes are very odd looking and same goes for the X6. These cars are neither sporty to look like a sports car and it is not practical enough to be as good as a SUV. It is kind of caught in the middle. It is not the best of both worlds, in fact it is a failure to be either one. Some people like it and prefer these cross overs to SUVs because the SUVs are boxy looking and the cross overs have a sleeker shape. The cross overs do offer higher ground clearance compared to normal cars but most of them don't have really good off road ability nor will they be taken off road.
It is unlikely that these car makers will stop making cross overs as one of the best selling models are the SUVs or cars with higher ground clearance. This trend is so strong that Ford have stopped making traditional sedans and focused only on SUVs, trucks and the Mustang. I wonder if any other car maker will follow Ford's footsteps but at the moment it seems unlikely. Toyota, VW, Honda, Nissan and Renault have enough sales volume from normal sedans to justify the continuation of selling sedan models.
Thursday, 31 January 2019
the ever increasing size of BMW's front grille
With each new model of BMW 7 series the front grille gets a little bigger. It is quite ridiculous that this keeps increasing in size. I wonder how much larger will it get in the next 20 years! If one looks back over the last 4 models it is very clear to see the gradual size increase. The car is no doubt evolving forward with the design and features but it is undeniably strange to see the grille grow over each generation.
Some people made memes of the car's front grille that it will grow to ridiculous proportions! I am wondering if BMW realise this or whether this is intentional.
On another note, the BMW interior is looking aged in comparison to Mercedes, Audi and Porsche. The recent updated interior of Mercedes have made it look a lot younger and would definitely appeal to the younger buyers. Audi has always been leading the way with innovative interior designs with the virtual cockpit and the interesting centre console design. BMW seems to be stuck in a time warp and the interior design barely changed since the E60 model. The evolution is ever so slight and despite the new features such as touch screen iDrive and the gesture motion control, the car's interior still looks very early 2000. It does not feel 2019!
A classy or futuristic interior will attract buyers. Porsche had to up their game with their interiors as well and do away with the airplane cockpit style button layout in the centre console and introduce the touch sensitivity buttons that are black in colour. The wider high definition touch screen also make the car look current. I like how the new 992 model utilise a special analog tachometer in the middle of the instrument cluster to bring back the retro feel but yet the other cowls are digital to keep it in the modern era.
The most impressive of all are the new China designed cars. Their cockpit design can give many Japanese and Korean car makers a run for their money. The BYD models and NIO models have cool looking virtual cockpits that display a tonne of information and is customisable to suit the driver's preference. watch out for the upcoming EV models from china. it may surprise some people.
Some people made memes of the car's front grille that it will grow to ridiculous proportions! I am wondering if BMW realise this or whether this is intentional.
On another note, the BMW interior is looking aged in comparison to Mercedes, Audi and Porsche. The recent updated interior of Mercedes have made it look a lot younger and would definitely appeal to the younger buyers. Audi has always been leading the way with innovative interior designs with the virtual cockpit and the interesting centre console design. BMW seems to be stuck in a time warp and the interior design barely changed since the E60 model. The evolution is ever so slight and despite the new features such as touch screen iDrive and the gesture motion control, the car's interior still looks very early 2000. It does not feel 2019!
A classy or futuristic interior will attract buyers. Porsche had to up their game with their interiors as well and do away with the airplane cockpit style button layout in the centre console and introduce the touch sensitivity buttons that are black in colour. The wider high definition touch screen also make the car look current. I like how the new 992 model utilise a special analog tachometer in the middle of the instrument cluster to bring back the retro feel but yet the other cowls are digital to keep it in the modern era.
The most impressive of all are the new China designed cars. Their cockpit design can give many Japanese and Korean car makers a run for their money. The BYD models and NIO models have cool looking virtual cockpits that display a tonne of information and is customisable to suit the driver's preference. watch out for the upcoming EV models from china. it may surprise some people.
Wednesday, 26 December 2018
Why do French car makers struggle so badly in South East Asia?
French car makers like Peugeot, Citroen and Renault have been around for more than 60 years and collective have decent market share in European countries and South America but they struggle badly in South East Asia. Peugeot is the only car maker that performs better than the other 2 brands in Malaysia but is practically non-existent in Indonesia, Philippines and thailand. Renault struggles badly in Malaysia despite heavily promoting the Captur and Koleos models. The cars are priced competitively against German rivals VW and Japanese rivals Honda and Toyota. Combined the monthly sales volume seldom exceeds 100 cars which is not enough for a mass market brand to survive.
The struggle of the these French brands are mainly due to the lack of after sales support and poor reliability in the past. The earlier distributors did not offer good after sales service and parts support leaving many owners in a lurch when the cars had problem. It also compounded the problem when the cars were not reliable and was not topicalised to suit the humid climate. Having a bad reputation for poor reliability and bad after sales service the brand image took a big punishment making it very difficult to sell present models.
Used car dealers are reluctant to accept cars from these brands as it is slow to sell and very few customers would look to buy a French car. All these factors make it an uphill battle to promote the brand. Renault may be actively in F1 but it does nothing for the brand in Asia. Renault tried to promote the sporty models like the Megane R.S. hot hatch but it was too niche and only enthusiasts would buy it. For the average buyer who had such a budget for a hot hatch they would either buy a VW Golf GTI or a used Mercedes A45 AMG. These two cars had much better residual values and could easily be sold in the second hand market.
Citroen recently tried to make a come back with the DS models. The cars look good but again the brand image has been damaged. The brand only appealed to the enthusiasts or the buyers who previously owned a Citroen. It was difficult to convert buyers from Honda, Toyota or Mazda to switch. Even if the buyers from the main stream Japanese brands would buy a European model it would most likely be a BMW, Mercedes or Audi.
The problem is the brand image of the French cars are stuck in limbo. It is neither low end or luxury. It is stuck in the middle to compete with the Japanese and Koreans which are often the preferred choice due to reliability and after sales support and also residual values. I believe it will take many more years before the French brands can make any head way in South East Asia unless they are willing to invest heavily in setting up production bases and reduce the prices significantly to capture market share. Renault did this in India and succeeded so this same formula is needed if it were to succeed in South East Asia.
The struggle of the these French brands are mainly due to the lack of after sales support and poor reliability in the past. The earlier distributors did not offer good after sales service and parts support leaving many owners in a lurch when the cars had problem. It also compounded the problem when the cars were not reliable and was not topicalised to suit the humid climate. Having a bad reputation for poor reliability and bad after sales service the brand image took a big punishment making it very difficult to sell present models.
Used car dealers are reluctant to accept cars from these brands as it is slow to sell and very few customers would look to buy a French car. All these factors make it an uphill battle to promote the brand. Renault may be actively in F1 but it does nothing for the brand in Asia. Renault tried to promote the sporty models like the Megane R.S. hot hatch but it was too niche and only enthusiasts would buy it. For the average buyer who had such a budget for a hot hatch they would either buy a VW Golf GTI or a used Mercedes A45 AMG. These two cars had much better residual values and could easily be sold in the second hand market.
Citroen recently tried to make a come back with the DS models. The cars look good but again the brand image has been damaged. The brand only appealed to the enthusiasts or the buyers who previously owned a Citroen. It was difficult to convert buyers from Honda, Toyota or Mazda to switch. Even if the buyers from the main stream Japanese brands would buy a European model it would most likely be a BMW, Mercedes or Audi.
The problem is the brand image of the French cars are stuck in limbo. It is neither low end or luxury. It is stuck in the middle to compete with the Japanese and Koreans which are often the preferred choice due to reliability and after sales support and also residual values. I believe it will take many more years before the French brands can make any head way in South East Asia unless they are willing to invest heavily in setting up production bases and reduce the prices significantly to capture market share. Renault did this in India and succeeded so this same formula is needed if it were to succeed in South East Asia.
Monday, 3 December 2018
China's new EVs will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future
I just returned from a business trip to china and all I saw was many hybrid and EVs on the roads and on display in shopping malls and in impressive car showrooms facing the main streets. What does this mean? China's foray into the EV market is growing by leaps and bounds unlike the information that is published in the western media. According to some local Chinese industry observers it is rumoured that 1 in every 3 cars sold in Shanghai alone is either a EV or a hybrid. Fuel prices in China is higher than in South East Asia but it is not as high as in Europe or Japan. The Chinese Government have been giving incentives to local car makers such as BYD, SAIC, Geely and many others to develop more EVs to help reduce air pollution. China's megacities are by far among the worst in the world in terms of quality and reducing the amount of smog by using EVs seems to be working.
The development of the EVs in China have been impressive. The Chinese car makers acknowledge that it will be a huge task for them to catch up to the Europeans or Japanese in terms of combustion engine technology so they shifted their focus to EVs which is easier to develop and also the most critical point is that all the materials needed to make the EV is readily available in China. China is the largest battery producer in the world and is the electronics manufacturing hub of the world. Accessibility for the required components is easy. Having said that many ex-Tesla engineers were also pinched by China car companies to help with the development of their EVs. This basically allows them to leapfrog the other car makers and be able to play at the front of the EV market.
Tesla is too expensive for many of the average Chinese buyers but a locally developed and produced EV with similar size and perhaps 60% of the performance capability of the Tesla at half the price would appeal to a big number of Chinese buyers. The incredible thing about the EV development in China is not just about creating the car but the infrastructure they have planned for it. For the new car company NIO that only produces EVs (and currently makes the fastest EV to lap the Nurburgring) they already have a battery swapping network in place across China. They claim that they can swap out a battery in under 5 minutes and replace it with a fully charged unit. This is as quick as refuelling at a gas station for a regular combustion engine car. This is solving a few issues that have been concerns of potential EV buyers. The range issue is solved and the battery life problem is also solved.
The design of the cars now look modern and come fully loaded with functions such as voice command, lane departure warning, traction control, blind spot warning system, interactive infotainment system and many more.
The car shown above is the Roewe Marvel-X which is owned by SAIC. this mid sized SUV comes in 2 variants, a basic 2WD and fully loaded 4WD version. On paper it claims to offer a 500km driving range when cruising at 60kph but in reality I would expect a realistic driving range of 380-400km since when you run the air conditioning and audio system and lights it will reduce the driving range. The car is capable of 0-100kph in 4.8 seconds. It is impressive to say the least and the expected selling price in China before subsidies is RMB200,000.
It claims to be able to achieve 80% charge in 40 minutes from a fast charger. This is good since many other Japanese EVs take much longer to charge.
Next comes the NIO ES8 SUV. This SUV is much larger and capable of seating 7 people. It has a driving range of 350km but the battery swap takes just 5 minutes. This car comes fully loaded is expected to cost US$60,000. The interior design is very cool and the build quality is top notch with nice materials used.
From what can be seen in China it can be said that the yardstick for the EV market just moved much further than I expected and I would also say that the Japanese car makers need to wake up and play the catch up game. The current offerings from Japan fall way short of what China has to offer. If the big guns in Japan remain asleep they will soon find themselves out of the game altogether. While the Japanese car makers still use the out of date Nickel metal hydride batteries for the EV, China is already using Lithium ion and soon lithium polymer batteries. I personally feel that the Japanese car makers have fallen far behind the EV industry. They will need something amazing to close the gap.
China and the European car makers are really pushing the development of EVs to a new level. It won't be long before China's EVs hit the world market. So far the EVs are only being sold in China but once the cars gain sufficient popularity in China the car makers will start to venture to other countries.
The development of the EVs in China have been impressive. The Chinese car makers acknowledge that it will be a huge task for them to catch up to the Europeans or Japanese in terms of combustion engine technology so they shifted their focus to EVs which is easier to develop and also the most critical point is that all the materials needed to make the EV is readily available in China. China is the largest battery producer in the world and is the electronics manufacturing hub of the world. Accessibility for the required components is easy. Having said that many ex-Tesla engineers were also pinched by China car companies to help with the development of their EVs. This basically allows them to leapfrog the other car makers and be able to play at the front of the EV market.
Tesla is too expensive for many of the average Chinese buyers but a locally developed and produced EV with similar size and perhaps 60% of the performance capability of the Tesla at half the price would appeal to a big number of Chinese buyers. The incredible thing about the EV development in China is not just about creating the car but the infrastructure they have planned for it. For the new car company NIO that only produces EVs (and currently makes the fastest EV to lap the Nurburgring) they already have a battery swapping network in place across China. They claim that they can swap out a battery in under 5 minutes and replace it with a fully charged unit. This is as quick as refuelling at a gas station for a regular combustion engine car. This is solving a few issues that have been concerns of potential EV buyers. The range issue is solved and the battery life problem is also solved.
The design of the cars now look modern and come fully loaded with functions such as voice command, lane departure warning, traction control, blind spot warning system, interactive infotainment system and many more.
It claims to be able to achieve 80% charge in 40 minutes from a fast charger. This is good since many other Japanese EVs take much longer to charge.
Next comes the NIO ES8 SUV. This SUV is much larger and capable of seating 7 people. It has a driving range of 350km but the battery swap takes just 5 minutes. This car comes fully loaded is expected to cost US$60,000. The interior design is very cool and the build quality is top notch with nice materials used.
From what can be seen in China it can be said that the yardstick for the EV market just moved much further than I expected and I would also say that the Japanese car makers need to wake up and play the catch up game. The current offerings from Japan fall way short of what China has to offer. If the big guns in Japan remain asleep they will soon find themselves out of the game altogether. While the Japanese car makers still use the out of date Nickel metal hydride batteries for the EV, China is already using Lithium ion and soon lithium polymer batteries. I personally feel that the Japanese car makers have fallen far behind the EV industry. They will need something amazing to close the gap.
China and the European car makers are really pushing the development of EVs to a new level. It won't be long before China's EVs hit the world market. So far the EVs are only being sold in China but once the cars gain sufficient popularity in China the car makers will start to venture to other countries.
Friday, 23 November 2018
2018 Kuala Lumpur International motorshow
The Kuala Lumpur International motorshow 2018 (KLIMS) just opened today and it is the first time in 5 years the motorshow has been held. The motorshow had lacklustre turn out from visitors in previous years prompting the organiser to delay organising the motorshow by several years hoping that the long hiatus will create some interest from visitors to turn out in greater numbers. The fundamental part about any motorshow is the number of car companies that will participate and exhibit their new models or concept cars.
Sad to say the KLIMS 2018 is very pathetic since it could only attract less than 50% of the car companies present in Malaysia to participate. As expected the usual participating car companies would be Perodua, Proton, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Lexus, Peugeot, Mitsubishi and Nissan. As you can see many of the bigger names such as Mercedes, BMW, Audi, VW, Suzuki, Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda, Subaru, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Maserati and Porsche were missing. One would accept if supercar makers such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and ultra luxury brands such as Rolls Royce and Bentley were missing. KLIMS consisted of 2 halls, one on level 1 and the second is on level 2. Level 2 housed Nissan, Petronas a several tinting brands and car care product retailers.
In short the motorshow is barely a motorshow when so many car manufacturers are not represented. A true motorshow would at least cover 75% of the brands that are currently sold in Malaysia. I can understand that brands like Alfa Romeo or Chevrolet is not represented since Alfa no longer has a distributor in Malaysia and Chevrolet's distributorship was just terminated with Naza.
Walking around Hall 2 where the back section was for accessories or automotive related products it was clear to see that the number of companies willing to exhibiting at this motorshow was very low. Many industry players such as major tyre companies, lubricant companies or mobile electronic companies were missing. Left were just a handful of window film suppliers and car care chemical suppliers. At the rate this event is going it is unlikely that there will be another KLIMS for many years to come.
Many visitors will feel that it is not worth spending RM20 to enter to see a handful of car makers exhibiting their cars. Unlike other international motor shows in other countries, the KLIMS is seriously a waste of time. The Bangkok motorshow which is held yearly has more to offer.
It was rumoured that in the past BMW and Mercedes were given false information about the competitor participating promoting BMW and Mercedes to participate but when one did not participate the car maker felt cheated and from then on they would not participate ever again. According to sources in BMW they would prefer to spend the marketing budget in smaller exhibits in major high end shopping malls which they can interact with buyer and receive immediate bookings for the cars without having to face their competitors.
Recently Hong Leong bank organised a premier banking event where they invited customers to test drive 10 different cars for free together with free lunch and drinks. The event was held over several days and received a great response from the customers which resulted in many of the car companies selling cars at the event.
I personally feel that motor shows in Malaysia is dead! The average salary earner with 2 or 3 children will not want to pay RM60 to visit a motorshow to see a handful of car companies exhibit their cars but they would pay RM30 to visit a car culture or motoring culture show like the Art of Speed. The visitors see more value when they can get up close to interestingly tuned cars or motorcycles and buy innovative bespoke merchandise.
those who still want to visit KLIMS, be warned!
Sad to say the KLIMS 2018 is very pathetic since it could only attract less than 50% of the car companies present in Malaysia to participate. As expected the usual participating car companies would be Perodua, Proton, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Lexus, Peugeot, Mitsubishi and Nissan. As you can see many of the bigger names such as Mercedes, BMW, Audi, VW, Suzuki, Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo, Mazda, Subaru, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, Maserati and Porsche were missing. One would accept if supercar makers such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and ultra luxury brands such as Rolls Royce and Bentley were missing. KLIMS consisted of 2 halls, one on level 1 and the second is on level 2. Level 2 housed Nissan, Petronas a several tinting brands and car care product retailers.
In short the motorshow is barely a motorshow when so many car manufacturers are not represented. A true motorshow would at least cover 75% of the brands that are currently sold in Malaysia. I can understand that brands like Alfa Romeo or Chevrolet is not represented since Alfa no longer has a distributor in Malaysia and Chevrolet's distributorship was just terminated with Naza.
Walking around Hall 2 where the back section was for accessories or automotive related products it was clear to see that the number of companies willing to exhibiting at this motorshow was very low. Many industry players such as major tyre companies, lubricant companies or mobile electronic companies were missing. Left were just a handful of window film suppliers and car care chemical suppliers. At the rate this event is going it is unlikely that there will be another KLIMS for many years to come.
Many visitors will feel that it is not worth spending RM20 to enter to see a handful of car makers exhibiting their cars. Unlike other international motor shows in other countries, the KLIMS is seriously a waste of time. The Bangkok motorshow which is held yearly has more to offer.
It was rumoured that in the past BMW and Mercedes were given false information about the competitor participating promoting BMW and Mercedes to participate but when one did not participate the car maker felt cheated and from then on they would not participate ever again. According to sources in BMW they would prefer to spend the marketing budget in smaller exhibits in major high end shopping malls which they can interact with buyer and receive immediate bookings for the cars without having to face their competitors.
Recently Hong Leong bank organised a premier banking event where they invited customers to test drive 10 different cars for free together with free lunch and drinks. The event was held over several days and received a great response from the customers which resulted in many of the car companies selling cars at the event.
I personally feel that motor shows in Malaysia is dead! The average salary earner with 2 or 3 children will not want to pay RM60 to visit a motorshow to see a handful of car companies exhibit their cars but they would pay RM30 to visit a car culture or motoring culture show like the Art of Speed. The visitors see more value when they can get up close to interestingly tuned cars or motorcycles and buy innovative bespoke merchandise.
those who still want to visit KLIMS, be warned!
Wednesday, 10 October 2018
making fuel from carbon dioxide and hydrogen
A company in Australia recently published a video about a technological break through that allowed them to create a carbon neutral clean burn fuel that can be used in any fossil fuel engine. This is amazing if it truly works. It basically combines the CO2 in the air and fuse it with hydrogen to make the liquid fuel that results in clean burn with zero emissions from the car's exhaust system. This is revolutionary as it will be like creating the perfect cycle in the fuel / combustion system. Whatever the car's exhaust puts out can be recycled into fuel to feed the car. This in the past is nothing but a dream but it appears that one company managed to do it.
This could mean that the electric car's future is numbered and may no longer be relevant. With this technology fossil fuel powered cars will be here to stay. This will open up further development of the combustion engine and motorsports. The electric cars will be a forgotten fad that never really took off. It will be interesting to see if any oil giant will buy up the patent for this technology or capitalise on it. So far there is no news about any investors stepping up to grab this technology. If the patent was open to all players it could very well help the motoring industry move forward.
Many electric car detractors still think that electric cars are counter productive in the carbon reducing effort which to some degree is true. The electricity used to power the electric cars are usually produced using fossil fuel or coal or nuclear power, only a tiny amount is actually from renewable energy such as hydro power, wind or solar power. This basically means that the electric car's source of power is polluting and it not much difference from a combustion engine car that produces carbon monoxide.
The CO2 to fuel concept will be way of the future if it is proven to work. According to the promotional video the cost of producing the fuel is cheaper than extracting crude oil and refining it into gasoline or diesel. This could mean cheaper fuel and cheaper transport costs which could lead to cheaper cost of food.
Driving a car using the recycled CO2 as fuel may be something in the future but it is definitely an interesting piece of technology that could alter the future of the automotive and transport industry.
This could mean that the electric car's future is numbered and may no longer be relevant. With this technology fossil fuel powered cars will be here to stay. This will open up further development of the combustion engine and motorsports. The electric cars will be a forgotten fad that never really took off. It will be interesting to see if any oil giant will buy up the patent for this technology or capitalise on it. So far there is no news about any investors stepping up to grab this technology. If the patent was open to all players it could very well help the motoring industry move forward.
Many electric car detractors still think that electric cars are counter productive in the carbon reducing effort which to some degree is true. The electricity used to power the electric cars are usually produced using fossil fuel or coal or nuclear power, only a tiny amount is actually from renewable energy such as hydro power, wind or solar power. This basically means that the electric car's source of power is polluting and it not much difference from a combustion engine car that produces carbon monoxide.
The CO2 to fuel concept will be way of the future if it is proven to work. According to the promotional video the cost of producing the fuel is cheaper than extracting crude oil and refining it into gasoline or diesel. This could mean cheaper fuel and cheaper transport costs which could lead to cheaper cost of food.
Driving a car using the recycled CO2 as fuel may be something in the future but it is definitely an interesting piece of technology that could alter the future of the automotive and transport industry.
Monday, 8 October 2018
Malaysia's 3rd national car
The rumours are buzzing again about the third national car and this topic does not seem to want to go away. This time round it appears that there is some sort of confirmation that it will be a private entity and the Malaysian Government will not be involved like how it was with Proton. However, the rumour is that the third national car will not be an electric car like how it was rumoured previously. It is strange that this new company would want to move into conventional cars since the future is electric with so many countries announcing that it will ban all fossil fuelled cars from a certain date in the future. Being a new entity with no prior history it should venture into electric cars as it is a fresh start and neither Proton or Perodua have any electric models.
The Government and Dr. Mahathir have been copping a lot of flack lately due to this topic as it appears to be his ego trip once again. He seems adamant to create the third national car since Proton failed and is not under Geely's control. His excuse is that it will create jobs and improve the industrialisation and engineering capability of Malaysia. He is also the one that does not want to admit that Proton is a failure.
The third national car can be introduced but not at the expense of other car makers. Dr. Mahathir in the past have allowed Proton to survive through protectionist policies which imposed heavy taxes on foreign car makers. The Malaysian public is sick of such actions and being deprived of buying foreign cars just to protect a poorly managed car company that produces substandard quality cars. The technology partner for the third national car is still unknown and if they were to introduce their first car in 2020 the company needs to be registered and the technology partner formalised. It is takes at least 24 months to develop and assemble a car from ground up. Seeing that the third national car is new it is likely that they will just do some rebadging like what Proton did in 1985!
Building a car from ground up is incredibly difficult and time consuming. It is not easy feat and to do one that the public will want to buy is a tall order. Even big companies like Toyota try not to introduce completely new models, they evolve a current model and improve it in critical areas and alter the exterior looks and call it a new model. It is rare that a large car company will create a brand new model from ground up unless it can see the business potential.
For one, I am not sure if this third national car will survive or even see the first model launch in 2020. With so little time and insufficient local engineering knowhow it looks like a long shot.
The Government and Dr. Mahathir have been copping a lot of flack lately due to this topic as it appears to be his ego trip once again. He seems adamant to create the third national car since Proton failed and is not under Geely's control. His excuse is that it will create jobs and improve the industrialisation and engineering capability of Malaysia. He is also the one that does not want to admit that Proton is a failure.
The third national car can be introduced but not at the expense of other car makers. Dr. Mahathir in the past have allowed Proton to survive through protectionist policies which imposed heavy taxes on foreign car makers. The Malaysian public is sick of such actions and being deprived of buying foreign cars just to protect a poorly managed car company that produces substandard quality cars. The technology partner for the third national car is still unknown and if they were to introduce their first car in 2020 the company needs to be registered and the technology partner formalised. It is takes at least 24 months to develop and assemble a car from ground up. Seeing that the third national car is new it is likely that they will just do some rebadging like what Proton did in 1985!
Building a car from ground up is incredibly difficult and time consuming. It is not easy feat and to do one that the public will want to buy is a tall order. Even big companies like Toyota try not to introduce completely new models, they evolve a current model and improve it in critical areas and alter the exterior looks and call it a new model. It is rare that a large car company will create a brand new model from ground up unless it can see the business potential.
For one, I am not sure if this third national car will survive or even see the first model launch in 2020. With so little time and insufficient local engineering knowhow it looks like a long shot.
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