National Automotive Policy 2009 Review Results

[potato]

sbirdz can we get cheap parts from your shop? Just for the members.

Am wondering will GST be added for cars & parts, coz say even 5% GST, the total increment will be 15% (300% x 5%) of the original price, and i don't think it'll be just 5%.

 

[harpoon]

when insurance premium increase, we will be like UK, insurance so high, yearly renewal of roadtax very troublesome

but then, in UK the car prices are much cheaper. win some lose some

in malaysia, with high car prices, you will lose all the time

 

[FVel]

He said that policy was being implemented to ensure the safety of lives and also to develop the country’s own automotive component industry.....“Anyway this policy does not take effect immediately and there is still room for people to improve,” he said, adding that to develop the automotive component industry, the country needed more companies to set up base in Malaysia and export.

If it is merely an attempt to encourage companies to use Malaysia as a manufacturing base to produce components for export, then why do they need to ban importation of quality spare parts ?

Manufacturing companies set up shop in Malaysia because the investment incentives are conducive to them turning a profit, for example, low labour costs, qualified and skilled human resources, tax breaks, proper infrastructure, stable government.

The attainment of any of these investment conditions have nothing to with the domestic market if it is true that the components produced are geared predominantly for export.....because if the stuff is exported anyway, why are we suddenly being banned from importing quality spare parts for ourselves ?

Unless, of course, the real reason is to force the domestic sector to buy certain brands.

We have long been made to be a captive market to Malaysian local car manufacturers because of the government's protectionist policy for Proton, etc. and high tariffs against importation of foreign brands.

To me, these latest round of rhetoric from Mustapha is just an extension of that protectionist policy. If people have been economically maintaining their old cars (foreign and domestic) with quality used spare parts, a curtailment on the steady availability of those spare parts forces people to switch to newer models in which spareparts is not an issue. In the case of new foreign brands, the tariffs are still a problem and it remains unrealistic for a lot of people to buy a new car of foreign manufacture. ....which just leaves Proton, Perodua as the remaining option.

“We are aware of the business interest but all this was explained when we discussed the matter with industry members.

LOL... "this was explained" ??? To whom was it 'explained' before you made the announcement, Mustapha ?

It's funny when pretty much everyone in the country was shocked by the NAP's announcement, so you really wonder how many groups the G actually consulted before they went ahead with this.

But this guy still wants to pretend as if everybody knew about it and welcomed the move. It's so obvious the 'industry members' he was referring to are the local car manufacturers....the main beneficiary from all this group. Of course lah Proton & Perodua will say "mau, mau, mau"

Mustapa was speaking to The Star in the sidelines of the Apec Summit in Singapore.

Of course, the Star forgot to mention that Malaysia came under fire at the APEC summit for its lack of competitive fair trade with it's tariff policies against foreign cars which were in many cases taxed 150% of original price. 150 percent. LOL the import duties costs more than the car.

...which reinforces the point I raised earlier. If what Mustapaha wanted us to believe that this was really to encourage automobile parts companies to come into Malaysia to set up shop, how does he plan to sell investors the idea when this country has an established policy of being hostile to importation of cars when foreign brands are taxed unreasonably ???

Malaysian Industrial Development Authority director-general Datuk Jalilah Baba said that at this point .....the main reason for the NAP was to improve services.

“We want industry players to upgrade their facilities and standards as well,” she said.

Horseshit lah. The local manufacturers had decades to get it right and MIDA is ONLY NOW talking about improving services ?

You know, not everyone get their cars serviced at Proton. I drive one and I certainly don't have it serviced at Proton because I have no faith in them. It's the tuning shops and spare parts dealers with whom I patronize. Funnily enough, while the tuners, aftermarket and spare-part shops had stepped in to provide the service where Proton and Perodua have not matched, the NAP however will screwed them the most.

Well people, you know what to do. You really need to vote responsibly in the next election. If it's not enough that Badawi and his cohorts made a mess of the administration of this country and allow people in their admin to deliberately play up racial tensions, and now they want to fuck with our cars. You don't fuck with a man's car.

It saddens me that as a longtime BN voter, it has come to the point when I'm actually encouraging people to vote Opposition. What a terrible fall from grace for BN

 

[paranoid_android]

"BN fall down because spare part issues" I hope this will be news headlines after next election

 

[1JZtezza]

ppl! unite and fight!

****************
The Star Online > Nation
Published: Sunday November 15, 2009 MYT 2:00:00 PM
Updated: Sunday November 15, 2009 MYT 2:02:18 PM

Job losses from New Automotive Policy compensated in long term: Mustapa

By NELSON BENJAMIN

SINGAPORE: International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamad feels that jobs lost in the short term due to the implementation of the New Automotive Policy (NAP) will be compensated in the medium and long term.

He said that policy was being implemented to ensure the safety of lives and also to develop the country’s own automotive component industry.

“We are aware of the business interest but all this was explained when we discussed the matter with industry members.

“Anyway this policy does not take effect immediately and there is still room for people to improve,” he said, adding that to develop the automotive component industry, the country needed more companies to set up base in Malaysia and export.

Mustapa added that while Malaysia was already exporting components to other countries, there was plenty of room for further improvement.

“Once the local component industry develops, all the short term job losses will be compensated in the long run.

“Yes, there will be glitches here and there but with some adjustments, this will benefit the country,” he said, adding that he did not believe that 100,000 jobs would be lost when the NAP ruling comes into effect in 2011 when there would be a ban on the import of used car spare parts.

“Asked whether the government might reconsider the decision, he said that the policy was in place but it would be done gradually.

Mustapa was speaking to The Star in the sidelines of the Apec Summit in Singapore.

On Saturday, during a protest, Johor Used Car Spare-Part Dealers Association committee Ng Keng Heng said the ban would cause major problems not only for many dealers but also for owners of old cars. He claimed that there were more than 5,000 used car spare-part dealers around the country and the ban would probably kill the industry completely, with about 100,000 jobs lost.

Ng added that the Government should have done proper studies before deciding to implement the ruling.

Malaysian Industrial Development Authority director-general Datuk Jalilah Baba said that at this point it was still too premature to talk about job losses as the main reason for the NAP was to improve services.

“We want industry players to upgrade their facilities and standards as well,” she said.

Job losses from New Automotive Policy compensated in long term: Mustapa

We need just to look back at the US automotive industry during the fall out in 2008.Their auto giants impose a 'just in time' practice on their suppliers.And when they(auto giants) were in trouble,part of the aid package went to paying off debts to the parts suppliers.Other auto-makers(Japs operating in US) were also concerned that the parts suppliers would go under as this would impact on their own cost and supplies.

The point is the US market was huge and auto parts makers do not supply just one make.Whereas in MY because of the diversity of models the demand per part per model is small.There is no economies of scale;there is not the demand to warrant such.In short the local auto-parts industry depends on Proton to do well both locally as well as overseas.Since the export part(for proton parts) is not there and the local demand is so so only;how are these suppliers gonna scale up without any help from Proton
or the G.Again should we the taxpayers be made to artificially support an industry that is not doing well.Look at the UK-Leyland,Rover,Jaguar etc.

Psst..its been said proton squeezes the suppliers hardest.

So local autoparts makers have to look at the export market for other Auto-makers.Then we look at competition from Thailand,Indonesia and last but not least from China.Some parts for our Toyota's,Mitsubishi,Ford comes from Thailand and Indonesia.Thailand set up their 'automotive hub' or city years back and we were just left out....too late!Given the current situation would Auto makers switch their suppliers now?Do autoparts makers want to incur huge capital expenditure and expand their products and production??

Another sad point:Notice that France(michelin);Italy(pirelli):Japan(bridgestone,yoko,toyo) all make excellent tires but dont have a single rubber tree!!!

 

[mizunori77]

ppl! unite and fight!

****************
The Star Online > Nation
Published: Sunday November 15, 2009 MYT 2:00:00 PM
Updated: Sunday November 15, 2009 MYT 2:02:18 PM

Job losses from New Automotive Policy compensated in long term: Mustapa

By NELSON BENJAMIN

SINGAPORE: International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamad feels that jobs lost in the short term due to the implementation of the New Automotive Policy (NAP) will be compensated in the medium and long term.

feels? don't tell us how you feel until you learn to understand how the people feels. and be more specific of your short, medium and long term. how long is short is short and how long is long? 5 years? 10 years? 50 years?

He said that policy was being implemented to ensure the safety of lives and also to develop the country’s own automotive component industry.

firstly, it is idiotic to say that the import of OEM parts (although it is used) affects the safety of people. if the govt is truly concerned, setup a guideline so that spare parts of a 'certain' condition will be allowed to be imported. total ban is just stupid.

secondly, developing the country's component industry has got nothing to do with spare parts unless they are saying that we have manufacturers here who can produce spare parts for all types of cars. we all know this is impossible.

thirdly, if the locally produced parts has similar quality as the OEM but at a cheaper price, then it is good for the people. otherwise, this is also stupid. who will buy a non-OEM part that is inferior and expensive?

fourthly, does the govt think SIRIM's standards are better than international standards? our Proton cant even penetrate the USA market. i remember that the first Proton Saga had 25 major defects listed when it was examined by the USA customs 2 decades ago. that is why we couldn't penetrate the USA market. 2 decades later, we still can't penetrate the market. from here, we can conclude either SIRIM standards are crap our Proton never improved at all. of course, it can be both.

“We are aware of the business interest but all this was explained when we discussed the matter with industry members.

business interests? they finally admitted that the NAP is geared for business rather than the people. this is a total opposite from 'Rakyat Didahulukan'.

stop hiding behind vague descriptions such as industry members. and if it is a real discussion, where aren't there any representatives from the car owners? why were ONLY commercial entities invited?

“Anyway this policy does not take effect immediately and there is still room for people to improve,” he said, adding that to develop the automotive component industry, the country needed more companies to set up base in Malaysia and export.

if the govt is really sincere to develop the industry, cut the red tape and the 'invisible' quota system. allow all malaysians to enter the business and not just select their own cronies and hide those cronies under the 'help Malay businessmen' banner.

Mustapa added that while Malaysia was already exporting components to other countries, there was plenty of room for further improvement.“Once the local component industry develops, all the short term job losses will be compensated in the long run.

of course there is plenty of room for improvement but how can there be improvement when everything isn't transparent and anyone can just point fingers at anyone else? this is like a company director telling his employees that he has a plan but never tells them the details of the plan. when something happens, an unlucky employee gets the blame.

wanna talk about KPI? give us the details of the plan so we can judge how successful you are in making sure 'short term job losses will be compensated in the long run'. otherwise, everyone can say statements like this if there is no transparency and accountability.

“Yes, there will be glitches here and there but with some adjustments, this will benefit the country,” he said, adding that he did not believe that 100,000 jobs would be lost when the NAP ruling comes into effect in 2011 when there would be a ban on the import of used car spare parts.

what sort of adjustments? what are the benefits? why is mustapa so sure that the job loss is not 100,000? what info does he have that he isn't sharing with the public? this isn't some movie or novel where you keep certain details to create a mood of suspense. you are talking about the livelihood of real people here. they lose their jobs, you feed them? you pay their rentals and bills? you pay for their children's studies? you pay for their medical bills?

right now, you are just taking their tax monies to pay your own salary, claims and expenses and god-knows-what-else.

“Asked whether the government might reconsider the decision, he said that the policy was in place but it would be done gradually. Mustapa was speaking to The Star in the sidelines of the Apec Summit in Singapore.

policy in place but done gradually? what the heck does that mean? this is why i think our local politicians are full of crap. everyone wants to be in charge of something but when they are asked to comment about it, they never give details and pray that people won't continue asking or totally forget about it. it has been like this for more than 50 years. if you are proud of your own work, then tell it to all. if you don't know what is happening or don't wish to comment, DONT SPEAK. you are wasting the reporters' time for listening to you talk about nothing and you are doing harm to the environment by forcing the newspapers to waste A LOT of paper to write about you talking about nothing. how much paper have you wasted in the past 51 years by talking about nothing?

On Saturday, during a protest, Johor Used Car Spare-Part Dealers Association committee Ng Keng Heng said the ban would cause major problems not only for many dealers but also for owners of old cars. He claimed that there were more than 5,000 used car spare-part dealers around the country and the ban would probably kill the industry completely, with about 100,000 jobs lost. Ng added that the Government should have done proper studies before deciding to implement the ruling.

why were this group of 'industry members' not invited for discussion? aren't they the ones who are directly affected by this new policy? where is the transparency?

Malaysian Industrial Development Authority director-general Datuk Jalilah Baba said that at this point it was still too premature to talk about job losses as the main reason for the NAP was to improve services.

“We want industry players to upgrade their facilities and standards as well,” she said.

Job losses from New Automotive Policy compensated in long term: Mustapa

if the main reason for the NAP is to improve services, WHY are spare parts involved? the automotive sector IS NOT a service industry unless you're saying that the car manufacturers and dealers and parts suppliers are operating as a transport provider by charging the people for traveling. :stupid:

to encourage industry players to upgrade their facilities and standards, it is illogical to destroy competition. competition encourages innovation. no competition = no innovation so a business entity is less likely to upgrade their facilities and standards when there is no one for them to 'be ahead' of.

 

[koolspyda]

it about what the Government can tax on new parts. so time to rip your wallets.

used & recon parts are tax miniscule when they arrive at customs. the potential to earn a heafty lum on imported parts outstrips the needs of general/middle incomed car owners.

the worse scenario as some of you mentioned is the likelyhood of more stolen cars for parts.

 

[1JZtezza]

Are we gonna end up like this??...No? this would be a saving grace!!! India's domestic market was huge


Hindustan Motors is an automobile manufacturer from India. It is part of the Birla Technical Services industrial group. The company was the largest car manufacturer in India before the rise of Maruti Udyog.

It is the producer of the Ambassador car, widely used as a taxicab and as a government limousine. This car is based on the Morris Oxford, a British car that dates back to 1954.

One of the original three car manufacturers in India, founded in 1942 by Mr. B.M. Birla[1], it was a leader in car sales until the 1980s, when the industry was opened up from protection.

from wikipedia:
The automobile industry in India is the ninth largest in the world with an annual production of over 2.3 million units in 2008.[1] In 2009, India emerged as Asia's fourth largest exporter of automobiles, behind Japan, South Korea and Thailand.[2]

Following economic liberalization in India in 1991, the Indian automotive industry has demonstrated sustained growth as a result of increased competitiveness and relaxed restrictions. Several Indian automobile manufacturers such as Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra and Mahindra, expanded their domestic and international operations. India's robust economic growth led to the further expansion of its domestic automobile market which attracted significant India-specific investment by multinational automobile manufacturers.[3] In February 2009, monthly sales of passenger cars in India exceeded 100,000 units.

Notice Thailand ranks 3rd

Sweden sold of SAAB and Volvo at its peak when they were producing innovative stuff.When suitors came a calling for proton we were just too proud!!!...'tiu kar' whether can survive to be old maid remains to be seen.Now after 15 years they start to dust the dust of Lotus.They even considered renaming it sometime back?Whether how much of the goodwill or technical expertise is left?The G should have built on Lotus technology and brand 15 BLOODY YEARS AGO

Remember MV agusta...who pays for all the G's mistakes.WETHE TAXPAYERS DO

 

[boyzone]

This is just an entry surprise from G.
Soon will have more and more.......
As our G need more $$$ for country develop

 

[hattech-v]

this mustapa is damn bahlol..................

 

[edtvism]

well it is fortunate that we have so many well educated and well informed members sharing the info. the G really thinks were so stupid.

each time i read statement from the G i feel like someone is telling a really bad lie or making a ridiculous excuse like 'my dog ate my homework'. for fuck sake, G, hire better PR person to prepare your statements. the whole world laughs every time they read the news statement from our G.


i wish we can post all these facts up to the newspaper and have the G answer this.

 

[DDgreystar]

our rising imbalance standard of living costs, car prices, housing costs, education costs, health care (is there any at all apart from individual bought) ?? all these things has been around for sometime, we have been enduring not only day in n day out, by generation upon generation, however has there been any CHANGE for the better ? oil producing country but petrol price is no joke for a normal joe on the street; last time own some normal rides to save cost, but now no more with the looming 2011 parts banning regulation; come on, wat else do u wan from us ? do u seroiusly think how long more can we keep quiet and refrain from going onto the streets to protest ? we are peace loving bunch of ppl, but come on, dun push us to dat brink man, the country is deteriorating !! anarchy will come :( sigh

 

[FVel]

We need just to look back at the US automotive industry during the fall out in 2008.Their auto giants impose a 'just in time' practice on their suppliers.And when they(auto giants) were in trouble,part of the aid package went to paying off debts to the parts suppliers.Other auto-makers(Japs operating in US) were also concerned that the parts suppliers would go under as this would impact on their own cost and supplies.

'Just-in-time' production schedules is more of a Japanese practice than American. If you order new parts direct from Japan, you can sometimes see the effects of this in operation, meaning there is a longer wait-time before you get your stuff. They keep minimum ready stock and if they don't have enough, they will put your requisiton into the production manifest and produced the item for you. Part of the reason for this is cost efficiency...you reduce accumulated and idle stock and therefore you reduce holding cost and turnaround time for sales. Americans, by comparison, tend towards a less efficient and more excessive culture of going about things.

There is no economies of scale;there is not the demand to warrant such.In short the local auto-parts industry depends on Proton to do well both locally as well as overseas.Since the export part(for proton parts) is not there and the local demand is so so only;how are these suppliers gonna scale up without any help from Proton
or the G.Again should we the taxpayers be made to artificially support an industry that is not doing well.Look at the UK-Leyland,Rover,Jaguar etc.

This is a good point because the viability of Proton and other local makes is still very much dependent on domestic consumption which as you suggested has reached a plateau. In the case of Proton, they have lost quite a bit of local market-share since Perodua came on the scene, hence the pie is smaller than it was before. Any further sustainability have to come from ramping up exports or with new models that are desirable to the public....both of which have not really been particularly encouraging. As it is, the NAP looks to have more of an forcible effect on domestic consumption rather than having any real impact on elevating export performance of local brands in foreign markets. In short, the G is squeezing the Malaysian public again.

Now after 15 years they start to dust the dust of Lotus.They even considered renaming it sometime back?Whether how much of the goodwill or technical expertise is left?The G should have built on Lotus technology and brand 15 BLOODY YEARS AGO

Lotus is a famous marque but it was never a large-scale road car producer. It has a different lineage and business philosophy than, say, Toyota or Honda. It's roots from the days of Colin Chapman was that of a supplier of race cars and it has not strayed far from its roots. It is still more or less a cottage-industry scale manufacturer geared towards the production of a small batch of cars each year that specifically cater for a very narrow consumer niche. There are no family saloons, sedans, etc in the Lotus line. You notice most of their cars in their product line are not wholly pragmatic for family use, being mainly lightweight sportscars of minimalist amenities which emphasize performance rather than comfort. The company for most of its history was a small scale operation run on a seesaw budget, with a production facilility and production methods of relatively slow rate of production...because they are not a mass market supplier.

The following 2.5 hour documentary gives a very good idea of what Lotus is about :-

Lotus Elise Inside Story

No doubt there is good technology there but also issues how easily incorporated into mass market cars, how relevant and how pragmatic and whether it lends itself easily to mass production. Looking at it all, it gives some perspective that Lotus may not be the ideal role-model for an aspiring mass producer of road cars....because that's not what Lotus is about.

In any case, it will be difficult for Proton to offer a high-quality (Lotus quality) car to the Malaysian public without a corresponding exorbitant premium price tag, because they have put themselves into the awkward position of pricing much lower quality cars beyond what they are really worth.

 

[nua8928]

this mustapa is damn bahlol..................

simple statement but full of hatred....

mie.. no worries,
you can take part on 15yrs car inspection... you will gain more profit as well..hahah

 

[mizunori77]

some funny yet thought-provoking read by Art Harun. it really 'opens' your eyes when he did a crude calculation of why Proton posted a loss even for 2008/2009 even when they sold more cars compared to 2007/2008 in his Proton Saga (Part 2) blog entry.

although i hadn't visited Proton before but i had the chance of talking to some vendors who have sold IT systems, engineering software and tools to Proton. fact is, Proton probably has the best in tools available today yet, why are they performing so badly? the answer lies in the stewardship of the company. how else can we explain such poor performance and the lack of direction it has?

as mentioned by FVel, Lotus is considered a player in the niche market and it is not practical to acquire a company just new technology transfer and mate it to a 10-15 year old technology. after spending billions, Proton could only offer the Satria GTi (a mirage platform) with 'Lotus tuned handling'? what kind of RoI is that?

if a mass producer cannot even compete in its home ground when the competitors already have a handicap, how does spending more money to buy a foreign company that totally targets a different market help a mass producer? even if it was a diversification exercise, what makes the senior management think that proton is ready to diversify when they are still competing with a very strong handicap?

to me, those guys sitting in the BOD of proton are just puppets dancing to the tune of whoever is controlling them. it is sad that a company cannot realize its full potential and the customers cannot enjoy better products the market has to offer because a select few is only interested in protecting their pocket money at all costs.