Chinese car-maker Geely to make Malaysia its global hub, help Proton drive into future

PUTRAJAYA: The entry of a major Chinese carmaker into Proton Holdings Bhd will not only ease its financial woes, but also bring fresh capacity to the group’s underutilised factories.

Zhejiang Geely Automotive Co Ltd plans to turn Malaysia into its global hub to manufacture all of its right-hand drive cars, including its premium Volvo brand.

Geely will take a leadership role in production, sales and marketing. Proton will be responsible for distribution of the brand in Malaysia.


These were among the highlights mentioned at the signing ceremony in Putrajaya between DRB-Hicom, the parent company of Proton, and Geely.

Proton and Geely yesterday signed an agreement that would see Geely take a 49.9% stake in Proton. Both parties have not finalised the price Geely would pay for the stake.

Through the partnership, Geely executive vice-president and chief financial officer Daniel Li said Geely would focus on assisting Proton to sell 500,000 cars in Malaysia and around the region by 2020.

He said Geely would be contributing technology, talent and money to Proton. These include platform-sharing that would see the development of Proton’s first-ever SUV model from Geely’s best selling model – the Boyue.

DRB-Hicom group managing director Datuk Seri Syed Faisal Albar said in the competitive automotive industry, partnership among carmakers globally was common.

A partnership would also further expand Proton’s reach to other markets and give it better economies of scale.

“This partnership with Geely will create more jobs in Proton,” he told reporters yesterday.

Proton has a workforce of about 10,000 which produces about 100,000 cars a year. In 2016, sales of Proton cars dropped 30% to 72,290 units from 102,174 previously.

The company reported a loss of almost RM1bil last year.

Proton’s Tanjung Malim plant, which is designed to produce a million cars every year, will be made a new manufacturing hub for Geely.

Syed Faisal said Proton would relocate its entire production from Shah Alam to Tanjung Malim within five years.

Despite the entry of a new foreign partner, Proton will maintain its national car status. This means its industrial linkages, including vendors and dealers, will not be affected by the change in shareholding.

Under the heads of agreement signed between DRB-Hicom and Geely, the Chinese carmaker will take a 49.9% equity interest in Proton and also a controlling stake in Lotus, the British sportscar maker, from Proton.

No financial details were disclosed in the sale of a stake in Proton, while for Lotus, Geely would be paying £51mil (RM284mil) for a 51% stake in Lotus.

Syed Faisal said DRB-Hicom planned to sign a definitive agreement with Geely in July.

Also present at the signing ceremony was Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, who clarified that with the partnership with Geely in place, Proton would need to repay its RM1.25bil soft loan from the Government.

As part of the conditions for the soft loan, Proton was required to collaborate with a well-known strategic partner.

The requirement to collaborate with a well-known strategic partner was imposed on Proton as part of the conditions issued by the Government for its approval of the RM1.25bil soft loan to Proton, in which a bulk of the money was used to pay its vendors.

Separately, Johari said Proton was entitled to a RM1.1bil reimbursement from the Government for its RM3.5bil spent on research and development in the past.

Johari also said there would be no more “subsidy” for Proton from now on, and that the Government would no longer have a golden share in Proton with Geely entering into a partnership with the national carmaker.

Source: The Star by intan farhana zainulandizwan idris

‘Geely to help Proton drive into future’

Geely confirms 49.9% stake in Proton |

IPOH: The decision by Proton to embark on a partnership with China’s Zheijiang Geely Automotive Co Ltd is timely because cars are predicted to be next in line to undergo sweeping innovations.

International Trade and Industry Minister II Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said that in light of Industrial Revolution 4.0, bringing in Geely as Proton’s strategic partner would ensure the Malaysian company’s survival as cars increasingly adopt digital technology.

Industrial Revolution 4.0, or Industry 4.0, is the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies which include cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things and cloud computing.

“After attending the Hannover Messe, the world’s biggest trade fair for industrial technology, I learned that self-driving cars are the next big thing.

“This means that you are looking at a future where cars will have no steering wheel.

“With just the touch of a panel, the car will bring you to your destination,” Ong said after witnessing the swearing-in of the new committee of the Perak Chinese Cemeteries Management Association yesterday.

He said Geely would be Proton’s channel to embracing technological innovations.

“I’m not saying to expect Proton to be a frontliner in this, but at least with a strategic partner it can move along with the times,” he added.

He said Geely would also open a new market for Proton, which was important for the national carmaker’s survival.

He said it was not a decision made purely in favour of China.

“Over the years, it’s been no secret that Proton accumulated losses and will need a big market to cater to in order to settle all the debts. This is the reality.

“Proton only narrowly met its sales target of 580,000 units last year, while Chinese brands sold 28 million units,” he said.

In view of its small volume, Ong said it would be difficult for Proton to fund sophisticated research and development initiatives.

“We need a larger market for things to work out. The Industrial Revolution 4.0 is all about innovation. We can’t do it ourselves, which is why working with advanced nations is our best bet,” he added.

The Star by Amanda Yeap

Related links:

Najib: Up to RM1bil losses for Proton if sale to Geely blocked ...

RM500 aid for civil servants - Nation

PM: Sovereignty will never be compromised - Nation

No place for sentiment in Proton deal - theSundaily

Proton now on firm footing

Johari: Proton’s glory days are back

Breaking free from the Proton shackles

The driving force behind Proton - Business News

When national pride is too costly ... - On The Beat

MD: Proton is still a national brand - Nation

China carmaker Geely is taking a stake in Malaysia's iconic Proton

Breaking free from the Proton shackles - Nation 

Malaysia slips in world competitiveness ranking - theSundaily

Malaysia's labour productivity rose 3.5% last year - theSundaily

 

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How property prices are determined?

Factors affecting prices - It is not easy to predict trend as the property market involves all kinds of players

THE year 2015 will always be considered one of the more challenging years for the property sector, with several factors coming into play and leaving potential buyers and investors cautious.

Looking back, Jordan Lee & Jaafar executive director Yap Kian Ann says there were many factors – be it microeconomic or macroeconomic, political, social, among others, that affected the property market performance and its pricing either directly, indirectly and/or jointly.

Click for actual size: http://clips.thestar.com.my.s3.amazonaws.com/clips/business/property-prices-chart-1912.pdf

“These factors are inter-related and influence each other. Individually, they give direct and indirect impact to the property market, property transaction volume and property prices at a different direction and degree.

“As the property market involves players (buyers and sellers) with all kinds of behaviour and is subject to a combination of factors that affect its performance at a given point in time, it is not an easy task to predict its trend and degree accurately.”

Looking ahead, property consultancy VPC Alliance (KL) Sdn Bhd managing director James Wong expects 2016 to be more subdued than this year.

Wong says most developers have launched their products aggressively in 2014.

“They knew the market this year would be soft and this softening would be carried forward to 2016. The full impact of the expiry of the developers’ interest bearing schemes (DIBS) will be felt next year.

Under DIBS, property buyers need not service the loan until the property is completed. Introduced in 2009 as an incentive, speculators purchased multiple units under DIBS because of the initial low outlay.

He expects to see softening demand in the high-rise high-end residential sector in the central region of the Klang Valley in 2016. Landed residential property demand is still resilient, especially with the gated and guarded community concept. House prices are expected to “self-correct”, he says.

Wong says foreign investors are actively monitoring residential properties in Kuala Lumpur due to weak ringgit but they remain cautious.

The increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve after nearly a decade is also keenly watched. Already, reports are filtering out that Federal Reserve’s sway on global interest rates is causing a sharp jump in Singapore’s benchmark borrowing cost, squeezing growth in the small Asian city-state.

On a state by state basis, MIDF Research said earlier this month that Johor’s house price index showed the slowest growth year-on-year at 3%, Penang (3.5%) while Selangor fared better at 6.2%, followed by Kuala Lumpur’s 5.3%.

“We believe that the outlook for property price is better in Greater KL (Selangor and KL) due to support from the urbanisation factor.”

Citing Bank Negara statistics, the research house also noted that demand for property loans declined 13% year-on-year in October 2015 to RM25.19bil.

“This was weaker than September 2015, which declined 9% year-on-year. On a monthly sequential basis, the data was 1% lower. We are negative on the data as the number was showing nine consecutive year-on-year declines since February 2015.

“Year-to-date October 2015, loans were lower by 7% year-on-year to RM253.88bil. In our view, consumer appetite for big ticket items such as property remains low due to the rising cost of living and the weakening ringgit.”

By Eugene Mahalingam The Star/Asia News Network

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