GEN 2 and Malaysians

Following the launch of the new GEN 2, there was some intense discussion going on in SuaraMalaysia.com. Some of the criticisms are valid but if you ask me, we cannot ignore the fact that PROTON has indeed contributed a lot to the Malaysian economy. Besides providing employment to over 10 thousand employees, it has given rise to a number of industries supporting and which has grown side by side with the national car. This includes the tyre, sport rims, exhaust and other industries. Granted it has a long way to go before competing with the likes of Ford or Toyota but we have to remember that they had a long head start before Proton. What we can do is provide constructive criticism and I guess the company realises that it has to be competitive in all respects if they want to retain customers.
Regarding support by the Government, even the Indian and South Korean Auto companies receive help from their respective Governments. However, it is amazing how the Koreans have been able to produce cheaper and better cars with great designs. They even have been to penetrate the tough US market. This is something that Proton must study.
Not paying enough attention to their web site is a big mistake. They should have left the old one online before putting up the new one in its incomplete form. Anyway I still believe that the Gen 2 is a small step but indeed in the right direction.