National Car

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Nuggets of information

1. Toyota Passo, Daihatsu Boon and Perodua Myvi are 3 similar cars that practice platform sharing. The engine and the chassis are the same for these 3 models.
2. Toyota has shares in Daihatsu. Daihatsu has shares in Perodua. Apparently according to Dr. M, the Japanese have a 51% stake in Perodua. The joint development of the above 3 models gives these manufacturers economy of scale advantage in terms of production costs.
3. In Malaysia, Toyota Avanza, Perodua Kembara DVVT and Perodua Myvi VVTi models share the same 1298cc K3-VE Dynamic Variable Valve Timing (similar to VTEC) engine.
4. Toyota invested some RM21 million in the Perodua factory so that Perodua can assemble the Toyota Avanza to meet the stringent Toyota quality standards. Apparently their defect rate is only 0.2 per car.
5. The Perodua Kancil was based on the most successful selling `kei’ car in Japan, the Daihatsu Mira.
6. The Perodua Kelisa is based on the Daihatsu Cuore.
7. The Perodua Kembara is based on the Daihatsu Terios.
8. The Perodua Kenari is based on the Daihatsu Move.
9. The Proton Saga, Proton Saga Aeroback, Proton Knight, Proton Saga Megavalve, Proton Saga Megavalve Aeroback, Proton Iswara, Proton Iswara Aeroback, Proton Wira, Proton Wira Aeroback and Proton Waja were based on several variations of the Mitsubishi Lancer.
10. The Proton Satria and Proton Satria GTi are based on the Mitsubishi Colt/ Cyborg.
11. The Proton Putra is based on the Mitsubishi Colt/ Mirage.
12. The miserable failure, Proton Tiara, was the Citroen AX.
13. The Proton Juara is based on the Mitsubishi Box.
14. The Proton Waja 1800cc reputedly uses the Renault Megane engine.
15. The Proton Savvy 1200cc sources its engine from the Renault Clio.
16. The Proton Perdana 2000cc and 2000cc V6 are based on the Mitsubishi Eterna. Apparently the Eterna was not a popular model in Japan.
17. Proton factory assembles/manufactures the car. Eon and USPD were appointed dealers. In the beginning Eon sold the sedans and USPD sold the hatchbacks. USPD ceased to exist when Proton bought it over and now operates under the name Proton Edar. Eon is now called a super dealer (whatever that means).
18. Proton vehicles sold by the dealers come with accessory packages that are generally overpriced. If a customer refuses to accept the accessory package, he will have to wait months for the delivery of his car. This seems to be a simple means of discouraging the consumer from exercising his right to refuse the imposed accessory package. If the general strategy is to sell Proton cars on the premise of a low price (in relation to the competition), then why do the dealers inflate the price with overpriced accessories?
19. If the dealers want to make money out of the accessories, then they should not blatantly equip the car with cheap accessories and then overcharge the consumer. The consumer is now more informed and can judge good quality. If the accessories are cheap and damage or break easily then Proton will lose the goodwill, faith and trust of the consumer e.g. the defective power window issue. If the accessories fitted are of good quality, the consumer would most likely want them. Simply because if he accepts the accessory package then he does not have to spend a lump sum on the accessories and can pay for them in installments.
20. Power windows that continuously fail are supplied by local vendors. There is talk that the local vendors supply such low quality products because they have to compensate for the "hidden cost" (more discreet than the word bribes) that they have to pay to remain as suppliers.