DRB has the tendency of not getting deal done

Despite them needing the deal to be completed, this company has the tendency of dragging and over-negotiate. I should know this, for some reasons.

Just to give one example, in the deal where Proton was to be acquired by DRB-Hicom back in 2012, they were required to reduce their stake in Bank Muamalat to an associate stake. Where is that deal now?

The below statement could be a plan by Geely, but I am not too surprised. For Geely to come out and mention this, there are many hiccups it seems in this deal. One must remember for Geely to come into Malaysia and get a deal done, it has to be FRIENDLY. This is a marriage, not a forced takeover. DRB has appeared many times to say that they will continue to have substantial stake in Proton - hence Geely will still need DRB as a partner.

Geely knows. Because they need to get the support to survive in a tough environment. But does DRB thinks and acts that way? Although, they will know as well.

It now goes back to who needs who more. DRB needs to get rid of Proton as it is bleeding more than RM1 billion a year and getting to a 'path of no return' i.e. oblivion. The only way is for it to survive is to do a deal or government to impose taxes which is even higher than the ones during Mahathir days.

With Proton, DRB will be in trouble although it is a separate subsidiary and can be left to rot. Does it want to do that?

If there is a deal which is fair to DRB, then possibly the group could be worth much more than today - but that is still far from the case.

Perhaps, it needs a "Lim Kang Hoo" to show the way...

From Proton Perdana, you basically know how far DRB can go

I have nothing much to comment here except recommending you to read the article from Paul Tan's blog. And be a little bit critical in your thoughts. Of course Paul Tan is not going to be saying anything negative as his livelihood is dependent on blogging - me? No.

One can just walk into any of the Honda's showroom if they still have the model in display to judge how far the difference the one provided to the Malaysian government versus the current Honda Accord model. I believe Honda is coming up with a new model soon as can be seen through here.

DRB-HICOM has many hidden assets but that remains to be it. Proton will be the largest achilles heel while juggling to be a conglomerate, with many diverse interests at the same time. It will continue to recycle Persona, Saga etc. and not able to come out with much of a new product.

The larger car manufacturers - Toyota, GM, Ford, VW - are producing new models in double digits, while Proton is struggling with one a year. In a globally very competitive market, it is of no use to continue with the car project except for just being stubborn, as it is not even a national car project.