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 :-
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-7072924456318931568#
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.
