Malay Proton distributors to face discrimination says association

Yet another person is telling a different story: Malays businesses to lose out with new Proton Malay distributors will lose out to non–bumiputera distributors who will be the prefered as a subtle discrimination is foreseen.

This is the view of the Malaysian Association of Malay Vehicle Importers and Traders (Pekema) whose President Zainuddin Abdul Rahman said Proton’s new directives will end up in losses for Malays, according to Malaysia Kini.

Zainuddin said Malay distributors will find it difficult to raise the money needed to upgrade their service centers to 3S that is offering sales, services and spare parts.

They have a year to do so or they risk to be replaced and Zainuddin said with the new non-Malay running Proton’s sales representatives division, non–bumiputera distributors could be chosen.

The Malays fall under the bumiputera status in Malaysia and are given a plethora of facilities, including that of being the prefered distributors for Proton’s vehicles.

With the sale of Proton to the Chinese company Geely, things are bound to change at the once Malay dominated company.

In the thirty-five years of Proton’s existence, the Malay distributors felt safe and did not expect any disruptions. But it has caught up with them, said local potals.