Influx of foreign cars hurting Proton, Mahathir says

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday that an influx of foreign cars was hurting national carmaker Proton, whose market share has been falling.

"There is no more protection for Proton, and even cars coming from countries which do not allow Proton to go in are freely sold in Malaysia," said Mahathir, who has become an adviser to Proton following his retirement as prime minister in 2003.

Proton long been sheltered from competition with high excise taxes and import duties on foreign cars. But it is facing stiff competition from foreign carmakers that have been adopting aggressive pricing strategies. Proton's market share fell to 44 percent last year from 48 percent the previous year.

The top foreign carmakers in Malaysia are Japan's Toyota Motor Corp, Nissan Motor Co and Honda Motor Co. Korean automakers are close behind.

Malaysia Southeast Asia's biggest car market, with 380,568 vehicles sold last year.