KUALA LUMPUR (June 12): The suggestion to re-initiate a fully-Malaysian national car company has come from the private sector, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

"At the moment it is not yet the government [which has proposed], it was the private sector [that was] suggesting [it].

"Whoever wants to build [the automaker], they can submit a proposal," said Dr Mahathir at a press conference today.

Dr Mahathir was, however, quick to sidestep a question on the details of the party which has broadly proposed the project, and whether the government has any automakers in mind to work with.

"I cannot [propose] any party now, because [critics will] say it is cronyism," he said.

Answering questions on his vision of the new proposed automaker, Dr Mahathir said the main focus is to help revive local engineering firms that have to close their shutters, having failed to supply car parts "according to the demands of the new owners of Proton".

"We need to revive them because the whole idea about investing in a national car is about becoming a catalyst to grow Malaysian engineering capabilities and indeed, that's what happened when we built the national car.

"We have acquired that knowledge to design, build, and mass-produce cars. Unfortunately Proton [Holdings Bhd] has been [partly] sold to the Chinese, who are given the right to manage Proton. Malaysians now are not making use of their skills," he said.

Dr Mahathir conceded that said engineering firms and car parts manufacturers are "not quite efficient", but asked to see the forest for the trees.

"If we make them more efficient, this is a very big market because all over the world, people are outsourcing parts of cars. We can produce parts for branded cars and export them," he said.

Proton is 49.9% owned by Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd, which acquired the stake from DRB-Hicom Bhd as a foreign strategic partner last year.

Proton chief executive officer Dr Li Chunrong has the mammoth task of increasing vehicle sales by 129,000 units to 200,000 units annually in five years, and double that in 10 years — half of which would be for the export market.