KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd has everything to become profitable and successful if DRB-Hicom Bhd takes the right business decisions, former chief of the national car maker, Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, said.

He said placing the right person to lead the company will be very important to drive Proton back to glory.

Any business can be transformed in a positive or negative manner, depending on decisions taken by the management, Tengku Mahaleel, who spent eight years as Proton's Chief Executive Officer, told Bernama in an interview.

"In any business it is very fundamental that you put the right guy in the right place.

"Look at (Tan Sri) Tony Fernandes, how he brought AirAsia to glory and Celcom. It is all about people. Companies never compete against each other.

"It is only human beings who compete. In that case, we need good and suitable brains to face the competition out there," he said.
Tengku Mahaleel said it is now up to DRB-Hicom to decide on the most suitable person to run the company.

In January, state asset manager Khazanah Nasional Bhd announced the sale of its 42.74 per cent stake in Proton to DRB-Hicom for RM1.291 billion.

The sale was concluded in March and DRB-Hicom appointed its Managing Director Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil as Proton Executive Chairman and Executive Director, replacing Datuk Seri Nadzmi Salleh, who tendered his resignation days after the completion of the deal.

Late last month, the national auto maker announced that Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir and Azhar Othman have opted to resign as Group Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively, in July this year.

It is widely believed that DRB-Hicom Chief Operating Officer Datuk Lukman Ibrahim is poised to take over from Syed Zainal.

Asked on the capability of DRB-Hicom to drive Proton to future glory, Tengku Mahaleel said: "I cannot comment on DRB-Hicom or the decisions that they have taken because I have never worked with them. I am not sure what their business style is."

In a related development, he said the global car industry is very fluid with many drivers of change, adding the industry is playing in the upper segment, comprising people who can buy cars.

"But that market is only 600 million people globally. On the flip side, people without cars is about two billion people.
"That is why Tata Motors in India came out with Tata Nano cars. It is affordable. Proton can also look into this area," he said.

Tengku Mahaleel joined Proton in 1996 as Vice President of Strategy and Operations, and was later promoted to Chief Executive Officer of Proton Holdings Bhd in April 1997.
He held the position until September 2005. -- BERNAMA