Automobile Industry Malaysia

After years of bad news, the Proton Saga finally is on the road to a happy ending. Sales of the Saga, which has been dubbed Southeast Asia's first locally produced car, are booming and have captured two-thirds of the domestic auto market despite a four-month waiting list. In Britain, it sold 10,300 in its first year, far above expectations.

Malaysia is mounting an aggressive move to reach out to business worldwide. Next year, the country will begin exporting its first car to the United States. And Malaysia's production lines can't keep up with the big worldwide demand for their rubber gloves in the wake of AIDS. The country, which had followed a "look East" policy to emulate the Japanese and Korean work ethic and management systems, is now looking to the West to shore up its economy and provide jobs.

After years of bad news, the Proton Saga finally is on the road to a happy ending. Sales of the Saga, which has been dubbed Southeast Asia's first locally produced car, are booming and have captured two-thirds of the domestic auto market despite a four-month waiting list. In Britain, it sold 10,300 in its first year, far above expectations.

Burdened by skyrocketing costs as a result of the rapid rise in the value of the yen, Japanese-built auto parts are starting to lose out in the international marketplace, auto industry officials say, to components produced in Europe, the Third World--and the United States. A dramatic example of how the yen's appreciation has made Japanese parts less competitive has come in Malaysia, which plans to export its first subcompact passenger car, the Proton, to the United States next spring.

Malaysia is mounting an aggressive move to reach out to business worldwide. Next year, the country will begin exporting its first car to the United States. And Malaysia's production lines can't keep up with the big worldwide demand for their rubber gloves in the wake of AIDS. The country, which had followed a "look East" policy to emulate the Japanese and Korean work ethic and management systems, is now looking to the West to shore up its economy and provide jobs.

Burdened by skyrocketing costs as a result of the rapid rise in the value of the yen, Japanese-built auto parts are starting to lose out in the international marketplace, auto industry officials say, to components produced in Europe, the Third World--and the United States. A dramatic example of how the yen's appreciation has made Japanese parts less competitive has come in Malaysia, which plans to export its first subcompact passenger car, the Proton, to the United States next spring.