UMNO @BN robs from rakyat BUT Pakatan gives to the rakyat, Rafizi Rocks

Double taxation to prop up uncompetitive Proton
8:39AM Jul 28, 2012  
'Lowering the car price to RM30,000 means that you save on insurance and loan interest - a total savings of RM1,980 per year.'

'Scrapping tax won't rob Proton, Perodua's edge'

your sayPaul Warren: If we look at the excuses or reasons given for sustaining the high taxes and the approved permits (AP), it all boils down to keeping Proton afloat. Apparently it is also the jobs at Proton that are to be saved.

So who pays for this and how? All car purchasers pay for this. Not only Proton and Perodua car purchasers, but also purchasers of all foreign cars as well.

The Felda settlers' hard-earned income pays for it and so do all the government servants who diligently take a loan from the banks and finance companies and pay monthly with their hard-earned income over three to seven years.

Even the second-hand car buyer pays for it because the elevated value of the second-hand car also takes into account the higher prices of new cars.

Yes, all buyers of cars, old and new, through the loans that we take from the banks, pay a lot more and make greater sacrifices to ensure former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad does not lose face while he is still alive for his ill-conceived ideas for enslaving Malaysians.

Not Convinced: We pay income taxes. And for car buyers, we pay additional taxes. For many Malaysians, the taxes on car are higher than what we pay in income taxes. We are clearly being hit twice by the government. That's a case of double taxation.

TimsTime: Lowering the car price to RM30,000 means that you save on insurance and loan interest. For a RM30,000 car, that's a total savings of RM1,980 per year.

If you take a loan for seven years, the savings is RM8,400 on interest alone. Remember, there is also the spare parts savings of 30 percent to 50 percent of the current price. Is that convincing enough for you to change the government?

Unspin: The saddest part about this Proton saga is that if the price of a Proton Persona drops to RM30,000 vis-à-vis RM50,000 for a Honda City, most people would opt for the Honda (or Toyota, Suzuki or Hyundai) due to decades negative experiences with a Proton.

There is no reason for us to be apologetic to Proton because they have messed up royally - for example, there were several golden opportunities for Proton to merge with Volkswagen which needed an Asean base, but they chose not to due to one crazy man's super-sized ego.

Another pertinent point to note is that Proton is now ‘privatised' under DRB-Hicom, which is another reason why we should let it die a natural death if it cannot re-engineer itself to compete in the free market.

LittleGiant: If Proton is to establish itself as a maker of quality cars, then it must operate in a free market environment. The Proton management should come out of their ‘I demand to be protected' mentality and be willing to face the challenges of good competition.

Can Proton continue to depend only on Malaysians to support their survival? Why are they not courageous enough to reach out to the world and look at much bigger markets further away?

While Pakatan Rakyat wants to abolish excise tax and help more Malaysians to own cars, it is imperative that its leaders should be sincere in their plans to develop and improve the country's public transport infrastructure.

There will always be a significant segment of public who would depend only on public transport for their commuting needs and survival.

It is a known fact that BN has failed to provide an efficient and reliable public transport system in almost all major cities across the nation. Pakatan cannot afford to replicate BN's dismal record on this matter.

Anonymous #06001393: PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli knows what he is talking about, unlike Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. All Pakatan needs to do is keep fuel prices at current levels or even have a small tax on it, so you pay if you drive.

Gerard Lourdesamy: Proton and Perodua can still cater to the lower middle-class and the lower income group since their cars will become more affordable. Remember 70 percent of Malay households earn less than RM3,000 per month.

So this big segment of the market will gravitate towards Proton and Perodua. There will be no need to retrench workers at both auto manufacturers. As for the rest, at least consumers get a fair choice and better quality cars can become affordable for the middle-class.

Ghost: I thought Khairy was an Oxford graduate? So either he doesn't know the difference between the excise and import taxes, or is purposely trying to mislead people. From all his previous silly statements, the truth appears to be a little bit of both.

So Khairy is admitting that Proton is being propped up by levying taxes on foreign cars? So much for caring for the people. Proton, being a local car, should be competitive than a car which is manufactured abroad and shipped in, even without the government having to tax foreign cars.

The truth is despite the competitive advantage Proton naturally has, it still cannot compete because of lousy management and crony practices. And we, the rakyat, are made to pay for this to keep the fat cats happy.
Jedi_Who: Pakatan leaders like Rafizi show competency and maturity that no BN leader has shown. People would follow someone like Rafizi, who is a technocrat and understands well economics and business best practices.

Already Pakatan looks more formidable than BN. PM Najib Razak says Pakatan can't rule, but we beg to differ.

Odin: Rafizi, as far as I can remember, no West Malaysian politician, particularly from the BN, has ever mentioned anything about solving the problems in East Malaysia. You are the first. Yes, the transport problem there is one of the major things that must be resolved.

Just to give you an idea of how untrustworthy the BN is, when Najib's father was the PM, he promised to have a road linking Kapit to the nearest town built. The promise was made 43 years ago.

The length of the road needed is only 71km. No prize for guessing if the road exists today. There is only one highway in Sarawak; most sections of it are pathetic. There are no overtaking lanes, and accidents often happen at various stretches of the highway.

In Sabah, it is no better. In both states, rural dwellers who can afford it have no choice but to buy a 4WD or a pick-up. I hope you will be the finance minister after GE13.

Munky: I agree with Odin, no politician from the other side of South China Sea has ever mentioned how bad the situation is in Sabah.

The only time we ever hear about Sabah from BN is how we should vote for them. We need a highway from the north all the way to the southern border with Brunei.

But I digress; removing the excise taxes will be a great help to everyone in the country.

The money should rightfully be in our pockets where it belongs, and not in state or federal coffers with people in charge who think they know best on how to distribute wealth amongst the people.

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