1.0 MALAYSIA CAR INDUSTRY Malaysia is one of the smaller Southeast Asian markets for motor vehicle production and sales and ranks behind South Korea, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. Since 1985, when the first made-in-Malaysia car, Proton rolled off the production line, it have been spearheading Malaysia's ambitious plan to become one of the world's most advanced industrial societies by the year 2020. To date over one million Protons have been sold in 51 countries throughout the world. By contrast, Malaysia's motor vehicle industry actually remains heavily protected with import duties ranging from 140