KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya is overpaying for leased Proton Perdana cars as official cars in the government fleet, costing about RM250,000 for each 2.4 executive version over five years, Kampar MP Ko Chung Sen (DAP) said yesterday. Ko said  the stretch version used by the prime minister and the deputy prime minister were purchased at RM295,000 each, close to the price paid by the Penang government for an S-class Mercedes for Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, at RM298,263.75.

The DAP secretary-general came under criticism late last year after the new car was purchased at a time Malaysians were protesting over price hikes. Lim explained he had swapped his two-month-old Toyota Camry for a new Mercedes-Benz which was purchased at a cheaper price than the original RM657,218.

Ko said that even Umno Kinabatangan MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin had slammed national carmaker Proton in Parliament yesterday for continuing to rebadge other Japanese cars instead of developing its own brand. “It is embarrassing that the whole world knows that our prime minister, deputy prime minister and government officers are using overpriced rebadged Honda Accords,” Ko told reporters at the parliament lobby.

He said the government will order 3,000 Proton Perdana cars on a staggered basis from DRB-Hicom over a two-year period which began late last year.

According to the Kampar MP, Putrajaya currently leases the new Proton Perdana 2.4 executive at RM3,284.84 per month, which works out to RM197,090.40 per car after five years. After adding maintenance and servicing, the cost per car would work out to RM259,976.40 in five years.

Ko said the Proton Perdana 2.0 standard version is being leased by the government for RM173,539.20 over five years, when in contrast the Perak government bought 12 Proton Perdana cars for RM115,000 each.  “Surely it does not make sense to lease a car that would cost more than buying within five years,” he said. — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 5, 2014.