Tan Chong Motor
Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad, also known as the TCMH Group or Tan Chong Motor, is a Malaysia-based multinational corporation that is active in automobile assembly, manufacturing, distribution and sales, but is best known as the franchise holder of Nissan vehicles in Malaysia. The company was founded in 1957 by two Malaysian entrepreneurs, Tan Yuet Foh and Tan Kim Hor, with ambitions of importing and selling Datsun cars from Japan. Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad was incorporated on 14 October 1972, and in 1974, the company was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
Tan Chong Motor Assemblies Sdn. Bhd. , a subsidiary of the TCMH Group commenced automobile assembly operations in 1976 at its plant in Segambut, Kuala Lumpur. The TCMH Group later constructed a second plant in Serendah, Selangor, a third plant in Da Nang, Vietnam, a fourth plant in Bago, Myanmar, a fifth plant in Da Nang, Vietnam and a sixth plant in Bangkok, Thailand.
The TCMH Group also holds the franchise rights for UD Trucks, Renault and Foton Motor in Malaysia, as well as for Nissan vehicles in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar respectively. TCMH also owns subsidiaries that are active in property holdings and financial services.
Tan Chong Motor Holdings Berhad is not to be confused with Tan Chong International Limited, a separate Hong Kong–based holding company that was created in 1998 under a demerger initiated by the TCMH Group.
History
1950s – Birth
The Tan Chong story began in 1957, the same year Malaya became independent from British colonial rule, and 12 years after the end of World War II. The late Tan Yuet Foh, founder of Tan Chong Motor, was an enterprising taxi driver in Kuala Lumpur. In 1957, Tan heard news of a visit from the President of Datsun to the newly established Japanese embassy in Malaya. Without the luxury of powerful connections or a means to contact the President, he waited outside the embassy gates for the President's arrival. His perseverance and tenacity was rewarded when the President granted Tan the franchise rights to Datsun vehicles, and it is said that his words to the President were "Just give me the chance to sell a few cars and I’ll show you what we can do". Tan Yuet Foh would later enlist the help of Tan Kim Hor, and together the Tan brothers formed Tan Chong & Sons Motor Co. Ltd.. Nissan/Datsun became the first Japanese marque to be imported and sold officially in Malaysia. The Tan brothers had no prior experience of selling cars, but in their first year of business they sold 39 cars from a shop lot in Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur.During the 1950s and 1960s, Malaya was a largely agricultural nation reliant on tin, rubber and palm oil exports. The automotive market was relatively small as only the wealthy could afford cars in major cities like Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Ipoh. The market was dominated by British, European, American and Australian cars, as Malayans had long been accustomed to Western cars with the first models arriving as early as the late 19th century. Initially, Japanese cars were not popular when they arrived in the 1950s, and they were perceived as inferior to their Western counterparts. The lightness and thin construction of the cheap Japanese cars drew criticism, and popularised the derogatory term, 'Milo tin' in the 1960s. The term came about when, according to an industry veteran from that time, a workshop had repaired damaged body panels on a Japanese car with scrap metal from old tins, including Milo tins, and it was possible that the repainting was improperly done and the wording underneath was visible. Since then, the term 'Milo tin' has come to be used against cars with poor build quality or questionable safety credentials. In addition to the quality concerns, anti-Japanese sentiment was still strong in 1960s Malaysia, owing to bitter memories from the Japanese occupation during World War 2. Undeterred by the discouraging comments, the Tan brothers figured that if nobody bought the cars, they could still use them for other purposes.
1960s – Growth
By the 1960s, the Malaysian government began to emphasise industrialisation, then viewed as a more dependable economic sector for employment and economic growth. Malaysia had previously assembled a small number of cars and trucks, but the vast majority were imports. In May 1964, the Malaysian government enacted a policy to encourage the local assembly of vehicles and manufacturing of automotive components, as per the recommendation of experts from the Colombo Plan. The new policy made imported completely built up cars more expensive through the addition of import duties, and licenses were issued to various car companies who were interested in setting up local assembly plants. Cars that were locally assembled with Malaysian manufactured components would be granted a reduction in import duties, making them cheaper and more competitive as a result. The government would later ban the import of CBU cars altogether and instead, importers were required to obtain Approved Permits to legally import and sell CBU cars.Nissan/Datsun responded to the government's call for industrialisation by exporting completely knocked down kits from Japan to Malaysia, where they were assembled at the newly constructed Capital Motor Assembly plant in Tampoi, Johor. Several Datsun engineers assisted in the training of the local employees on technical skills at the plant. The first Malaysian-assembled Datsun rolled off the factory floor in June 1968. Prices for the locally assembled Datsuns were reduced and sales improved significantly in the following years. However, in 1971, Capital Motor Assembly was sold to General Motors, and Datsun production was shifted to the Swedish Motor Assemblies plant in Shah Alam, Selangor.
1970s – Zenith
The 1970s was a prosperous decade for Tan Chong Motor, and it marked the first major turning point in the company's history. In 1970, Datsun became the best-selling brand of car in the Malaysian market. Despite the initial struggles and scepticism, the Tan brothers had succeeded in establishing Datsun as a household name. The dominance of long standing European brands had greatly diminished by the 70s, in contrast with the rapid rise in demand for Japanese cars. In addition to Tan Chong Motor's efforts, the newfound success of Datsun in Malaysia was also attributed to the affordable pricing, high reliability and admirable fuel efficiency of the Datsun vehicles themselves, selling propositions which many of its European competitors of that period could not match. For those reasons, Datsuns were widely used as taxis and many continued in service well into the 1990s.The greatest threat to Datsun's dominance in the Malaysian market came from another Japanese brand, Toyota. Like Datsun, Toyota had also embarked on a similar approach in its marketing, offering affordable, reliable and fuel efficient vehicles for the masses. Both Toyota and Datsun battled fiercely for pole position in the Malaysian market, often just fractions apart in total market share. In 1974, Toyota captured 15.96% of the Peninsular Malaysian market, while Datsun managed 15.67%, and in 1975, Toyota and Datsun captured 14.97% and 14.85% respectively. Nonetheless, Datsun successfully fended off Toyota for most of the 1970s and early 80s, making Malaysia one of the few markets in the world where Datsun beat Toyota. Datsun's upper management in Tokyo were highly supportive of Tan Chong Motor's efforts, and Tan Yuet Foh was highly respected among Datsun's executives. TCM often had the upper hand when negotiating pricing and specifications for Malaysian-market Datsuns.
With growing demand for Datsun cars in the 1970s, the Tan brothers considered the possibility of constructing their own assembly plant. Prior to 1976, Tan Chong Motor had to rely on third parties for the local assembly of their popular Datsun vehicles. The prospect of a new Malaysian plant was welcomed by Datsun's top executives, and it was decided that the plant would be constructed in Segambut, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Datsun's engineers would contribute to the plant's design, and its overall layout would mirror the prestigious Datsun Zama plant, while a separate subsidiary, Tan Chong Motor Assemblies Sdn. Bhd. would handle plant operations. Advanced manufacturing techniques would also be incorporated, including the electro-dipping system of applying primer to car bodies, in which the entire bodyshell of a car is electrically charged and immersed in a tank of primer paint, ensuring that every bit of bare metal is covered and safeguarded against rust. At the time, TCMA's plant was the nation's first to implement this technology. In 1976, the new plant commenced operations, and the first Datsun from TCMA was flagged off by Tan Yuet Foh in an official ceremony. The following year, TCMA began assembling Datsun Diesel trucks and buses, and by 1980, locally manufactured parts for TCMA's models had grown to include shock absorbers, leaf springs, tyres, glass, batteries, seat belts and wiring harnesses among others.
1980s – Depression
The 1980s was a challenging period and marked a second major turning point in Tan Chong Motor's history. By the 80s, the Malaysian government had realized that their 1964 policy on the local assembly of vehicles and manufacturing of automotive components had not resulted in technology transfer as originally envisioned. Prices of new cars in Malaysia had inflated significantly by the early 80s, with most if not all locally assembled CKD models generally costing more to produce than an equivalent CBU import. The inflation of car prices was attributed to a number of factors, including low efficiency and inadequate economies of scale among the parts manufacturers and assembly plants, the government's mandatory CKD deletion policy, high import and excise taxes for the CKD models, and various others. Additionally, the automotive industry in Malaysia was held back by a small domestic market, and manufacturers primarily served domestic demand and did not emphasise exports, thus limiting the growth and competitiveness of the industry as a whole.Not content with the state of the nation's automotive industry, the government concluded that direct involvement was necessary to reverse losses and spur future industrial growth. The National Car Project was drafted in the early 80s with the objective of accelerating technology transfer, increasing and rationalising local content, and involving more bumiputera entrepreneurs in the then largely ethnic Chinese dominated automotive industry. The National Car Project would lead to the founding of Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn. Bhd. in May 1983, and the launch of the Proton Saga in July 1985. The new Proton cars were assembled in a dedicated plant in Shah Alam and were exempt from import duties on the CKD packs, allowing them to be priced below the popular Japanese cars of the time such as the Datsun Sunny and Toyota Corolla. However, the Malaysian economy and automotive industry went into depression in the mid 80s, and the Japanese yen began to appreciate, driving up new car prices even further. The combination of the various factors above witnessed sales of new Datsun cars plummeting 90% to an average of 300 units a month in 1986. The Tan brothers' businesses were severely affected, and the latter half of the 1980s witnessed large revamps and restructuring in the Tan Chong group. Datsun/Nissan would never again reclaim their title of Malaysia's best-selling car brand, as Proton and later Perodua would occupy and monopolise Tan Chong Motor's traditional budget car segment in the following years.