News has just hit us that there are more than 40 DRB-Hicom Berhad executives leaving the company very soon and 20 of them are very senior and prominent executives which we have had the pleasure of working with in the automotive industry the past many years. There is still no official statement from DRB-Hicom public relations department and speculation on this mass departure seems to come from many different points. We will share more news as we get it in the coming weeks.
DRB-Hicom Berhad is one of Malaysia’s leading corporations, involved in the automotive manufacturing, assembly and distribution industry through its involvement in the passenger car and four wheel drive vehicle market segment, the national truck project and the national motorcycle project. The company is also part owner in Proton Cars and Lotus Cars.
DRB-HICOM assembles cars in Malaysia for Honda, Volkswagen, Isuzu, Mercedes-Benz and assembles trucks for Tata with plans for expansion. The Group also retails various brands such Audi (via Euromobil Sdn Bhd), Mitsubishi (via EON Auto Mart Sdn Bhd) and Volkswagen (via HICOM Auto Sdn Bhd). They are also involved in the motorcycle business under the brand name Modenas.
Besides the automotive business, the group’s core business focuses are in the services (postal, banking, vehicle inspections) and property & infrastructure sectors. These are conducted via several companies such as Pos Malaysia, Bank Muamalat, and PUSPAKOM. It is also the owner of two education institutions, namely DRB-HICOM University of Automotive Malaysia in Pekan, Pahang, and Akademi Saga in Shah Alam, Selangor. The latter is a vocational training centre that produces trained mechanics.
The Group also has significant presence in the defence industry. Through DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (DEFTECH), it designs, develops, manufactures and supplies armoured and logistics vehicles for military and homeland security use. It supplies mainly to the Government of Malaysia.
