Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has revealed a number of his suggestions to improve Proton when he was still its chairperson, but claimed they were rejected.

"I tried to upgrade Proton's engine, but Proton rejected it.

"I also made a pick-up truck. Proton not only rejected it, but disagreed with selling 1,000 Proton Preve which the buyers were willing to change from sedan to the pick-up," Mahathir said in a blog posting today.

His other suggestions included efforts to fit the Campro Proton 1600cc engine with a turbo charger, which he said made it able to drive up Genting Highlands without any problems.

That engine, he added, is even cheaper than the Proton Perdana 2000cc engine, which it equaled in power.

But again, Proton rejected this idea, Mahathir said.

He had previously claimed that he had driven Proton cars on the windy roads to Genting Highlands, a popular resort with an average elevation of 1,740m.

Mahathir explained again his visit to Chinese firm Geely Automobile Holding Ltd in China...