Lai left his position as an engineer with a Korean tech giant and joined his family business, a Proton service centre under EON, that has been in operation since 2004.
"Business was bad at the time. We were servicing only around 60 cars a month, and my father was at his wit's end and wanted to surrender the service centre," he said in an interview at Proton's Centre of Excellence in Shah Alam.
Lai, 35 from Nilai, Negri Sembilan, spent some time observing the weaknesses of the LHM One Stop Car Service Center and decided to quit his engineering job in 2007 to focus on building up the business.
Ryan test drives a Geely car.
"I discovered there was nothing wrong with the brand but the service centre itself needed a jolt," he said.
"What I did was to quickly come out with a policy for human resource and administration. We ensured the technicians were up to the standards. Discipline and work quality became the new law.
"We had previously never entertained warranty claims, which made us lost many business opportunities. We studied the warranty claim process and started offering that service."
LHM One Stop Car Service Center which operates in Nilai now has 65 employees, 10 of them manning the Proton showroom alone. The service centre was upgraded from a 2S to 4S centre last year.
It is now servicing 1,300 Proton cars on average every month and caters to customers in Nilai, Sepang, KLIA, Cyberjaya and Putrajaya.
Geely Service Centre.
Lai was invited by Proton recently to visit Geely's dealership and the Geely Research Institute in Shanghai.
"The Geely dealership was truly an eye opener. They treat their customers very well. Although Geely is not a premium brand, the service there is akin to one provided by one (premium car brand)," said Lai.
"This trip to Geely’s facilities was a money-can’t-buy experience. I will be sharing some of the ideas there and implement it in my service centre."
Lai also had a chance to test-drive the Geely Boyue SUV, the model that will be the base for Proton's first SUV, set to be launched in Malaysia next year. "It has the right look and size and the interior quality really got me excited," he said.
"The dashboard, door trim, leather seat and the equipment in the Boyue reminded me of my brother's premium German SUV back in Malaysia. It was really that good," said Lai. He also said the turbocharged engine and the automatic gearbox were "very smooth!"
Lai also pointed out that Proton's decision to expand its marketing efforts online would attract younger customers. "Proton is moving in the right direction," he said, adding that he is considering increasing his investment in the brand.
