DRB-Hicom has announced that Datuk Abdul Harith Abdullah has been appointed to the post of chief executive officer of Proton, effective April 15. The official announcement was made earlier today during an International College of Automotive-related event at Holiday Inn Kuala Lumpur Glenmarie.
In March, it was reported that Harith, DRB-Hicom's group director for automotive and defence, had been named as acting CEO. Earlier in February, deputy CEO Datuk Lukman Ibrahim was reported to have vacated his post, but no official announcement was made regarding his departure.
Lukman was appointed to the deputy CEO post at Proton on May 1, 2012, shortly after DRB-Hicom took over control of the national carmaker.
Harith holds a Master's degree from the Royal College of Art in London, majoring in vehicle design. Prior to his position as group head for automotive and defence, he led several companies under the DRB-Hicom Group, namely Automotive Corporation Malaysia, Modenas and DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies (DEFTECH).