I have just finished watching a programme called Top Gear which is the definitive car programme in Europe, if not the world. The show test drove many cars but o­ne car in particular that was of real interest - the Kelisa.

While the hosts had trouble pronouncing 'Perodua', they had no trouble driving it and...liking the car! The o­nly negative comment was the "too shiny" dashboard. Apart from that, nothing else.

But, suffice to say, they loved the car for its simplicity (was even likened to the original Mini), the nice drive - all for o­nly 5,800. Mind you, the new Ford Focus had a dreadful time o­n Top Gear and this had an effect o­n it sales.

So, what goes o­n Top Gear can affect sales by creating a buyer awareness and providing independent review of the product - something that we lack in Malaysia.

The point of this is to tell the people back home that sometimes we get carried away with criticism, so much that we fail to give credit where it is due. The national car being o­ne of them.