KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamad Tahir said the company is in discussions with a foreign car company to strike a strategic alliance and hopes one would be concluded by year-end.
Calling such a tie-up the �missing link� for Proton, Syed Zainal, however, did not disclose the identity of the party the national carmaker was in talks with.
He made these remarks after breaking fast with the media yesterday and said Proton was progressing well in its 10-year plan.
StarBiz reported yesterday that Proton was in discussions with Volkswagen (VW) on a strategic partnership that would see VW cars assembled at the former�s plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak.
The partnership is not expected to see VW taking up an equity stake in Proton but a collaboration in platforms and engines is likely being negotiated.
It is understood that the Government would like Proton to have a strategic alliance before the review of the National Automotive Policy (NAP) is completed.
The NAP is expected to be announced next month.
Proton and VW are no strangers to negotiations as both parties came close a couple of years ago to striking a deal that would have seen the German company taking up an equity stake in the national carmaker.
DRB-HICOM Bhd is also said to be engaged in discussions with VW on the assembly of cars in its plant in Pekan, Pahang.
As discussions over a strategic alliance gather momentum, talks are also emerging that Proton could be the target of a takeover.
A blogger wrote that a former executive director of Proton, Datuk Kisai Rahmat, is teaming up with the Naza Group to launch a bid for Proton.
This comes as talk is rife that Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary, who controls DRB-HICOM Group, is interested in getting control of the national auto company.
PROTON : [Stock Watch] [News]
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