Malaysian carmaker sponsors British team to boost sales<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse
\nKuala Lumpur, Malaysia<\/p>\n
Malaysia's national carmaker Proton will sponsor English first
\ndivision football club Norwich City next season and offer
\ndiscounts in a bid to boost sales, a report said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
With some 35,000 club supporters, the sponsorship would give
\nProton cars the brand awareness and recognition they lack in
\nBritain, Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd. (Proton) chief
\nexecutive Mahaleel Ariff told The Star newspaper.<\/p>\n
\"What better way to do this than through football as we are
\nthe biggest investor in Norfolk,\" Mahaleel was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
To spur sales, a Proton spokesman said club members would be
\ngiven a discount if they purchased Proton cars.<\/p>\n
Proton in 1996 bought an 80 percent stake in Britain's Lotus
\nEngineering Ltd. to boost its technological capabilities, and
\nlast year purchased the remaining 20 percent.<\/p>\n
The deal, the biggest sponsorship in the club's history, was
\nsigned by Mahaleel and club chairman Roger Munby in Norwich on
\nTuesday, the newspaper said, adding the sponsorship was worth a
\nseven-figure sum in pounds.<\/p>\n
A statement from Lotus later confirmed the three-year deal.<\/p>\n
\"We are looking forward to building our name within the UK and
\nour association with The Canaries will help us to do this,\" said
\nBrian Collier, managing director of Proton Cars U.K.<\/p>\n
Under the pact, the club will carry the Proton logo on its
\ntraditional yellow and green colors while the away kit in racing
\ngreen will bear the Lotus brand, it said.<\/p>\n
Norwich finished the current season in eighth position,
\nmissing out on a play-off for a place in the country's top
\ndivision, the English Premier League.<\/p>\n
News of the sponsorship boosted Proton shares by 6.15 percent
\nto 6.90 ringgit (1.82 dollars) on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange
\nWednesday as investors bought the stock on the belief that it
\nwould boost sales, dealers said.<\/p>\n
The sponsorship programme is part of Proton's efforts to
\nexpand exports ahead of the opening of the Malaysian car market
\nin 2005 under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
\nFree Trade Area (AFTA).<\/p>\n
Britain is Proton's single largest export market but sales
\noverseas have been poor so far as it strives to establish its
\npresence alongside other bigger, more established carmakers.<\/p>\n
Proton has jointly with Lotus developed its own Campro engine
\nto cut production costs by 20 percent.<\/p>\n
It has recently ventured into China to sell commercial
\nvehicles and is bidding for a licence to sell passenger cars
\nthere. It has a factory in Iran and plans to set up a plant in
\nNorth Africa and possible South America.<\/p>\n
Proton currently holds some 60 percent of the Malaysian market
\ndue to high tariffs on imported cars.<\/p>\n
This protection will largely disappear under AFTA where
\ntariffs fall to below five percent in January but Malaysia has
\nobtained a reprieve for its auto industry until 2005 on the
\nlevies.<\/p>",
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},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}