Proton will assemble Volkswagens for sale in Southeast Asia<\/p>\n
Associated Press
\nKuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Malaysian carmaker Proton says two Volkswagen models it will
\nassemble under a new deal will be sold in other Southeast Asian
\ncountries under the region's free trade area agreement.<\/p>\n
Proton said in a statement late on Tuesday that Volkswagen
\nwill assist it in quickly reaching the German automaker's quality
\nstandards in assembling the yet-to-be-announced models.<\/p>\n
Under the deal, Proton, which has a dominant share of the
\ndomestic market, is set to begin assembly of the two models late
\nnext year.<\/p>\n
Volkswagen has said it expects sales to top 15,000 units in
\n2006 from a few thousand now. No other details have been
\nreleased.<\/p>\n
The statement said the two cars will have enough local content
\nto allow them to be sold under the Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations Free Trade Area, or AFTA, agreement.<\/p>\n
It stipulates that items sold under the trade regime must
\ncarry at least 40 percent local content.<\/p>\n
\"It is also the intention to quickly localize and make these
\nvehicles eligible for qualification of ASEAN content for re-
\nexports to ASEAN countries,\" Proton's statement said.<\/p>\n
The move to sell Volkswagen cars under AFTA is likely to irk
\nMalaysia's competitors Thailand and Indonesia -- the two largest
\nassemblers in the region of foreign cars such as Toyota, Honda,
\nMazda, Ford and General Motors.<\/p>\n
Both countries complain that they can't sell their products in
\nMalaysia because of the government's protectionist policy.
\nMalaysia imposes a 100 percent excise tax on foreign cars,
\nforcing people to buy the state-owned Protons.<\/p>\n
The statement said the Proton-Volkswagen deal implies a
\nlonger-term, exclusive partnership with neither company opening
\ndiscussions with a competitor without prior consultation.<\/p>\n
When the deal was announced last week, some analysts expressed
\nconcern that a lack of equity participation by Volkswagen in
\nProton would likely hamper the transfer of needed technology to
\nthe Malaysian company.<\/p>\n
Without an equity stake, Volkswagen would have little
\ncommitment to share its technology, analysts said.<\/p>\n
Addressing those concerns, the statement said Volkswagen will
\nstudy the technical feasibility of supplying Proton with engines
\nand transmissions for its new products, so that \"wider domestic,
\nASEAN, and global markets\" can be served.<\/p>\n
It did not say how long the study would take.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/proton-will-assemble-volkswagens-for-sale-in-southeast-asia-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }