Malaysia's Proton in alliance talks with potential partners
Malaysia's Proton in alliance talks with potential partners
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian carmaker Proton said Wednesday
it has held discussions with several global automotive
manufacturers to explore product development and engineering
alliances.
In a statement responding to a report that U.S.' Ford Motor
Co. was keen to form an alliance, Proton named its current
partner Mitsubishi Motor Corp. as among the manufacturers but did
not mention Ford.
"Proton has always listened to proposals for more than an
alliance provided they support the national car program and make
a strategic fit to the company for a win-win situation," it
added.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad earlier this month said the
government was prepared to sell up to 30 percent of Perusahaan
Otomobil Nasional Bhd. (Proton) and that a U.S. car manufacturer
had expressed interest.
Japan's Mitsubishi Motors and Mitsubishi Corp. now jointly own
16 percent of Proton.
The Business Times said Wednesday that Ford was keen in an
alliance. It quoted Ford officials in Detroit as saying Proton
was deemed attractive because it is Southeast Asia's biggest
carmaker and the only one with a research and development
program.
Ford has manufacturing plants in Thailand and the Philippines,
as well as an assembly plant in Malaysia.
Ford president and chief executive Jacques Nasser said the
company would continue to expand operations in ASEAN to take
advantage of tariff rollbacks under the ASEAN Free Trade Area
(AFTA) program.
But Thailand will continue to be Ford's regional manufacturing
center for trucks and the Philippines for its U.S. line-up,
Nasser added.
The newspaper said a tie-up with Proton would consolidate
Ford's position in the ASEAN region, which has a combined
population of about 500 million and prospective car sales of 1.5
million units by 2003.
Proton is preparing for competition in 2005 when its tariff
protection from imported cars will almost disappear under AFTA.
It has said it was on the lookout for possible tie-ups that would
boost its technological base.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.