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.