VW in talks to buy Proton
Volkswagen is trolling the aisles of the global auto manufacturer market and looking for a new company to add to its cart. This week Malaysia's former prime minister confirmed the German automaker is in discussions with Proton to possibly buy a controlling stake or the entire state-run automaker outright. Proton's protected in its home country by a 300-percent tariff on imported vehicles, but the closed market will be opened to foreign competition in 2008. Proton, which also owns Lotus, would like to see a possible buyer commit to continuing to build Proton vehicles rather than just taking over the company's production capacity in Malaysia to build its own vehicles. VW has already announced it will be begin assembling the Passat and Fox in Malaysia with Proton.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joseph Willemssen 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Maybe the quality of VW cars will finally get better now. lol
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The Doctor 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
If VW can stop the new Esprit being built in Malasia then I'm all for it...
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iQuack 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Woopie! Is this like two drunks trying to hold each other up?
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Craig Weems 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
Had you offered "none of the above" a new winner would have surfaced.
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bummerboy 11:05PM (12/18/2005)
VW wants lotus.. imagine.. lotus engineered bentley.. lotus tuned lambo! wooohooo!!!
what's proton doing with lotus? You simply cannot grow a car company with essentially one car (elise/exige are fundamentally similar).
I pray for lotus.
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