Skip to Content

Make smart financial decisions with DailyFinance

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Volkswagen

VW & Proton deal on shaky ground

Looks like the talks between Proton and Volkswagen aren't going as well as they could... again. Both companies have said that talks are continuing, but The Edge business newspaper is reporting that no agreement appears likely in the near future. They reported that VW has been "less keen" about the deal lately. The first round of deal breaking news came in December but things appeared to be back on track since then. Seems like there have been a lot of delays in the negotiations, fueling rumors of some discord, even though VW has already signed their letter of intent to purchase 51% of the company.

The deal itself involves the manufacturing part of Proton, which is Malayasian owned. VW is looking for additional production capacity for its Passat sedan to help with Japanese exports. Malayasian built Passats would avoid the Japanese tariffs because of a free trade agreement between these two countries. And even better news for Volkswagen is the fact that Malaysia is also working on free trade deals with Australia and the U.S. So they could also increase manufacturing there in the future for export to those markets as well.

Other companies are still showing interest in Proton, including three Malaysian firms. Some industry insiders even say GM is going to throw its hat into the ring. Another automaker that had been involved in the bidding was PSA Peugeot Citroën, but it has announced that it's no longer interested.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

Featured Galleries

First Drive: 2010 BMW X6 M
2010 Jaguar XJ
Fiat 500C UK launch
1931 Miller V16 racing car
Review: 2009 Ford Edge Sport
2010 Hyundai Sonata - spy shots
Ferrari at 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Bridgestone 3G RFT
Review: 2009 Smart ForTwo
Forza 3 Japanese Screen Shots
Review: 2009 Audi A6 3.0T
2010 Lamborghini LP550-2
AOL Autos

Find Your Next Car


Autoblog Video

Autoblog Green

BloggingStocks

Download Squad

Engadget

Joystiq

Autoblog Spanish

Switched.com

FanHouse

Asylum