Autoblog

Lotus appears to be in play, with reports that a Malaysian company has approached Proton about buying the sports car maker. State-owned Proton, which has been struggling of late, has seen its shares take a further beating since the collapse of its talks with Volkswagen, which has set the table for an opportunistic approach.

The bidder hasn't been named, but it is suspected to be Malaysian conglomerate Naza. Lotus ownership would give Naza its own platform -- Lotus' Variable Vehicle Architecture -- for a new car that Naza's developing in-house. Since Naza also distributes brands like Brabus, Hamann, and Porsche in Malaysia, adding Lotus to the stable would make sense.

On a side note, as for economy-car-maker ownership of a premium English brand goes -- for those afraid of Tata owning Jaguar -- Proton's ownership of Lotus hasn't diminished the marque's desirability in the least...

[Source: Paul Tan]