‘Lotus is not for sale,’ says MD

Proton Holdings Bhd, which is working with subsidiary Lotus Group International Ltd to introduce a turbo-charged engine based on the 1.6 litre Campro engine, has dismissed fresh speculation the group may sell the British company, saying it is committed to see through a turnaround plan of the sports car maker.

Chairman Datuk Sri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, however, declined to say whether there is a deadline given to the Lotus new management team, led by chief executive officer Dany Bahar, to put the company back on its feet.

“If we can turn around Lotus and continue to keep the company within the group, we will profit as shareholder,’’ Nadzmi told reporters after Proton’s AGM yesterday.

A press report earlier this week suggested that Proton had received unsolicited bids to buy stakes in Lotus.

“Lotus is not for sale,’’ managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said at the press conference. He reiterated that Lotus remained a valuable asset for Proton, and noted that Proton could further exploit its 100%-owned unit’s branding and engineering capabilities to strengthen the national carmaker’s own position.

Syed Zainal said Proton would offer a turbo-charged version of the Exora 1.6 litre engine starting early next year.

“This higher performance engine developed in collaboration with Lotus Engineering will unveil an engine equivalent in performance to a two-litre naturally aspirated engine,’’ Syed Zainal said, adding that the turbo-charged engine would next be introduced in the Satria Neo.

Meanwhile, Nadzmi said Proton remained open to collaboration with other industry players, and was not limiting itself to equity-arrangement with potential partners. He said the global motor industry, collaborations between companies can be in the form of product development, platform sharing, contract manufacturing amongst others.

“We are open to potential collaboration and we are definately not closing our door on this,’’ Nadzmi said. One example is the new collaboration with Japan’s Mitsubishi Motor Corp to launch a new model in the local market by November this year.

Industry observers have billed this upcoming launch, said to be based on the popular Mitsubishi Lancer, as a replacement for the aging Proton Waja.

Syed Zainal said the upcoming launch will be significant replacement for the Waja segment, and will be priced higher to match the new model bigger power-train and other features.

“Our strategy now is to offer upgrades for our customers,’’ Syed Zainal said.

Proton registered a total vehicles sales reached 157,170 units in its financial year ended March 31, 2010, up from 139.394 units recorded in the previous year.

Moving forward, Syed Zainal said Proton wil focus on enhancing its internal cost control and manage its foreign exchange exposure to ensure continued profitability.

An on-going internal restructuring, he said, will make each and every ore division leaner, globally competitive and potentially less dependant on its captive businesses.

He said a strong start in the first quarter had bolstered optimism that exports may exceed the group’s internal target of 30,000 units in this financial year.-thestar.