Proton prefers a foreign partner
Proton's managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said that Proton prefers a foreign partner rather than a local one, as an established foreign automaker provided more value in terms of technology, marketing and other areas. During the great "find Proton a partner" saga that happened a few months ago, there were a few local and foreign possible partners for Proton. Local partners included the Naza Group, DRB-HICOM and Mofaz, while the possible foreign partners were PSA Peugoet Citroen, the Volkswagen group and General Motors. PSA came and went first, then it was Volkswagen and GM. The Volkswagen deal almost happened but got called off by the government at the very last minute. Apparently talks with GM are still ongoing, but these talks are said to be at extremely preliminary and exploratory stages.
Proton to make Turkey European production center
According to a report by Turkish paper Today’s Zaman, Proton intends to make Turkey its European production center. Proton’s Turkish distributor is Ulu Motor, part of the Ulubaslar Group.
The Turkish automotive industry produced 1.13 million vehicles last year, and expects to hit the 2 million annual production mark by 2012. It is now ranked number 10 in the world in terms of annual production of cars. In the past 4 months this year, Turkey’s automotive exports rose 52% compared to the same period in 2007.