Reply to thread

See what others are reading now! Try Forums > Current Activity

Message: <blockquote data-quote="johndoe" data-source="post: 580069" data-attributes="member: 12991">Proton & Lotus Team Up To Tap Asia Pacific Automotive Market SHAH ALAM, May 6 (Bernama) -- Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton) and Lotus Engineering Malaysia Sdn Bhd will team up to tap the Asia Pacific market on a bigger scale to provide engineering and consultancy services in the automotive industry, the head of Proton's research and development (R&D) division, Tengku Azizan Tengku Ahmad, said Thursday.Currently, Lotus Malaysia, has secured a project to provide such services to a leading automotive manufacturer in China.Proton's R&D facility here, where the industrialisation and automotive dreams of the nation are transformed into reality, provides a complete and comprehensive range of engineering services for the automotive industry as well as for engineering consultancy for any industry requiring R&D expertise."With the expertise and all the facilities that we have at our R&D centre, we are now ready to offer our services to the automotive industry," he told reporters after a media briefing on Proton R&D Centre here today.Although Proton is busy with its own product development, Tengku Azizan said the company has already started providing such services to its local vendors.To date, Proton has provided services to Bufori and Perodua and also to countries like Iran.Tengku Azizan said Proton plans to extend its services not only locally but also to other countries in this region.In working together with Lotus Malaysia, he said it could use Proton's key R&D facilities such as vehicle platforms, protoptyping centre, powertrain engineering & services, homologation & testing, engineering development and services as well as engineering research.Tengku Azizan said Malaysia today is one of the only 11 countries in the world with the necessary expertise and technology to design, engineer and build a car from ground up.It is the only country in Asean with such capabilities and one of the few independent car manufacturers in the world.As one of the engines of growth, Tengku Azizan said Proton has a responsibility to contribute towards Malaysia's industrialisation process."The facilities and expertise available at the R&D centre provides Malaysia with the capability to lead the way by offering a complete range of engineering solutions to both local and foreign companies," he said.Proton, he said, has so far invested RM4.3 billion into R&D over the last five years and is expected to spend an additional RM5.0 billion over the next five years.Investments in R&D had given Proton its independence as a car manufacturer as it has been able to design, engineer and build its own products in order to compete competitively globally, he explained.Lotus Malaysia, sales & engagement manager, Karl de Souza, said the company's main objective is to be a centre of design excellence."We are to act as a regional hub for the Lotus global network, pulling technologies from Group Lotus, its suppliers, global partners and associations with technology institutes," he said.Group Lotus' main operating subsidiary is Lotus Cars Ltd, which has two operating divisions -- Lotus Engineering, which provides consultancy services to car manufacturers, and Lotus Cars, whose hand-built sports cars are sold in more than 40 countries.de Souza said the group would continue to invest in developing local engineering capabilities to offer a highly experienced, cost effective global resource.As a subsidiary of Group Lotus, Lotus Malaysia offers full engineering services and the transfer of technology and expertise to local employees and suppliers. Lotus Malaysia has just completed its third year of operations and is in the midst of expanding its wings to market its expertise in the Asia Pacific region."Our policy is to help build Malaysia as a world's leading R&D automotive centre which will both work in partnership and complement the existing mature manufacturing base in Asia," said de Souza.He said the strategic direction of Lotus Malaysia therefore is to continue to service the design and development requirements of Proton's projects while developing new opportunities in the Asean, Australian and Indian regions.-- BERNAMA</blockquote>