Proton Reunites with Mitsubishi

[alien]

Malaysia's Proton Reunites with Ex-Ally Mitsubishi

Thu Feb 2, 2006 8:11 AM ET



KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian carmaker Proton confirmed a new alliance with Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp (7211.T: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday as Proton sought to recover from losses and the breakdown of a joint venture with Germany's Volkswagen.
The partnership with Mitsubishi, a former Proton shareholder that helped the state-controlled firm make its first cars two decades ago, will be restricted to technology and will not involve an equity stake, Proton's new chief executive said.
Earlier on Thursday, Mitsubishi said the alliance would be unveiled on Friday but it did not give details.
"Proton being small, I don't see any reason why it should not be collaborating. That's the journey that we like to go," Managing Director Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Tahir told reporters.
Proton, which reported its second straight quarterly loss in November, was unlikely to fully turn around within a year, Syed Zainal Abidin added. "In the auto industry, a change is not going to happen in one week even a year," he said.
Proton shares tumbled in January when Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) quit their proposed joint venture in favor of a more modest deal for VW to supply products and components to Proton.
Syed Zainal Abidin said Proton also sought alliances with carmakers from China and India, two vast markets which he said the company could not ignore.
($1 = 3.74 ringgit)

quoted from reuters.com
original article :-
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=174359+02-Feb-2006+RTRS&srch=proton+mitsubishi

good news for us..

 

[acbc]

Hahahaha... now they begging Mitsubishi to be their partner... well, it's a good move since Mitsubishi also need a partner to take all the old technology from them.

 

[Fluffy]

yes!~ a damn good move!! plz o' plz...make the best out of this partnership PROTON!!! ARGH!

 

[facelift]

Somehow I think they gonna PROTONized Mitsubishi rather than MITSUBISHIized Proton. :p

 

[Fluffy]

hahaha wah...mati lor like that!

 

[kher]

Actually i stil duno whether this is good or bad? hahaha....poor understanding skills...

So we'll stil c Mitsu similar Proton cars in future???

 

[Joeker]

Return of the prodigal son.......

I hope Proton gets Mistubishi's surplus EVO engines.

EVO1, 2 or 3 or somewhere there is sufficient.

And I do hope Proton stops churning out those problematic Siemen ECU-ed cars.

 

[kher]

Mayb got Proton Wirafour in future...

 

[rollakid]

Hahahaha... now they begging Mitsubishi to be their partner... well, it's a good move since Mitsubishi also need a partner to take all the old technology from them.

if thats true, and the news about mitsubishi is strugling to survive now..

so the scenario is like this: "my company is strugling, i need cash. I need new models to attract more customer and throw away the old models. What a waste... eh?! hey look!! There's someone we can sell our old technology to for some income!! lets make a deal with them..." :D

so, lets ignore proton for a while. If mitsubishi can get some income from Proton, that means it will survive longer right? surviving longer must mean we might be seeing more rally cars from mitsu right? sounds good to me...

 

[Fluffy]

so...proton is being USED? omg..haha

 

[kher]

I tot mitsu's slaes is improving alr?
read from its wbsite's press release fromt time to time. Stil struggling 1 ah...

 

[Fluffy]

yup..mitsu is struggling! kesian...last resort... = proton.

 

[K_Takuya]

should get something from their mivec engine, or at least let mitsu improve proton engines quality standard

 

[rollakid]

honestly i'll respect proton and recomend proton if this partnership keep mitsubishi alive...

think about it, proton will never go down if gmen keep on supporting it (with our tax money). So on the bright side is that we get to drool at future mitsu evos if proton stay alive.

but the phrase "protonize mitsus" really freaks me out..

regards,
rollakid.

 

[alexz]

Just hope that somewhere along the line, proton cars will get the 4g63T or better the new chrysler/mitsu/hyundai 2.0 turbo engine to be used in EVO X.

Or a turboed Petronas E01 engine would do.

 

[TermiziYeoh]

I think this is good for both parties . Proton goes nowhere without any reliable partnership coz it cant stand on its own . So proton made clever step by joining with MMC , which has lotsa technology parts . Eventho their old technology , but still powerful , which till now we can see lotsa VR4 , GSR in Wira , Satria . And for MMC , it can continue producing great high performance cars . It's not proton is being used , but not wasting the good technology and performance parts . Hope to see a Wira with Evo3 for sale , or perhaps 4wd Satria Evo3 .

 

[NOSkill]

This is great. Proton has allied with the only car company that doesn't make profit last year.

 

[kRiminaLz]

Just hope that somewhere along the line, proton cars will get the 4g63T or better the new chrysler/mitsu/hyundai 2.0 turbo engine to be used in EVO X.

Or a turboed Petronas E01 engine would do.

FYI,
the Petronas EO1 will not be used in a proton.
Not in the near future...

coz petronas n a china company has signed an MOU for that engine/similar technology to it..

 

[rollakid]

This is great. Proton has allied with the only car company that doesn't make profit last year.

"fu fu de zheng"? hopefully two dying company working together would get better together

 

[NOSkill]

If mitsubishi can get some income from Proton, that means it will survive longer right? surviving longer must mean we might be seeing more rally cars from mitsu right? sounds good to me...

I'd rather save my tax money.