Business

Thursday September 6, 2007

Proton still in alliance talks with several parties



KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian national carmaker Proton is in still in talks with several parties to form an alliance, chairman Azlan Hashim said Thursday, without naming the potential partners.

Azlan declined to say if an agreement can be reached by year-end.

"We'll wait and see,'' he said at a press conference.

Proton has been in talks with Germany's Volkswagen AG and General Motors Corp. of the U.S. about a possible alliance to turn around its fortunes, though the possibility of a local partner joining a tie-up has also been mooted.

Azlan did not say if the "several parties'' he referred to included other companies or only Volkswagen and General Motors.

Proton's managing director Syed Zainal Abidin predicted an improvement in the company's financial results for the year ending March 31, 2008 with launch of new models to boost car sales.

The state-owned carmaker reported a loss of 591.36 million ringgit (US$169 million; euro124 million) in the 2007 financial year.

In the three months ended June 30, Proton posted its fifth quarterly loss of 46.75 million ringgit (US$13 million; euro9.5 million).

"We are hopeful that with the Persona and the launch of a new model in January, our performance will improve,'' Syed Zainal said.

The Persona is a 1.6 liter sedan launched mid-August.

Proton's market share has slid to 23 percent, from around 60 percent five years ago. - AP

 
PROTON :  [Stock Watch]  [News] 
PROTON-C :  [Stock Watch]


For latest Bursa Malaysia indices, charts and other information click here

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story