2012 BMW M6 Preview

New Bentley Designer, David Hilton's Past: Motorcity Europe

Another Good NHRA Racing Day At Pomona
Indy Cars Return To The Milwaukee Mile

Formula One Concludes First Open Test At Jerez, Alonso On Top

Mazda Asks, 'What Do You Drive?': Video
Tesla Model X Unveiling And Ordering Details: Video

$1 Billion Prize Proposed For 100 MPG Car

INDYCAR Sets Leaders Circle Participants For 2012

Volkswagen buying stake in Proton

Viknesh Vijayenthiran

Editor BIO

Vik is an Editor at High Gear Media and contributor for a number of sites within the High Gear Media network. He was a co-founder of... More

LATEST ARTICLE
2012 Lincoln Navigator Recalled For Faulty Head Restraints
Ford has issued a recall on its 2012 Lincoln Navigator SUV as well as the vehicle’s Blue Oval... Read More

#1LEADERBOARD RANK
6911ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
61COMMENTS POSTED

1 1,013 views January 26, 2007

Volkswagen buying stake in Proton

Enlarge Photo

Volkswagen has signed an agreement of intent to buy a significant stake in the manufacturing arm of Malaysia’s state-owned Proton. The information was leaked from an inside source to XFN-Asia, ahead of an official statement due on the 8th of February. VW’s expected to purchase up to 51% of Proton’s manufacturing arm, giving the German giant control over the Malaysian carmaker’s factories.

A few years back it was reported that Volkswagen was keen to join with Proton to increase its capacity in Asia to build its Passat and Fox models. Proton has been losing market share to a host of international competitors ever since, including Malaysia’s own Naza and Perodua Motors. Other bidders that were hoping to buy into Proton include General Motors and the PSA Peugeot-Citroen group. Malaysia’s government had preferred either VW or Peugeot-Citroen to win the bid, and it appears as though GM and the French duo have lost out.