Proton Draws Plans To Improve Lotus' Revenues

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- Proton Holdings Bhd says that its current synergy with Lotus was not the way it wanted it to be but was still keeping the company with long-term plans being drawn to further improve its revenue especially by capitalising on its engineering capability."We have spoken to many parties who are interested to leverage on Lotus capability. We have to go not on a stand-alone basis but Lotus needs to work on strategic alliances with other engineering companies," said managing director Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohd Tahir.Besides the launch of a new model by Lotus in Geneva this week, other plans include positioning Lotus as a training provider but on a much greater scale.Syed Zainal was talking on plans for Lotus at a press conference, here on Monday to announce the national carmaker's third quarter results.Proton made a turnaround with a pre-tax profit of RM96.049 million for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2005 after two consecutive quarters of losses.However, the profitability was lower than the RM175.159 million registered in the same quarter of 2004, basically due to the higher promotions and incentive package as well as other expenses including that of research and development.During the quarter, its car domestic sales rose to 52,418 units while exports of Proton cars from December last year to date stood at 8,858 units.As for unsold cars (encompassing that of the factory, Proton Edar, EON and dealers) during the quarter, he said there was about 30,000 units which was slightly above a month's stock and at still a comfortable level.Meanwhile, Syed Zainal Abidin said Proton would not be releasing any new model in the near future except for the SRM which is on the board for launch this April.Proton also indicated the markets it wanted to be in such as that of traditional markets like United Kingdom, Australia, Asean and West Asia as well as the emerging markets of China and India.At the same time, he said Proton was working hard and aggressively and would pursue its multiple alliances, such as that with Mitsubishi and Petronas, to have better market presence and more products.He said that Proton's original objective of acquiring technology in making cars also remained but added: "But we are realistic to note that we cannot do a full sweep on our own because it costs too much and the market is too competitive and the timing is not right. We will still continue with one or two models of our own and further enhance what we have acquired but we will also be working with other alliances."-- BERNAMA

SPY ----> VW Polo BlueMotion

SPY ----> Koenigsegg CCX

Do you know about this KOENIGSEGG CCX?

SPY ----> Fiat Panda Monster

Small compact car segment is getting popular around the world, especially in Developed countries, mainly due to recent rocket high gasoline price and support green environment, soon or later it will be like Japan, where Kei-car (Light vehicle: under 1000 cc) will be an important market for car maker.

SPY ----> Lotus APX Concept Car (Episode 2)

This is the VVA platform used by Lotus. It will be used for developing new SUV and MPV models from Lotus. Who knows it might be share with others like Chinese Car maker and Proton. Let's wait and see how!

Link: http://wongseefu.blogspot.com/2006/02/spy-lotus-apx-concept-car.html

SPY ----> BMW 3 Series BiTurbo Engine

SPY ----> Lotus Europa S (Episode 2)

Link to previous post in DEC 2005 : http://wongseefu.blogspot.com/2005/12/spy-lotus-europa-s.html

SPY ----> Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon

Chery rakan kongsi Proton di China

KUALA LUMPUR 20 Feb. - Pengeluar kereta China, Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. (Chery) akan menjadi rakan kongsi Proton Holdings Bhd. bagi mengeluarkan model-model sedan Proton untuk pasaran negara itu.
Pengarah Urusan Proton, Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohd. Tahir dilaporkan telah mengadakan lawatan ke beberapa syarikat pengeluar kereta China pada bulan lalu dan turut melawat kilang Chery.
Sumber-sumber industri berkata, usaha sama Chery dan Proton itu dijangka menyaksikan kelahiran beberapa model kereta sedan bermula pada suku ketiga tahun ini.
``Sebagai permulaan, model-model Proton yang bakal dipasang di China dijangka terdiri daripada Proton Wira, Gen.2 dan Savvy.
``Proton sedang membuat proses akhir bagi memuktamadkan strategi dalam membentuk usaha sama itu dan dijangka mengumumkannya dalam masa terdekat,'' kata sumber kepada Utusan Malaysia di sini, hari ini.
Sumber itu menambah, pengeluaran kereta Proton di China akan dimulakan dengan kapasiti 50,000 buah setahun.
``Mungkin dalam tempoh tiga hingga empat tahun, kapasiti pengeluaran boleh ditingkatkan kepada 200,000 buah dan ini boleh dilakukan bila Proton memiliki produk yang menepati cita rasa semua,'' ujarnya.
Ditanya sama ada akan timbul pertindihan bagi model Proton yang akan dikeluarkan bersama dengan Volkswagen AG (VW) kelak, beliau berkata, perkara itu tidak berbangkit sama sekali.
Platform
``VW sememangnya sudah memiliki pasaran kukuh di China. Ia tidak memerlukan Proton sebagai platform untuk memasuki pasaran China.
``Tumpuan VW ialah pasaran Malaysia dan mungkin kemudiannya ke pasaran ASEAN,'' ujar beliau.
Seorang penganalisis berkata, langkah Proton menjalin usaha sama dengan syarikat automotif China tidak ada kena mengena dengan kegagalannya berbuat demikian dengan VW.
Menurutnya, apa yang ketara ialah Proton memilih bekerjasama dengan ``pihak yang boleh ia bekerja dengan, bukan dengan pihak yang mahu mengawalnya''.
``Ini satu langkah positif bagi Proton kerana potensi pasaran China yang besar, lebih-lebih lagi ia akan menyaksikan kereta Proton dijual di pasaran China,'' katanya.
Dalam pertemuan dengan media awal bulan ini, Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohd. Tahir mengakui matlamat Proton untuk menembusi pasaran China yang besar menerusi pakatan strategik.
``Proton adalah syarikat kecil. Saya tidak melihat apa sebab mengapa Proton tidak boleh bekerjasama. Itulah perjalanan yang ingin kita tempuhi,'' kata beliau.
``China dan India adalah dua pasaran yang tidak boleh kita lepaskan. Kami sedang melihatnya (pasaran China dan India) semula. Kita telah mengenal pasti beberapa pihak di China,'' katanya.

Proton dipikat Geely ke China

Proton dipikat Geely ke China

KUALA LUMPUR 21 Feb. - Selepas sehari dilaporkan bakal menjadi rakan kongsi Cherry Automobile Co. Ltd. dari China, Proton Holdings Bhd. (Proton) dipikat pula oleh pengeluar kereta terbesar di China, Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. untuk memasuki negara itu.
Pengarah Eksekutif Geely Automobile, Lawrence Ang berkata: ``Kami mempelawa Proton untuk menggunakan lebih 600 buah pusat pameran kami untuk mempromosikan kereta Malaysia di China.''
Geely Automobile menjual 143,000 buah kenderaan keluarannya pada tahun lalu dengan 95 peratus dipasarkan di negara komunis itu.
``Kami telah bertemu dan mengadakan rundingan dengan Proton tetapi belum mencapai sebarang kata putus mengenai kerjasama antara kedua-dua gergasi automotif itu.
``Kami sedang menunggu sebarang maklum balas dari rundingan itu kerana sangat berminat serta bersedia untuk membantu Proton menembusi pasaran automotif negara China,'' kata Ang.
Beliau berkata demikian ketika ditemui semasa persidangan bertajuk `Hong Kong's China Play' anjuran CIMB-GK di sini, hari ini.
Mengulas mengenai operasinya di Malaysia, Ang berkata, kerjasama Geely Automobile dengan Information Gateway Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (IGC) untuk memulakan pemasangan kereta secara pemasangan tempatan (CKD) sedang menanti kelulusan dari kerajaan.
Pada masa yang sama, pihaknya turut menantikan pengumuman Dasar Automotif Nasional (DAN) sebelum memeterai perjanjian usaha sama dengan rakan kongsi tempatan bagi mengeluarkan kenderaan Geely, jelas beliau.
``Kami berharap dapat memulakan operasi pemasangan itu pada tahun ini dengan kapasiti pengeluaran sebanyak 50,000 setahun untuk dipasarkan di peringkat tempatan dan ASEAN,'' katanya.
Katanya, Geely Automobile juga tidak akan teragak-agak untuk melabur lebih RM100 juta bagi menambah kapasiti kilang pemasangan sedia ada milik IGC bagi mencapai sasaran menjadikan Malaysia sebagai pusat pengeluaran kenderaan keluaran firma China itu di rantau ASEAN.
Menerusi IGC, ahli perniagaan, Datuk Cam Soh Thiam Hong Cam telah mendapat francais eksklusif untuk membawa kereta diimport sepenuhnya (CBU) keluaran Geely Automobile ke Malaysia.
Selain itu, Hong Cam turut mendapat francais eksklusif bagi program memasang kereta (CKD) Geely di Malaysia menerusi IG Bumi Sdn. Bhd.

Dr Mahathir Disappointed AP Policy Remains Unchanged

Dr Mahathir Disappointed AP Policy Remains Unchanged

PENANG, Feb 20 (Bernama) -- Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Monday expressed disappointment over the fact that no change has been made in the policy on the issuance of Approved Permits (APs) for vehicle imports although he had exposed several abuses in its issuance."I'm disappointed, that's all I can say, what else can I say because the policy remains unchanged," he said after delivering a public lecture entitled "Developing The Nation" organised by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), here.Dr Mahathir, who is also Proton advisor, said he had been made to understand that there were still "two people" who were holding a substantial number of APs and anyone wishing to import motor vehicles had to refer to these "two people" because they had signed an agreement as suppliers of imported cars."Why is it that almost 80 per cent of the APs are still given to the same people, the people that we have censured, whereas the price of the vehicles brought into the country had been under-declared to pay less tax," he said.Dr Mahathir said that if such a policy on the issuance of APs persisted, then the national car Proton would lose its market share and might only control between 10 and 20 per cent of the market share in its own country.The issue sparked a controversy last year after some quarters questioned the procedure on the issuance of the imported vehicles' permits.On Proton's new management team, Dr Mahathir said the management of the national car manufacturer had never sought his advice although he was the company's adviser.He also regretted Proton's move to terminate the contract of its former Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff despite the company having shown a good performance under his (Mahaleel's) stewardship."I was only informed after they (Proton management) had made a decision including the decision to sell the MV Agusta (motorcycle manufacturer) stake and to end Tengku Mahaleel's contract," he said.Asked on why the Proton management did not ask for his advice before making the decision, Dr Mahathir said: "I feel rather odd. As an adviser, I was the one who was advised, and perhaps by informing me on a certain decision, they (Proton management) thought they were seeking (my) advice." On why he was still holding the position as adviser if his advice was not sought, Dr Mahathir said: "I am a very nice man...people have appointed me, so I accepted it."-- BERNAMA

Naza training academy courting Kia

GURUN: Naza Automotive Manufacturers Sdn Bhd (NAM) hopes to conclude discussions by April on making the new RM20mil Naza Kia Academy the fourth overseas training centre for South Korea's Kia Motors Corp.
If the deal goes through, the academy would be Kia’s only overseas training centre outside South Korea located in the Asia-Pacific.
Naza Automotive senior general manager Nor Hadi Daud said that Kia officials had recently visited the academy and found its facilities “equivalent” to that in its training centre in South Korea.
“Because of this, Kia is interested in us becoming its fourth overseas training centre in addition to the three it currently has in the United States, Germany and Saudi Arabia,” Hadi told a press conference at the Naza Kia Academy last week.

The academy, located in the vicinity of Naza Automotive's plant in Gurun, is a joint project between Naza Kia Sdn Bhd and Naza Automotive. It will provide basic training for local managers, staff and skilled technicians and mechanics.
The first batch of 14 students have been at the academy for four months and are undergoing advanced technical training.
The academy expects an additional 20 international students to enrol for its courses by next month.


Hadi said Naza Kia Academy also offered servicing and showroom services, mainly to help meet the cost of running the academy.
On another note, he said the Naza Automotive plant, sited on 148 acres, was licensed by Kia to produce and assemble both Naza and Kia vehicles.
Naza, which invested an initial RM390mil in the plant, has pumped in a further RM90mil to set up the training academy, a research and development centre, a multi-purpose hall and a pre-delivery inspection centre.
Hadi said Naza Automotive planned to increase the production of the Gurun plant to 60,000 vehicles by 2007 from 25,000 now. The output for this year, he said, would be about 44,000 units.


Naza Kia's sales increased 53% last year to 32,544 units compared with 21,323 in 2004. It has an 18% share of the local commercial vehicle market and an 80% share of the large multi-purpose vehicle segment.
Two new models, the NX01 and NX02, will be introduced this year. Production of the two are expected to start within the next two months.