Proton is no lame duck: Nadzmi

(Business Times) – NORWICH: Proton Holdings Bhd (5304) does not need a foreign partner to survive, its chairman said, stressing that it still has the upper hand in any collaboration talks.

“We are not like a lame duck wanting somebody to carry us and I believe that we must collaborate with our strengths. The impression that Proton is dying and it needs a partner, it’s not the case,” said Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh.

Plans for Proton to partner Germany’s Volkswagen fell through in 2007. Analysts believe that Proton needs a technical foreign partner to help it boost export sales and come up with new models. However, Nadzmi argues that Proton has started to make new models that are profitable, starting with the Exora multi-purpose vehicle, and it is on a stronger footing financially.

Proton’s local market share, which dropped to a low of 29 per cent at one point, has also improved to 33 per cent.
Group managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said that Proton’s strengths include its brand, government support and its location in Southeast Asia.

However, a collaboration could have an effect on the auto industry that also includes Proton’s suppliers and dealers and that is why it is not rushing into a deal.

“A lot is at stake and that’s why we are taking our time,” Syed Zainal said.

In September, VW said it was exploring the possibility of building cars in Malaysia with Proton.

In April, Syed Zainal said the national carmaker was in very preliminary technical collaboration talks with Renault, an affiliate of Nissan Motor Co.

Industry observers had said then that the talks were focused on the supply of a diesel engine and probably joint development of the Perdana replacement.

Renault, France’s second largest carmaker, does not have its own assembly plant in the region and has very little exposure to the Asian market, AmResearch said in a research report last month.