Volkswagen in talks with Proton
September 9, 2007 by Alborz Fallah
Proton is suffering worldwide, with sales lower than expected and with stronger local competition in Malaysia, the government owned manufacturer has been seeking a global partner for some time now. So far Volkswagen has been the only one to show interest.
Talks between the two companies have been an on-again off-again affair, Volkswagen initially signed a long-term strategic alliance with Proton in late 2004 but after the Malaysian government refused to hand over control to VW in 2006, the German manufacturer appeared to had given up on Proton, until today.
“The talks with the main shareholder (state investment arm Khazanah) and the Malaysian government will now be further intensified, in order to examine the possibilities of either a cooperation or taking a stake in Proton,” VW announced today.
VW’s announcement comes at no surprise, Proton is desperate to get back into gear. Last November, the Malaysian government began to consider giving approval for VW to take a controlling stake in Proton’s manufacturing operations.
Print it: 
Oh dear, Daimler had Chrysler to blot it’s copybook, BMW had Land Rover, and now VW is falling into the same trap.
They will rue the day they get into bed with Malaysian business.
What are they thinking – everything is going swimmingly for VW, why the hell would they want Proton. Couldn’t possibly be for engineering, or style, or anything else.
i once had a proton and it was the worst car id ever driven. after the 2nd yr that car had more 2nd hand spare parts than original parts. my current 1992 ford laser runs better than that piece of junk…id never buy a proton again…ever. i remember when proton said that they wanted the waja to b up there with the likes of bmw…who r they trying to bullshit? poor malaysians, please forgive they mustve knocked their heads when they got out of bed…oh wait a minute they never got outta bed their still asleep and dreaming