Finally, after years of discussion, the deal collapsed.
Initial negotiations between the Proton and Volkwasgen (VW) collapsed in January last year after the parties failed to agree on terms, including control of the maker of Waja and Wira sedans.
However, the negotiation resuscitated end of last year when VW was believed to be wanting to acquire a controlling stake in Proton, in which might be part of the cause of the no deal as the egoism factor at stake is too strong which led to the government’s reluctance to cede control of Proton to foreign hands.
Meanwhile, while VW will continue to look for other production opportunities in Southeast Asia, Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop said Proton’s business plan has been "very, very real" and Proton MD Syed Zainal Abidin believes even without the partnership, the future prospect of the Proton is good.
It might be true that Proton cars have been selling well locally for the last few months, however at the end of the day, Proton has to be competitive globally.
Furthermore, from innovation point of view, I don’t think that Proton has been that innovative as the new models are mostly re-badged version of previous models.
Will Proton collapse without a partner? Is it a question of when? We do not know, but former prime minister Tun Mahathir said in October 2006 that Proton will collapse until it finds an international partner.
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for me, it wasnt a business decision. it was poltiical coz with the impending election, the government aint gonna give a real bullet to the opposition for selling out assets cheap to the foreigners. on its own, its a matter of time for proton to die a natural death. without economies of scale and technology, the writing is on the wall. the politicians can put on a show, but its the people that will suffer; the vendors, the workers and all those that depend on the survival of proton will have to pay for the government’s follies.
No tears deserved for Proton. For the workers, too bad lah, they are stuck with the wrong outfit. Just like being a reporter or journalist are stuck with the wrong suffocating environment since the eighties.
I believe most of us aren’t surprised with this latest "development"
Hey, let’s do a Mega Auction, I am sure it could sell well above Euro 1.00, the price Proton disposed off MV Augusta.
The end is neigh.
Unwanted, unloved, useless.
So in the red, may as well be dead.
R I P PROTON
[...] now, it’s a known fact that Proton ditched Volkswagen (VW) and General Motors (GM) as Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop said [...]
Proton’s Kar-ma runs over its own throat cutting future.
[...] the end, the acquisition plans collapsed when the Government decided it’s best to keep the Proton’s ownership or risk losing [...]