Mitsubishi open to tech alliance

Although Mitsubishi has denied any future joint venture plans with Proton, it’s CEO Osamu Masuko said on Tuesday that it would still be open to forming technology-based alliances with Malaysia’s national carmaker. However he said Proton had not made such a request.

Currently Mitsubishi is already providing parts for a total of 70,000 Proton cars yearly. The Proton Gen2 which uses the Campro engine is not entirely Mitsubishi-free as it still uses a Mitsubishi gearbox.

In other news, Edaran Otomobil Nasional believes Proton can still resolve any uncertainly over its relationship with Volkswagen AG. A tech alliance should still be possible. 2.0 turbocharged FSI Satria Replacement Model anyone? Hehe.

Source

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.

Certified Pre-Owned - 1 Year Warranty

10% discount when you renew your car insurance

Compare prices between different insurer providers and use the promo code 'PAULTAN10' when you make your payment to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services.

Car Insurance

Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • E-Nabill (Member) on Jan 26, 2006 at 4:42 pm

    it makes so much sence to go back with mitsubishi , technically ,R&D and sharing platforms wise,bt thy r strugling financially , thy keep being cash injected by mitsubishi bank,that cant be a good ting….n thy r a tually making loses since thy have been under GM,bt it makes sence mot than anyting,proton can hav access to GM and all the othr groups under GM,like volvo,opel,suzuki,isuzu,saab and most imortantly,hemi V8!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • oversight (Member) on Jan 26, 2006 at 5:46 pm

    e-nabill. from your comment juz asking when the mitsubishi and volvo has join GM? i hope paul also can give me some information on this. sorry for my ignorance coz still learning.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • cosmo (Member) on Jan 26, 2006 at 6:35 pm

    learn from the past………

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • cosmo (Member) on Jan 26, 2006 at 6:52 pm

    Business

    ——————————————————————————–

    January 25, 2006 17:28 PM

    Proton Shares Down From Lack Of Investor Confidence Over Carmaker's Future

    PORT KLANG, Jan 25 (Bernama) — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says the recent fall in the shares of Proton Holdings Bhd to around RM5 reflected the sentiment of investors over the uncertainty of the national carmaker in forging partnerships with foreign parties.

    He said the uncertainty over Proton was not only confined to the carmaker's inability to team up with Volkswagen but with other car manufacturers as well.

    "That is why shares of Proton have fallen," he told reporters after visiting Kolej WIT at Pandamaran near here Wednesday.

    Proton shares closed at RM5.40 on Bursa Malaysia Wednesday, unchanged from Tuesday.

    The former prime minister said Proton shares rose to RM9.00 when its former chief executive officer, Tan Sri Tengku Mahaleel Tengku Ariff, left the company and now they were traded around RM5.40 and at one time they were around RM5 following reports that the proposed strategic tie-up with Volkswagen would not materialise.

    "It appears that people are not so confident over Proton's future," said Dr Mahathir, who is also its advisor.

    Proton had also been criticised by certain quarters for having sold its Italian subsidiary, MV Agusta, for just one euro (RM4.50) after having bought it for 70 million (RM315 million).

    Dr Mahathir said Proton's management did not communicate the developments it had with Volkswagen to him.

    He said in view of the fact that he was "not in" Proton's management, he had obtained such information through the press.

    He said VW had instead communicated to him that it was interested to co-operate with Proton if the strategic tie-up scheme was suitable.

    "They (VW) are interested to co-operate but it depends on the scheme. If the scheme is suitable, they can co-operate, InsyaAllah (God willing)," he said.

    Asked whether VW had earlier terminated the proposed tie-up with Proton because of the absence of Tengku Mahaleel in leading Proton, Dr Mahathir replied, "That I don't know." Dr Mahathir said he and Tengku Mahaleel had negotiated with Volkswagen before as the Germans were interested to work with Proton.

    He also could not confirm whether the change in Proton's policy directions had caused Volkswagen to lose interest in forging a strategic tie-up with Proton.

    "Maybe the policies have been changed, so maybe that is why I don't know. But previous they (Volkswagen) were very interested," he said.

    — BERNAMA

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • E-Nabill (Member) on Jan 26, 2006 at 7:23 pm

    oversight :

    sorry volvo is under Ford NOT GM! it was a typical early morning coment,BLURR!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • thecrash (Member) on Jan 26, 2006 at 8:26 pm

    ————————————————————————

    oversight said,

    January 26, 2006 @ 9:46 am

    e-nabill. from your comment juz asking when the mitsubishi and volvo has join GM?

    ————————————————————————

    March 27, 2000: 2:13 p.m. ET

    German-American giant to pay $2 billion for 34% of No. 4 Japanese automaker

    NEW YORK (CNNfn) – DaimlerChrysler agreed Monday to buy a controlling 34 percent stake in Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp. for roughly 2.1 billion euros, or $2 billion, opening the Asian market up to the German-American automaker as the industry continues its global consolidation rush.
    http://money.cnn.com/2000/03/27/worldbiz/daimler/

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • honda_driver (Member) on Jan 27, 2006 at 2:02 am

    daimlerC. has already sold of all its shares in mitsu.. its pretty old new already.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • òmn&Ati (Member) on Jan 27, 2006 at 4:14 am

    you want to knw who owns MMC? then check out this page
    http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/corporate/ir/sto…

    check the bottom of the page as of 12th Dec 2005

    cheers mate!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • stevarac (Member) on Jan 27, 2006 at 5:25 am

    Proton had a what ? 18 years cooperation with mitsu since setting up . What kind of tech transfer did Proton managed to squeezed out of this partnership ?

    Very little I suppose. This is typical Japs mentality or business concept. They are good in copying and improve on it ( re-engineering ? ) from others , but not sharing, no way. That was the reason Proton started to try out with Renault tech engine ( with Tiara ) but then it sort of backfired as Tiara was a big flop. But at that time if I am not mistaken , Mahathir said something about frustated with the lack of tech transfer from mitsu.

    Now , instead of going with mitsu , Proton is definitely better off finding a common ground in their attempt to get VW. I think this is a better choice…. but then I am no TM or Azlan or Zainal whatever…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • akari (Member) on Jan 27, 2006 at 8:15 am

    up to them to go with who, but atleast remove the 10++ years old mitsu model NOW! this is a shame.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • òmn&Ati (Member) on Jan 27, 2006 at 11:57 am

    ain't tiara supposed to be french's citroen old classic (AX model)? Proton always get the very old stuff frm partners (regardless japanese or european). AX was like 25 yrs old technology when they aquire it.

    Proton fate is worst than Minardi at least the latter did acquire tech something like 4 yrs behind.

    very sad to be left behind…

    the question is how come they don't fully utilise their resources frm lotus for everything. quite puzzle till now with all this partnering rumours looming.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • biggie (Member) on Jan 27, 2006 at 4:43 pm

    all,

    Lotus do not offer that much in terms of manufacturing. You can see the leap in chasis/handling/styling from the previous gen Iswara/Wira/Perdana to the new gen Waja/Gen2/Savvy then thats all that you can squeeze out of Lotus.

    Next step is in to get those quality into a car with consistent quality. Lotus got no idea on how to do that. Previous mgt. think that robots is the answer, but after Gen2 they are back to square 1. So now they want to do a tie up with Mitsu.

    The only significant thing that Mitsu can offer is the mfg culture. This concept is unrivalled but sutaining it will be a problem.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • waimak (Member) on Jan 27, 2006 at 5:51 pm

    I just wonder what is proton identity now, what's the branding like, what's the vision. "mitsu+proton+lotus+VW+mitsu.." = ??

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Jake (Member) on Jan 27, 2006 at 9:51 pm

    come on G, let's buy mitsu for proton instead, our people love japs, proton'll sell hordes of cars then

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • bummerboy (Member) on Jan 28, 2006 at 1:02 am

    the only mitsu model that deserves credit now is the EVO, everything else are tragic shadows of what mitsu used to be, a forward looking and innovative car manufacturer. as for proton, we all know what really happened. bad management, complacency and severe lack of foresight has lead to its own undoing.

    tech alliance with mitsu will mean building clones of mitsu range of cars. which isnt very impressive to begin with. alliance with VW isnt that great an idea either. VW portfolio is already quite overwhelming. they merely needed a manufacturing base in SEA. how long more does proton need to learn? it has already taken off with self designed cars, which i frankly think ain't that shabby.

    so what can really save proton, isnt necessarily another car manufacturer. a manufacturing consultancy can do much help. get the production value and quality up. recontract its suppliers. restructure it's organisational, purchasing and management policies. clean up the company, and cut some complacency-induced fats.

    and then work with what they have, savvy/gen2/srm/waja. lotus is indeed a gem, despite it's limited capacity. it can fine tune the 4 models, get some consistency into the designs, both exterior and interior. proton needs to improve what it has in hand first, to a level comparable to the koreans and the lesser european makes, before even thinking about expansion. and since proton need to expand fast, with the chinese cars moving in at blazing speed, it has got to STOP PROCRASTINATING about not being able to find a partner.

    just my 2cent worth.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Joe v2.0 (Member) on Jan 28, 2006 at 2:43 am

    Every time when people talk about proton and mits they'll said that proton has been cheated by mits by not tranfering technology… realistically who wants to share its buisness secret with others, right? same goes with mits and proton. But i do see some technology transfer that is, on the side of managing or setting up a automobile company. Although not at the best level, at least we have started something from the 'join-venture' mits-proton 'long' time ago.

    On the engine part or other technological stuff.. common guys, thats their buisness secret, takkan la they want to give to us easily. Even hyundai started using mits engine but slowly develop their on tech, if not mistaken, they started with improved engine head design of their own, and the one thing good at right now is their management not at their car tech, at least better than us here, nevertheless hyundai has been operating long before proton.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

Add a comment

required

required