The official introduction of the Proton Exora Bold is imminent, by the looks of it, what with stocks of the turbocharged MPV making their way to showrooms across the country. Reader Ian snapped some photos earlier today of a transporter carrying a batch load of Bolds on the North-South Expressway, heading north.

In the past week, we’ve seen leaked shots of the supposed Prime variant as well as what are rough draws of a slide presentation offering some details on the CFE mill, and shots such as these of the vehicle. All that’s left is to have the final product arrive on the scene, and that should be very, very soon.

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It’s just around the corner now, the introduction of the turbocharged Proton Exora Bold, and stuff on the vehicle is coming out of the woodwork faster than that in a leaky boat, it seems. Photos of the supposed Prime variant surfaced a few days ago, and now, what are very much presentation sheets containing engine details have come about, source unknown.

Click to enlarge.

As bandied about earlier, the performance specs for the CFE mill are 140 PS (or 138 hp) at 5,000 rpm and 205 Nm at 2,000 to 4,000 rpm, and there’s a graph that charts the torque curve of the mill, compared to the normally-aspirated CPS engine as well as a 2.0 litre NA engine. Another sheet offers a numerical output comparison against the CPS as well as two competitors, the Nissan Grand Livina 1.8 and Toyota Innova 2.0L.

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We’ve also finally managed to confirm that the CFE term denotes Charge Fuel Efficiency, and not the Charged Fuel Enhancement and Campro Fuel Efficient touted earlier. All been very confusing, but hopefully that’s that. Oh, and looks like someone’s been looking at too much Campro, it seems – ignore the “engine camparison” typo, if you will!

Of the parties bidding for a stake in national carmaker Proton, Khazanah Holdings will sell its 42.7% stake to DRB-Hicom, according to Proton adviser Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The ex-PM added that that Khazanah was selling because it wasn’t pumping more money into Proton, which needs funds for R&D work on new products such as hybrid cars, according to The Star.

“I worry about the buyer (DRB-Hicom) having enough money to inject into Proton. The shares it will be buying are above market price, which will make profitability difficult,” Tun said at the MIDF Investment Forum in Langkawi. “But I believe in DRB-Hicom’s capabilities,” he said, assuring that the status of Proton as a national car would remain after the ownership change.

It was previously reported that there were three parties bidding for the Government’s stake in Proton – DRB-Hicom, a management buyout led by Proton chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh and parties linked to the Naza Group. Today’s report reveals that Khazanah had been also approached Sime Darby Motors, Hyundai-Berjaya Sdn Bhd, and UMW Holdings Bhd.

Well, the wheels on this one are set to keep on turning. The talk is of course about the three-way bid that’s reputably shaping up for a controlling stake in Proton, with the players being DRB-Hicom, Proton chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh and parties linked to the Naza Group. Each party has apparently submitted a bid to Khazanah Holdings, which has a 42.7% stake in Proton, to seek control of the national carmaker.

Each will undoubtedly have its own game plan, and supposedly, DRB-Hicom’s is thought to include the presence of Volkswagen at some point in the future. The Star reports that a reliable source says that if DRB is successful, it will at a later stage introduce some of its equity to VW, with the view that both parties are to share control and management in Proton.

The report adds that this line of thought could make the bid more desirable, given that the carmaker wouldn’t be under the direct control of a foreign party, which was likely one of the reasons why the negotiations with Volkswagen four years ago never went to ink. VW is keeping mum on the whole affair, it seems, and so is DRB-Hicom, for now.

Not that it’s all done and dusted, of course. Another source with intimate knowledge of proceedings said Khazanah had yet to make a decision on things, and that a round of meetings are set to take place this week between key stakeholders regarding the matter – there’s every possibility that the sale of the stake in Proton might be called off temporarily, at that.

And so it continues to roll.

The marketplace is buzzing with news of a three-way tussle for a stake in Proton that’s currently owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

The three parties are said to be DRB-Hicom, which is controlled by tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar AlBukhary, parties linked to the Naza Group and a management buyout lead by Proton Chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh. All three parties have been previously linked with the national carmaker.

Currently, Khazanah has a 42.7% stake in Proton, and should a party succeed in buying over the Government’s stake, it will trigger a general offer. Business Times quotes a source involved in the bidding process as saying that the bids were in the range of between RM6 and RM7 per share. The same source added that “whoever is buying Proton is getting the company on the cheap” based on Proton’s March 2011 book value per share of RM9.84.

This development is drawing in the speculators, and Proton’s share price went up by another 89 sen yesterday to close at RM4.50, with over 20 million shares changing hands. DRB-Hicom, thought to be the front runner in the bid, also saw its shares rise. The counter gained 20 sen to end the day at RM2.20, the highest point since August. DRB-Hicom is of course the company that is assembling Volkswagen cars at its Pekan plant.

Proton’s share price might still rise, since OSK Holdings Bhd and RHB Capital Bhd have upgraded the stock to a “buy” with a fair value of RM5 per share. It will be interesting to know more about the plans each of the bidders have for Proton. Nothing is out at the moment, but we will keep tabs on this.