• SOALAN TRIVIA

  • PROMOSI

  • PERADUAN

  • Proton to launch Lotus Evora in Malaysia by end-March

    Category: By mader



    HETHEL (United Kingdom): Lotus Evora, launched for the UK market, is to hit the Malaysian market by end of next month, says Proton managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Mohamed Tahir.

    He said Proton was awaiting the next batch of Lotus Evora before "we are ready for the launch".

    Saying that the company has not decided on the price, he did not deny that Lotus Evora will be higher than STG50,000 (RM265,000) price in the UK.

    "This is due to Malaysia's higher tax structure than in the UK. We've yet to finalise the price, we're still working on it. We'll try to make it as competitive as in the UK market.

    "We're still working with the government besides looking at the price structure," he told a press conference at the Lotus headquarters here yesterday.

    The press conference was held in conjunction with the two-day visit to Lotus from Monday by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

    Lotus Evora, originally developed under a project called "Project Eagle", was launched at the British Motor Show in July 2008.

    The car is bigger than other Lotus models like Elise and Exige, with 160mph top speed and the power to move from 0-60mph in less than five seconds.

    Asked on the global strategic partner which he mentioned in his speech at a dinner on Monday night, Syed Zainal declined to elaborate, saying it was too early to make an announcement.

    "The discussions not only involved Volkswagen but also Mitsubishi and Renault to look into collaborations in a few areas, namely engine and component parts.

    "We are looking at a big scope of collaboration, that's the level of discussions we are having today with the parties. I think in discussions like these, we don't want to pre-empt our talks.

    "We've some confidentiality that we've discussed and we have to respect that, but the discussions are quite intense," he said.

    Earlier, Syed Zainal said Proton has lined up a series of products for the next five years including
    electronics and engine power.

    "We're developing on campo turbo which will be available by year-end or at the latest by early next year. That will be a feature in all our cars," he said.

    After 25 years in operations, Syed Zainal said Proton was venturing into the international arena, with the Geneva Motor Show being the first step forward and "we will build on from there".

    Dr Mahathir, also present at the press conference, said a lot of changes have been made since his last visit to Lotus about six years ago.

    He said Lotus had achieved a great deal of progress, both in actual performance and in the ideas that have been put forth by the management. - Bernama



    Related Post