Proton To Revive Former Lotus Glory With New Car Models

[Mark H]

NORWICH, England: National carmaker, Proton Holdings Bhd, wants to build upon the Lotus brand and return its lost glory by introducing new car models.

 

Its group managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the recent launch of Evora, Lotus' first car since 1995, is a turning point for the brand to scale greater heights.

 

"We believe Lotus's potential is in the branding. If you go acrosss the globe, the brand recognition is very strong but we have not lived up it," he said in an interview with members of the Malaysian media in conjunction with the visit by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and his consort Tuanku Nur Zahirah to the Lotus plant here recently.

 

Lotus Group Chief Executive Officer Dany Taner Bahar said the Lotus brand's potential was huge and its inherent strengths were the iconic brand, its long history in car-racing and its reputation as a manufacturer of exciting, innovative and light sports cars.

 

 

"Lotus was mentioned in the same sentence as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati in the 1970s-1990s. Then, it got closed into a corner. We believe it's the right time to bring Lotus back to where it was," he said.

 

Besides uplifting the Lotus brand to greater heights and success, Syed Zainal said Proton would continue to explore further and utilise Lotus' engineering advancements and technologies to enhance Proton's products and manpower skills.

 

Although Proton has owned Lotus for more than 10 years, he admitted that the carmaker had not fully utilised the British subsidiary.

 

"Today, we have reassessed the interaction between the two companies. No doubt there are gaps and weaknesses that need to be improved upon, but we are quite determined to make the collaboration stronger," he said.

 

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