About Proton - Managing Director's

In essence, PROTON aspires to become a regionally competitive automotive company, creating value by earning customers’ trust through the quality and innovation of our products and people.


As I review the previous financial year, PROTON has demonstrated to its stakeholders its ability to transform into a viable and profitable automotive company in spite of our numerous challenges. To ensure that we are able to sustain the improved results, we must stay focused in our pursuit of global standards of excellence in all areas of our business.
While we have indeed achieved notable progress, there is still plenty of room for improvement as PROTON intends to become a world-class car manufacturer. To enable this vision to become a reality, we will continue to drive initiatives that will enhance the quality of our products and services domestically and regionally.

OVERVIEW
Our improved performance for the year under review was the result of us achieving our short-term objectives and targets, which are themselves stepping stones towards reaching our long-term goals.
As highlighted in the previous annual report, PROTON’s focus for our 2008 financial year would be in the core areas of product, quality, cost efficiency and distribution network. We have been consistent in this strategy during the year under review and this has reaped positive results for the Group.
It is vital that all levels of the Group are committed to working hand-in-hand to further enhance our operations, processes, value and quality to enable PROTON to make greater strides, and thereby grow from strength to strength in the years to come.

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About Proton - Managing Director's

Board of Director's



Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin B Syed Mohamed Tahir was appointed Managing Director of PROTON on 1 January 2006. He also sits on the Boards of various subsidiaries within the PROTON Group of companies. Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal is the Chairman of PROTON’s Management Committee.
Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Maryland, USA, began his career as a Project Engineer with Petronas Gas Sdn Bhd in 1987, prior to joining Petroliam Nasional Berhad in 1992 as Senior Executive of Corporate Planning & International Business Development. He then left to join HICOM Holdings Berhad in 1995, where he assumed various senior positions in the company.
Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal lent his expertise to PERODUA when he was appointed Senior General Manager in 1999. Subsequently, he was appointed Executive Director of PERODUA Auto Corporation Sdn Bhd in 2002, and later promoted to Deputy Managing Director in October 2005.
Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal has attended all Board of Directors’ Meetings held during the Financial Year. He has no conflict of interest with the Company and does not have any family relationships with any director and/or major shareholder of the Company. He has had no conviction for any offences within the past ten (10) years.

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About Proton - Chairman

Chairman's Statement



PROTON Holdings Bhd is pleased to announce the appointment of Dato’ Nadzmi Mohd Salleh as the new Chairman for the company effective from 1 January 2009.
Dato’ Nadzmi will replace the outgoing chairman Dato’ Mohd Azlan Hashim who has been in PROTON since December 2004. Dato’ Azlan, 51 was appointed PROTON Director on 17 December 2004 and assumed the position of Chairman on 7 February 2005.
Dato’ Nadzmi, 54 is currently the executive chairman of Nadicorp Holdings Sdn Bhd.
Dato’ Nadzmi graduated with Master of Arts in Economics and Statistics from Miami University, Florida as well as Bachelor Degree in Arts in Economics and Bachelor Degree in Science in Chemistry and Mathematics from Ohio University.
He is no stranger to PROTON, having served as Managing Director of Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd from 1993 to 1996 and was Deputy Managing Director of the company from 2 November 1992. He has also held various senior positions in Edaran Otomobil Nasional Bhd, including as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer.
Dato’ Nadzmi is a director of several companies including Ranhill Utilities Bhd, JT International Bhd, VS Industry Bhd, Kumpulan Kenderaan Malaysian Bhd, Syarikat Kenderaan Melayu Kelantan. He was also appointed as Director and Deputy Chairman of Proton Edar Sdn Bhd with effect from 22 September 2005.
Dato’ Nazdmi is currently the President of The Badminton Association of Malaysia.
At the PROTON Board of Directors meeting held earlier today, Dato’ Azlan noted that he is pleased with how PROTON has progressed in the last four years.
“Although there remains a lot to be done, PROTON today is undoubtedly on a better foundation to move forward and better compete with other automotive companies.”
Dato’ Azlan further added that this progress has been made possible as a result of the strong support of the Government, the shareholders, the wider automotive community (including component vendors and dealers), the Directors, Management and the entire staff of PROTON. He then went on to thank all those who have made this possible and urged them to extend the same level of cooperation to Dato’ Nadzmi.

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LATEST NEWS 04/09/2009

PROTON TAKES PART IN KHAZANAH’S PROGRAM SEJAHTERA

MARAN, Pahang, 4 September 2009 – PROTON Holdings Berhad has pledged its support to the Program Sejahtera by sponsoring five homes for the poor and providing the selected community vocational training.

The programme, spearheaded by Khazanah Nasional Berhad through the Silver Book agenda, is a corporate social responsibility initiative that involves Government-linked agencies (GLC) and aims to support as well as assist vulnerable communities in Malaysia to break away from the plight of poverty.

The programme’s pilot project, “Adopt a Community Programme”, was officiated today by the Prime Minister Y.A.B. Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Abdul Razak who was accompanied by Y.A.Bhg. Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor and witnessed by heads of participating GLCs including Khazanah Nasional Berhad Managing Director Tan Sri Dato' Azman Hj. Mokhtar and PROTON Holdings Berhad Group Managing Director Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

The event took place at the project’s site located in Kampung Teluk Melati, Mukim Chenor in Maran, Pahang and as a pilot project, it encompassed of building 20 homes for 20 vulnerable families identified as extremely poor and in dire need of assistance.

Other than sponsoring five of the houses, PROTON’s contribution also comes with providing mechanical vocational trainings to the communities in Maran and its surrounding areas.

“The trainings aim to assist these communities in setting up and operating basic car workshops of their own,” said Dato’ Syed Zainal.

“We will contribute the technical trainers and training tools such as engines and car parts to ensure that they will gain the necessary skills and knowledge to set up their own car workshops and to operate them efficiently”.

“This programme, we hope, will assist in alleviating these communities from their poverty plight through such business opportunities. We are very proud to be a part of this effort and would like to thank Khazanah for giving us the opportunity to do so,” continued Dato’ Syed Zainal.

The Program Sejahtera focuses on four core areas, namely to rehabilitate dilapidated houses, provide basic amenities such as electricity, water and proper sanitation, provide support and knowledge for self farming for their basic food needs and providing support for sustainable livelihood via skill trainings for employment.

Additionally, together with other GLCs, PROTON also participates in Khazanah’s PINTAR Mobile Unit as part of its ongoing CSR programs. It is an educational touring bus to promote PINTAR GLC members and the activities that they do in PINTAR schools across the nation.

The PINTAR Mobile Unit is equipped with a variety of mini exhibitions as well as various science, mathematics, arts and innovation activities. For PROTON, it has put up an information panel on the process of “how to build a car” accompanied by a table-sized Persona clay model and a style sketching demonstration. It will also distribute colouring sheets featuring Proton cars to the children.

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Latest News 03/09/2009

Lotus Appoints New CEO

Lotus Appoints New CEO

Dany Bahar joins Lotus as Chief Executive Officer


Dany T. Bahar has been appointed as the new CEO of Group Lotus effective 1st October 2009, replacing Michael J. Kimberley, who retired in July.

Prior to this appointment, Dany Bahar was Senior Vice President, Commercial & Brand for Ferrari SpA where he was responsible for worldwide road car sales and after sales business, overall road car and F1 marketing activities, licensing, and merchandising business.

Before joining Ferrari SpA, Dany Bahar was the Head of Corporate Projects Business in Red Bull GmbH. He was responsible for the overall corporate project business development, with emphasis on diversifying the business such as setting up their F1 strategy with Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso and the US based Nascar Team operations, acquiring football clubs in Salzburg, New York and Ghana for commercial purposes.

On his appointment, Dany Bahar said, “I am looking forward to taking on the challenges as CEO of this legendary and iconic company with a peerless motorsport history. Lotus has a worldwide reputation for innovative engineering and superb sportscars that lead the world in efficiency, design and dynamics. With the recent launch of the award-winning Evora, there is proof that Lotus is better placed than many to capitalise on the rapidly changing automotive market. I can’t wait to get my plans underway in October.”

In welcoming Dany Bahar, Dato’ Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, the Chairman of Lotus Group, stated “With Dany’s track record in motorsports and Ferrari, we strongly believe that we have found the right CEO to enhance the Lotus image, brand and reputation as a world class sportscar and engineering company. With a strong management team already in place, we are confident this objective can be attained.”

Dany Bahar, a Swiss National, holds an MBA and is married with two children.


About Lotus
The main operating subsidiary of Group Lotus plc is Lotus Cars Limited, which has two operating divisions - Lotus Engineering and Lotus Cars. Lotus Engineering is an internationally recognised automotive engineering consultancy based in Norfolk, UK. Global facilities include those in Michigan (USA), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), China and offices in Germany.

Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive and versatile consultancy services to many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, offering a full engineering service from initial concept and project design through development and integration of the complete vehicle to meet all worldwide markets and customers to full production. This includes third party 'niche vehicle' engineering and manufacture worldwide.

Lotus Cars builds world class, prestige, high performance sports cars for sale in 37 countries. These include the iconic Lotus Elise, Exige, Europa and the new award winning Lotus Evora. Lotus is a global high-tech company, expanding rapidly and committed to driving forward technology for both Lotus Cars and its Engineering clients, spearheading research into such areas as hybrids, electric vehicles and renewable fuels.

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LATEST NEWS 02/09/2009

PROTON POSTS PROFIT BEFORE TAX OF RM64 MILLION IN Q1 FY2009/10


First Evora is Delivered to Customer
Matthew Melling of Twickenham, UK received the keys of a Storm Titanium Lotus Evora from Luke Bennett, Director of Lotus Cars Limited at the Lotus Headquarters where the new mid-engined 2+2 sportscar is hand built.
Many Lotus dealers around the world have already received their demonstrators and Lotus has, so far, received orders for the next 5 months of production. Demand for Lotus’ award winning Evora has meant that 150 extra new manufacturing staff have been recruited to support assembly operations in Norfolk, UK, a very positive sign at a time when the global motor industry faces huge challenges. Full production is expected to reach the maximum rate by the end of November 2009.
Luke Bennett, Director of Lotus Cars Limited said, “It is quite an emotional time to deliver the first Lotus Evora to Mr. Melling. The whole team has worked incredibly hard to design, engineer and produce such a stunning and high performing sportscar and it is a great feeling to hand over the keys to the first customer today. The Evora has won many awards around the world already so we are not surprised that there is high demand for the car and I am sure that each customer who receives their car will be delighted with their purchase.”
Matthew Melling, a customer of Stratton Motor Company, in Norfolk said, “I was determined to be the first in the world to get my hands on an Evora so with Stratton Motor Company’s help, I laid down my deposit within seconds of the order books being opened last year. I have read all the press reviews of the Evora and am so excited about getting behind the wheel – what a great start to September!”

Luke Bennett, Director of Lotus Cars (left) hands over the keys of the first customer Lotus Evora to Mr Matthew Melling at the Lotus Headquarters in Norfolk, UK.

About LotusThe main operating subsidiary of Group Lotus plc is Lotus Cars Limited, which has two operating divisions - Lotus Engineering and Lotus Cars. Lotus Engineering is an internationally recognised automotive engineering consultancy based in Norfolk, UK. Global facilities include those in Michigan (USA), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), China and offices in Germany.
Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive and versatile consultancy services to many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, offering a full engineering service from initial concept and project design through development and integration of the complete vehicle to meet all worldwide markets and customers to full production. This includes third party 'niche vehicle' engineering and manufacture worldwide.
Lotus Cars builds world class, prestige, high performance sports cars for sale in 37 countries. These include the iconic Lotus Elise, Exige, Europa and the new award winning Lotus Evora. Lotus is a global high-tech company, expanding rapidly and committed to driving forward technology for both Lotus Cars and its Engineering clients, spearheading research into such areas as hybrids, electric vehicles and renewable fuels.

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LATEST NEWS 18/08/2009

PROTON POSTS PROFIT BEFORE TAX OF RM64 MILLION IN Q1 FY2009/10


Better PBT vs Q1 FY2008/09 of RM59 million
Domestic sales volume decline by 2%
Market shares improves to 31%
Exora drives sales

Shah Alam, 21 August, 2009: PROTON Holdings Bhd posted a profit before tax of RM64 million in the first quarter (Q1) of the financial year ending March 31, 2010 (FY2009/10). The result was a slight improvement from the same period of the last financial year when it registered a profit before tax of RM59million.
The better performance was contributed by a better product mix even though there is smaller decline in Proton car sales by 2% compared with the total industry volume (TIV), which had contracted by 11% during the same period.
The strong sales from its newly launched Proton Exora had also helped the Group to increase its market share to 31% of the total industry volume in June, while improving the Group’s product mix.
For the first six-month period to 30 June, Proton sold a total of 69,977 units of vehicles which account for 27% of the total industry volume.
PROTON Holdings Berhad Chairman Dato’ Mohd. Nadzmi Mohd. Salleh said the results have shown that PROTON’s efforts to enter a new segment of the local car market had produced a desired outcome.
“We have seen a strong take up of the new Exora, an affordable MPV with attractive value-for-money features,” Dato’ Nadzmi said, adding that PROTON had now received a total order of 18,000 units for the Exora up to 15 August. It has also been receiving positive response in Indonesia following its recent launch there.
The three-month period had seen PROTON’s total revenue grow by 8% to RM1.85billion compared to RM1.71 billion during the same period last year. This is despite the decline in sales volume by 2% from 39,327 units compared to 39,888 units sold in the corresponding period last year.
Dato’ Mohd. Nadzmi Salleh said PROTON’s Q1 performance was also significantly better than the loss before tax of RM374 million incurred in preceding quarter which included an exceptional impairment of property, plant and equipment (PPE) and inventory write-down totaling RM360 million.
“The improved operating profit is due to the increase in domestic sales volume which grew by 12% over the immediate preceding quarter and improved profitability arising from the successful roll-out of Exora,” he said.
Commenting on future prospect, PROTON Holdings Berhad Managing Director Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said there have been positive signs of recovery in the global automotive industry with a clearer improvement in consumers’ demand.
“Our prospect for acquiring more domestic sales volume and market share is encouraging, driven largely by the sales of the increasingly popular Exora. Internationally, the Group will focus on introducing the Exora in the Asean region which will further increase its sales volume,” said Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal.
Dato’ Syed Zainal said it was important to note that although the outlook had improved, the Group was cautious above the sustainability of the global economic recovery and the volatility of the foreign currency and commodity market.
“We will therefore continue to expand into key markets, improve quality and intensify branding initiatives as well as critically invest in research and development activities for product refreshers and new models to generate higher sales volume,” he said

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LATEST NEWS 14/08/2009

PROTON LAUNCHES 1MALAYSIA SPIRITED MERDEKA PROGRAM



SHAH ALAM, 14 August 2009 – PROTON Holdings Berhad today launched a month long program for the 2009 Merdeka celebration with 1Malaysia spirit as its thrust and reaching out to the public as its modus operandi.
The PROTON Merdeka celebration program, themed as “One Journey, One With Malaysia”, was launched and announced today by its Managing Director, Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir in a ceremony held at its headquarters in PROTON Centre of Excellence Complex in Shah Alam.

Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin said, “As clearly indicated through its theme, the month-long programme is not only to celebrate Merdeka but also to respond to the call made by the Prime Minister on 1Malaysia. After all, the 1Malaysia aspiration has long been ingrained in the setting and culture of PROTON.”

The highlight of the PROTON Merdeka Celebration, which will run from 15th August to 15th September, is the ‘PROTON Merdeka Convoy’, a road convoy made up of various Proton models including the first Saga saloon and the latest Exora MPV. The convoy will be making stops at four of PROTON’s adopted schools under the “PINTAR” project and six orphanages within the states of Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.
At each stop, the convoy, made up of PROTON staff from its Headquarters in Shah Alam, and branch offices from the respective areas, will carry out “gotong-royong” activity with the children to decorate each school and orphanage with Malaysian flags. To further liven up the Merdeka spirit, a variety of Merdeka-themed activities have been planned for the PINTAR school children such as colouring contests, short essay-writing competition and “Puisi” writing competition. As stops at the orphanages will fall during the fasting month, the convoy will instead carry out cleaning and repairing activities at the charity homes as well as breaking fast and performing Terawikh prayers with the children.

“Our main objective is to extend our existing outreach programme by focusing on celebrating the country’s independence with children, in particular those living in the city outskirts and the unfortunate ones.”

“As a GLC and a national car maker, we feel that it is our duty to give children all the attention they need and to play our role as part of the responsible and caring society in nurturing and educating them so that they will grow up to be better leaders in future. We celebrate with them and share with them stories about PROTON’s experiences so that they can learn from our mistakes and not repeat them.”
“As a response to the call for 1Malaysia, we strongly believe that poor and unfortunate children must not be left out, especially in celebrating Merdeka. Our aim is to help instil the spirit of Merdeka in these children, so that they would know and understand the true meaning of Merdeka, appreciate and be proud of it” explained Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin.

Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin continued to say that “The theme ‘One Journey, One With Malaysia’ also speaks of our journey as the first national car-manufacturer making bold in-roads in the automotive industry – an industry that was pretty much alien to our country back then – and of our growth with Malaysia and Malaysians after 24 fine years. “

“As an entity, just like the Nation, PROTON has had our fair share of ups and downs but we are grateful that we have been able to get back on our feet each time we fell. It has been a meaningful learning process for us and we owe it to our country, its people and our leaders for the support they’ve given us. The journey has been rough but we have definitely taken them as valuable lessons for us to move forward with more confidence.”

The programme is also the mini roll out of PROTON’s 25th year anniversary celebration next year.

Apart from the Merdeka Convoy, PROTON will also be organizing a ‘1Malaysia Dress Your Car Contest’ where all Proton car owners will be invited to take part by dressing up their cars creatively with the 1Malaysia concept. Other activities lined up during the month long celebration include the distribution of 70,000 car stickers depicting the theme of the celebration to PROTON customers through PROTON’s sales and service network nationwide. The convoy will also be giving away Jalur Gemilangs to schools in the Shah Alam and Tanjung Malim vicinity and to the general public.
On the corporate front, PROTON will also be participating in the March Past parade at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium to be held on 31 August and will be airing its TV commercial from 25th August onwards on various local TV stations highlighting the concept of togetherness and Malaysia as a unique country. The full version of the TV commercial will be aired concurrently on the online versions of few mainstream newspapers as well as a few other youth related websites

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LATEST NEWS 14/08/2009

PROTON EXORA – A 4-STAR MPV IN SAFETY


SERI KEMBANGAN, 14 August 2009 – PROTON’s latest model, the EXORA MPV was today awarded with the Malaysian Vehicle Assessment Program (MyVAP) certification scoring four out of five stars for safety assessment.
The certification was presented to PROTON today by the Director General of Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) Professor Dr. Ahmad Farhan Mohd. Sadullah to PROTON Holdings Berhad Managing Director, Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir. The certificate presentation ceremony was held at PROTON’s booth at the Malaysian International Road Safety Exbihition 2009 (MIREX) held at the Malaysian International Exhibition & Convention Centre in the Mines, Seri Kembangan.
PROTON is the first car manufacturer to voluntarily send its EXORA model for evaluation by MyVAP, whom had initiated the program. The MyVAP certification is an evaluation program carried out by MIROS to improve vehicle safety level in Malaysia with the objective to create and enhance awareness among local road users with regards to vehicle safety, specifically in acquiring roadworthy and crashworthy vehicles.

Commenting on the award received, PROTON Group Managing Director, Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said “we are indeed very proud of this recognition as it serves as a testament to the safety features that we have built the MPV with. I believe the award would further enhance the confidence of the public towards the Nation’s very first home-grown MPV.”
“Our decision of voluntarily submitting this MPV for the MyVAP test goes to show the confidence that we have in the Exora and we are proud to be the first car company in Malaysia to have done it and concurrently kick-started this evaluation program. As the national car producer, we have a vital role to play in further developing the total eco-system of the automotive industry and as such our participation here in this evaluation would be one of the few ways of contributing towards the development of the industry here,” added Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin.
“Of course we are very happy to have received such a recognition but nevertheless, we will continuously strive to improve further on our products for the consumers” Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin concluded.

The assessment was done based on four pillars; namely the UNECE certification, Passive Safety Level, Active Safety Level and Production conformation. EXORA scored a total of 4.00 points which translates to a 4-star performance. With the findings, PROTON has learnt that the EXORA could be improved further by enhancing more safety features such as side airbags, curtain airbags and a pop-up bonnet.

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LATEST NEWS 13/08/2009

BIGGEST RAKAN COP SIGN-UP IN PERAK FROM PROTON TANJUNG MALIM

TANJUNG MALIM, 13 August 2009 – Proton Tanjung Malim Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of PROTON Holdings Berhad is the first corporate organization in Perak to have more than 600 of its staff registered as volunteer members of the RAKAN COP initiative by the Royal Malaysian Police.

RAKAN COP (Community Oriented Policing) which was first introduced by the Malaysian Police in 2005, is an initiative to reduce the escalating number of crime by way of creating cooperative relationship between the police and the community.

The programme was initiated at Proton Tanjung Malim in 2008 by the Inhouse Union Proton Tanjung Malim Sdn Bhd, in conjunction of the company’s “Hari Raya Pulang ke Kampung” safety campaign. Since then, the Inhouse Union had expanded the programme by recruiting more members throughout the company. Today, the company has 675 RAKAN COP members and the Inhouse Union plans to expand it further to 1,000 members.

A total of 400 new members received their membership certificates today from the Perak Police Chief, DCP Dato’ Pahlawan Zulkifli bin Abdullah who was there for an official visit to the national car manufacturing plant today.

Commenting about the initiative, PROTON Holdings Berhad Managing Director, Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said, “RAKAN COP has been a very useful programme to reduce crime rates at the workplace and the neighborhood we live in.”

“We are proud that today we already have 675 of our staff signed up for the volunteer program. By being the eyes and ears of the police, the safety of our community are more well-guarded. We hope that the 675 personnel will inspire the rest of the workforce as well as other organizations to come forward to be part of this programme,” said Dato’ Syed Zainal.

Proton Tanjung Malim Sdn Bhd was earlier given recognition by the Royal Malaysian Police for its initiative in introducing the RAKAN COP programme to its staff. A letter of appreciation was presented to the company during the Hari Polis ke-202 celebration on March 25, 2009.

DCP Dato’ Zulkifli Abdullah had earlier visited the various facilities at the Tanjung Malim plant, which is PROTON’s second and latest after Shah Alam. Dato’ Zulkifli Abdullah was accompanied by senior officers from the Perak Police Contingent.

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LATEST NEWS 12/08/09

PROTON MAKES A RETURN TO ASIA-PACIFIC RALLY

PUTRAJAYA, 12 August 2009 – PROTON today announced its return to the coveted FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) since its last participation in 2004. The FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship is one of the premier regional championships in World Rallying.

The PROTON R3 Malaysia Rally Team was introduced today at the premises of the Perdana Leadership Foundation in a ceremony officiated by PROTON Advisor, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad and witnessed by PROTON Holdings Berhad Chairman, Dato’ Mohd. Nadzmi Mohd. Salleh and Managing Director, Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

The PROTON R3 Malaysia Rally Team will be made up of APRC champion Karamjit Singh and his regular co-driver Jagdev Singh and a cosmopolitan team of engineers and technicians from Malaysia.

The proven Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 will be fielded for this return to competitive racing. The car recently created news waves when it finished 4th overall at the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) in Russia, driven by two-times British rally champion Guy Wilks. The participation in the IRC marked PROTON’s return to the global rally scene.

Dato’ Mohd. Nadzmi said, “It has been quite a while but we are now ready to return to the rally motorsports arena. With the Satria Neo Super 2000 and with our long time associate Karamjit, we are quite sure that we will put up a strong challenge in this championship.”

“What the new Proton Satria Neo S2000 has achieved thus far while still in the developmental stage has been extraordinary and we hope to continue improving as the year progresses,” he added.

Dato’ Syed Zainal Abidin explained that “As a car maker, our re-entry into the rally scene is significant as we strive to push forward our aspirations to be a global car manufacturer. Motorsports is an avenue for us to showcase our cars, their performance, technology and capabilities. What’s more important is the opportunity to learn and discover our cars’ capabilities in the extreme conditions of motorsports which we will be able to then translate into product development and improvement.”

He continued to say that “As we move on to strengthen our presence in our export markets, our participation in the global rally scene will help to enhance our brand visibility internationally and help build confidence towards our cars and the brand generally.”

The team’s participation in the APRC will see it competing in three rallies starting this Saturday, 15 August 2009 at the Malaysian Rally to be held in Johor followed by Rally Indonesia and China Rally in October and November respectively.

PROTON R3 Malaysia Rally Team’s Participation in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship 2009

15-16 August - Malaysian Rally
03-04 October - Rally Indonesia
14-15 November - China Rally


About PROTON
PROTON, established in 1983, is Malaysia's largest manufacturer of automobiles. With operations in key market centers from UK and Western Europe to the Middle East, and across South-East Asia and Australasia, PROTON produces cars to suit a range of consumer demands and preferences. The offerings include versatile and reliable four-door family vehicles, two-door hatchbacks for the young-at-heart, luxurious and stylish executive sedans, spacious and affordable multi-purpose vehicle, as well as the world-renowned sports cars from Lotus.

PROTON’s inception as a key driver of national development has seen the brand accelerate its learning curve through technology transfer with strategic partnerships and technical collaborations. PROTON cars are now steadily on track to achieving the mission for the future, gearing up to achieve the promise of a marque which builds cars with passion and soul; cars which are a delight to drive and a pleasure to own.

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Showroom 5

Technical Specifications

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Showroom 4

GALLERY

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