PROTON AND NISSAN AGREE TO CONDUCT FEASIBILITY STUDY

PROTON Holdings Berhad announced that the Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. to jointly conduct a feasibility study to assess new opportunities aimed at further strengthening mutual competitiveness in the global marketplace. We heard of this JV possibility late last year at the Paris Motor Show and it might pave the way for Proton to work with Nissan for the LEAF electric car technology (pictured below) to be used with the upcoming EMAS project (however the EMAS design now sits under the ownership of VW since the bought the design house recently).
Based on this understanding, and upon evaluating the results of a three-month feasibility study, PROTON’s next generation vehicles will incorporate select technologies and manufacturing expertise from Nissan. This could also signal the release of the long awaited Perdana replacement for the Government Fleet Only using the Nissa Fuga. (pictured below).
“This study we have agreed to do will focus purely on technology sharing, and in the pursuit of global competitiveness, the strategy of sharing technologies and platforms has today become an important and cost-effective process for all global car manufacturers,” said PROTON Holdings Berhad Group Managing Director Dato’ Haji Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.
“It significantly reduces the time required to develop new products, extends tremendous cost savings in terms of development, and provides greater flexibility in being able to spin off a variety of vehicles from a common set of components,” he added.
“Successful collaborations between car manufacturers today are as a result of not only the mutual exchange of technology, knowledge and expertise, but also the capitalization of common manufacturing facilities, supplies as well as sales and distribution networks. This will accelerate the launch of PROTON’s next generation of vehicles and models that are being designed to appeal to a more diverse and broader market segment both domestically and abroad.”

So….What happens to Tan Chong and Sons in the above equation?