15/06/2013 via Malasia Chronicle getipt door co-driver
"We have cleaned up and are moving ahead," said DRB-HICOM managing director Tan Sri Mohd Khamil Jamil on the sidelines of the launch of Proton Preve in Jakarta on Thursday.
He added that DRB-HICOM had taken in the negative aspects regarding Lotus' financial, technical, image, marketing and product, and has sorted out the various issues over the last one and half years.
Khamil said Lotus products have seen a lot of improvement.
He also announced that a new variant of Lotus will be launched next month.
"It's not going to sell by volumes but it is a big step," Khamil said.
He said the new variant will be part of the new three-year revamp following the scrapping of the five-year-five-car plan conceived by the previous management.
"We are coming out with the variants based on existing products - variants with improved technology, improved performance, improved quality as well as improved costing," he said, adding that those will be based on the Evora, Exige and Elise variants.
Khamil adds that the measures undertaken so far have seen a positive impact on Lotus.
"Up to May, we achieved encouraging sales of 80 Lotus cars, which is more than the 70 units for the whole of last year," he said, adding that it is a benchmark.
Meanwhile, Khamil who is also Proton Holdings Bhd chairman, confirmed reports that the national carmaker will collaborate with Honda Motor Co.
He said Proton has finalised its collaboration with the Japanese automotive giant but declined to disclose details.
"This is Honda's first collaborative agreement with another original equipment manufacturer and it would like to keep things under wraps," he said.
He said Proton will continue with its research and development work into energy-efficient vehicles, with the first prototype expected to be unveiled next year.
Khamil dismissed speculation that Proton will be shifting its Shah Alam operations to its Tanjung Malim plant as it is neither practical nor economical at the moment.
Meanwhile, Proton deputy chief executive officer Datuk Lukman Ibrahim said the carmaker's Tanjung Malim plant is expected to be fully utilised in the second half of next year.
At full utilisation, the plant can produce 150,000 cars a year.
It is currently operating at 60 per cent of its full capacity.
Source: http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index ... z2YU4qP0YR
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