By: Richard Aucock –
The ongoing struggle of under-pressure Malaysian car firm Proton may at last be over as Geely Holding agrees to buy a stake in the firm from current owners DRB-Hicom. In doing so, it’s outbid PSA Peugeot-Citroen, in a deal following the suspension of the group’s shares on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange.
It’s an exciting deal for car enthusiasts for one key reason – Proton owns Lotus Cars, a brand that itself has been struggling to emerge from the ruinous Dany Bahar era. Geely’s now completed a full takeover of Lotus. With the presumed cash injection that will come from being part of the Chinese giant, Lotus may at last become a major sports car player once again.
After all, just look at what Geely stewardship has done for another famous brand it controls: Volvo…
