中國吉利和法國PSA競購馬來西亞Proton

China’s Geely and France’s PSA are in the race to buy Proton, the struggling Malaysian carmaker that owns Lotus, with the two groups set to submit rival offers in the coming days.

中國吉利(Geely)和法國標緻雪鐵龍集團(PSA)正在競購苦苦掙扎的馬來西亞汽車製造商、蓮花(Lotus)品牌的所有者馬來西亞國家汽車工業公司(Proton)，未來幾日兩家集團將提交競爭性報價。

Geely, which owns Volvo, will table a bid for part or all of Proton this week, according to two people familiar with the timing, while Peugeot owner PSA is also preparing to make an offer.

據瞭解相關時機安排的兩名知情人士表示，旗下擁有沃爾沃(Volvo)的吉利將於本週提交收購Proton部分或全部股權的報價，同時標緻(Peugeot)的所有者PSA也準備提交報價。

Proton is owned by DRB-Hicom, the Kuala Lumpur-listed conglomerate, and has been seeking a foreign strategic partner to help expand its range of products and the quality of its cars.

Proton由在吉隆坡上市的綜合企業DRB-Hicom所有，目前正在尋找外國戰略合作伙伴來幫助擴大其產品系列，並提高汽車質量。

Renault, which had been expected to bid, has dropped out of the race, according to two people. The French carmaker did not comment on the bid, although it said it “regularly explores new business opportunities”.

據兩名知情人士稱，原本預計將提交報價的雷諾(Renault)已經退出競購。這家法國汽車製造商並未就競購置評，儘管它表示“經常探索新的商機”。

Founded in 1983 by former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, Proton was once dominant in its native market with three-quarters of all car sales, but by last year the company’s share had fallen to 15 per cent amid fierce competition from cheap imports.

Proton於1983年由馬來西亞前總理馬哈蒂爾?穆罕默德(Mahathir Mohamad)創辦，該公司一度主導馬來西亞本土市場、佔據四分之三的汽車銷量，但在進口廉價汽車的激烈競爭下，截至去年該公司的市場份額已跌至15%。

In 2013, the brand set a target of producing 500,000 cars a year by 2017. Last year it made just 150,000 vehicles.

2013年，該品牌制定了到2017年年產量達到50萬輛的目標。去年該公司僅生產了15萬輛汽車。

Geely is understood to be primarily interested in the Malaysian Proton plant, which has the capacity to make 600,000 vehicles a year and produce right-hand-drive cars.

據悉吉利主要對馬來西亞境內的Proton工廠感興趣，該工廠擁有年產60萬輛汽車的產能以及生產右舵汽車的能力。

Although Geely’s Volvo brand makes right-hand-drive vehicles, the Chinese marque only produces left-hand-drive cars in its title brand.

儘管吉利的沃爾沃品牌也生產右舵汽車，但這家中國企業的同名品牌只生產左舵汽車。

More than 8m right-hand-drive cars are sold across Asia every year in markets such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, markets the Chinese company wants to tap into, according to one person familiar with its strategy.

在印度、巴基斯坦和孟加拉國等亞洲市場，每年右舵汽車銷量超過800萬輛，據熟悉吉利戰略的知情人士稱，吉利想進入這些市場。

Lotus, which includes an engineering division that sells sports car technology to other businesses, recorded a loss of ￡27.6m in the 12 months ending on March 31 2016, narrower than the ￡39m recorded a year earlier, according to Companies House documents.

英國公司登記局(Companies House)文件顯示，在截至2016年3月31日的12個月中，蓮花（包括向其他企業出售跑車技術的工程部門）錄得虧損2760萬英鎊，較前一年3900萬英鎊的虧損有所收窄。

Car sales fell by 242 to 1,584 vehicles because of problems in its supply chain and the delayed launch of the Evora 400 model in the US.

由於供應鏈問題以及在美國推出Evora 400車型的時間推遲，蓮花汽車銷量減少242輛，至1584輛。

While Geely is keen to use Lotus technology to improve the lightweighting of its vehicles, there is no guarantee the Chinese group will include the sports car brand in the deal.

儘管吉利迫切希望利用蓮花的技術來改進汽車輕量化，但這家中國企業不一定在這筆交易中納入該跑車品牌。

It is possible that DRB-Hicom will retain a stake in Proton after the deal, one person briefed on the discussions said, although Geely is seeking a controlling shareholding through the deal, the person added.

聽取了相關討論簡報的一位人士表示，交易完成後，DRB-Hicom可能保留Proton的部分股權，儘管吉利希望能通過該交易獲得控股權。

Proton last week rejected claims it had already selected a foreign partner, saying its search was “complex and time consuming”, adding it would be completed “in the first half of this year”.

Proton上週否認了有關其已經選定外國合作伙伴的傳言，稱物色合作伙伴的過程“複雜且耗時”，但補充稱將在“今年上半年”完成。

Proton did not respond to request for comment.

Proton沒有迴應記者的置評請求。