M&M aborts planned venture with Proton

NASHIK: The Malaysian national car maker Proton’s third attempt at driving into India has come a cropper. Mahindra & Mahindra has dropped plans to join hands with Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd, popularly known as Proton, for importing and marketing the Proton Waja sedan and Lotus Elise 2-seater sportscar.
According to sources, the project was discontinued as M&M decided to concentrate on its latest offensive - the Scorpio sports-utility vehicle.
When contacted, M&M MD Anand Mahindra said: “When we had initially started to look abroad for tie-ups to market Scorpio, we had also spoken to Proton. And they wanted us to look at selling their select models in India, aimed at a niche set of customers. We did study the option, but nothing actually worked out.�
Sources also pointed out that plans for importing the Lotus Elise, which would have cost around Rs 25 lakh in India, fizzled out due to the time and costs it would take to get the car homologated here.
This project would have marked M&M’s entry into the passenger car arena.