GM said to revive talks with Proton

General Motors Co has begun talks with Proton Holdings Bhd, Malaysia’s biggest automaker, to form a manufacturing venture in the Southeast Asian country, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The discussions revive negotiations that were scrapped in 2007, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are confidential. The talks are preliminary and may not lead to an agreement, they said.

For GM, an agreement would help the Detroit-based carmaker expand manufacturing of cars for Southeast Asia beyond Thailand, where the country is reeling from its worst floods in almost 70 years.

A deal may allow Proton, which has held unsuccessful alliance talks with Volkswagen AG and Peugeot SA, to gain access to GM technology that could help the Malaysian carmaker boost sales overseas.

Klaus-Peter Martin, a GM spokesman in Detroit, declined to comment. Izad Raya, head of group communications at Proton, which owns sports-car maker Lotus Group International Ltd, said the company doesn’t comment on speculation.

GM isn’t interested in buying the controlling 43 per cent stake in Proton held by Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the people said. Proton shares jumped 45 per cent over two days on Dec 5 after the Edge reported the state-owned asset manager was preparing to auction its holdings.

Auto and property group DRB-Hicom Bhd, Naza Group and Proton chairman Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh submitted separate bids to Khazanah for Proton, Malaysia’s The New Straits Times newspaper reported this week, without saying where they obtained the information. -- Bloomberg