中国吉利和法国PSA竞购马来西亚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.

中国吉利(Geely)和法国标致雪铁龙集团(PSA)正在竞购苦苦挣扎的马来西亚汽车制造商、莲花(Lotus)品牌的所有者马来西亚国家汽车工业公司(Proton)，未来几日两家集团将提交竞争性报价。

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.

据了解相关时机安排的两名知情人士表示，旗下拥有沃尔沃(Volvo)的吉利将于本周提交收购Proton部分或全部股权的报价，同时标致(Peugeot)的所有者PSA也准备提交报价。

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由在吉隆坡上市的综合企业DRB-Hicom所有，目前正在寻找外国战略合作伙伴来帮助扩大其产品系列，并提高汽车质量。

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”.

据两名知情人士称，原本预计将提交报价的雷诺(Renault)已经退出竞购。这家法国汽车制造商并未就竞购置评，尽管它表示“经常探索新的商机”。

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于1983年由马来西亚前总理马哈蒂尔?穆罕默德(Mahathir Mohamad)创办，该公司一度主导马来西亚本土市场、占据四分之三的汽车销量，但在进口廉价汽车的激烈竞争下，截至去年该公司的市场份额已跌至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，该品牌制定了到2017年年产量达到50万辆的目标。去年该公司仅生产了15万辆汽车。

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.

据悉吉利主要对马来西亚境内的Proton工厂感兴趣，该工厂拥有年产60万辆汽车的产能以及生产右舵汽车的能力。

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

尽管吉利的沃尔沃品牌也生产右舵汽车，但这家中国企业的同名品牌只生产左舵汽车。

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、巴基斯坦和孟加拉国等亚洲市场，每年右舵汽车销量超过800万辆，据熟悉吉利战略的知情人士称，吉利想进入这些市场。

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.

英国公司登记局(Companies House)文件显示，在截至2016年3月31日的12个月中，莲花（包括向其他企业出售跑车技术的工程部门）录得亏损2760万英镑，较前一年3900万英镑的亏损有所收窄。

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.

由于供应链问题以及在美国推出Evora 400车型的时间推迟，莲花汽车销量减少242辆，至1584辆。

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.

尽管吉利迫切希望利用莲花的技术来改进汽车轻量化，但这家中国企业不一定在这笔交易中纳入该跑车品牌。

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.

听取了相关讨论简报的一位人士表示，交易完成后，DRB-Hicom可能保留Proton的部分股权，尽管吉利希望能通过该交易获得控股权。

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上周否认了有关其已经选定外国合作伙伴的传言，称物色合作伙伴的过程“复杂且耗时”，但补充称将在“今年上半年”完成。

Proton did not respond to request for comment.

Proton没有回应记者的置评请求。