Hero in final stage of talks with Proton to produce small car

    The $4-billion Hero Group, owned by the Delhi-based Munjal family, is in talks with Malaysia’s national carmaker Proton Holding to make passenger cars in India, currently the fastest-growing market in the world.
    An official with the Malaysian High Commission in New Delhi said Proton was in final stages of negotiations with the Hero Group to produce cars in India. The discussions have been going on for the past few months and could lead to a joint venture by the end of the year, he said, requesting anonymity.
A high-level Proton delegation will come to India by the end of this month along with Malaysia’s minister of international trade and industry Datuk Mustapha Mohammad, he added.
The Hero Group — which runs Hero Honda, the world’s largest two-wheeler maker by volumes, along with Japan’s Honda Motor — has been trying to establish a foothold in India’s passenger car market, Asia’s third-largest after China and Japan. The group owns 26% stake in Hero Honda, which sells more than half of the motorcycles sold in India.
“Proton officials came and met us earlier, and there’s nothing more to add,” said Sunil Kant Munjal, chairman of Hero Corporate Service, which manages commercial joint ventures of the group. However, a Hero group spokesperson confirmed that the companies are working on an alliance.