MALAYSIAN KING & QUEEN VISIT LOTUS UK

From Mahanum Abdul Aziz

NORWICH, (United Kingdom), Oct 3 (Bernama) -- Group Lotus plc, a subsidiary
of Malaysia's national car company Proton Holdings Bhd, Friday welcomed the
visit by the Malaysian King Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and his consort Tuanku
Nur Zahirah to its headquarters here.

Tuanku Mizan and Tuanku Nur Zahirah arrived by helicopter at the Lotus test
track.

On hand to greet the royal couple were Proton Holdings Bhd/Lotus chairman,
Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, Proton managing director, Syed Zainal Abidin Syed
Mohamed Tahir, and Group Lotus' chief executive officer, Dany Taner Bahar.

Also present were The Queen of England's Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, Richard
Jewson and the Malaysian High Commissioner to UK, Abdul Aziz Mohammed.

Proton and Lotus were also honoured to have the King and Queen unveiled the
Proton Higher Performance Engine, a new high-torque pressure-charged engine to
support future product introductions.

The engine, developed in collaboration between Proton and Lotus Engineering
and with active involvement of Malaysian engineers and vendors, boasts an
improved rate of emission and performance quality.

The royal couple spent the morning admiring the various exhibits of Lotus
cars including a briefing on classic Lotus cars by Clive Chapman, the son of
Lotus founder, Colin Chapman.

Tuanku Mizan and Tuanku Nur Zahirah toured the Lotus car assembly line, and
were briefed on the latest Lotus Design projects.

Meanwhile, Tuanku Mizan also drove the award-winning Lotus Evora as well as
the Tesla and Exige models.

"It is an honour to have Their Majesties' presence at the Lotus facility and
this is indeed a meaningful occasion for all of us.

"I am certain it will definitely inspire us to further strive and work
harder in bringing Lotus to greater global prominence and in realising Proton's
vision to become Asia's premier automotive company," Chapman said.

Mohd Nadzmi said with Lotus' proven strength in producing iconic cars such
as the Elite, Europa, Esprit, Elise and Evora, the decision to acquire Lotus in
1996 obviously has been proven to be a good one.

"The acquisition was also important as it has changed the future of Proton
as a car manufacturer," he said.
-- BERNAMA