Group Lotus plc, a subsidiary of Proton Holdings Bhd, today welcomed the visit by Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin and Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Nur Zahirah to its headquarters in Norwich.
On hand to greet the royal couple were Proton Holdings Bhd/Lotus chairman, Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, Proton managing director, Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, and Group Lotus' chief executive officer, Dany Taner Bahar.
Also present were Her Majesty The Queen of England's Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, Richard Jewson and the Malaysian High Commissioner to UK, Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohammed.
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," he 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.
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.
Proton Holdings Bhd expects its new high-torque pressure-charged performance engine to be ready by 2011.
Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn Bhd's Engineering Division Director Tajul Zahari Abu Bakar said Proton was developing the engine in collaboration with Lotus Engineering with the active involvement of Malaysian engineers and vendors.
" Fifty per cent of the special components of the engine is supplied and developed together with Malaysian suppliers," he told Malaysian reporters in Norwirch today.
He added that the objective of this engine development was basically to improve its capability as well as facilitate the transfer of technology to Proton and Malaysian suppliers.
Saying that 70 engineers were involved in the engine development, Tajul Zahari added the performance of the 1,600 cc engine was equivalent to that of a 2,000 cc engine.
The engine promises a high torque for enhanced driveability with improved economy, performance and emissions, he added.
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