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The Volkswagen Group on Tuesday signed an agreement with Malaysia's DRB Hicom auto group for local vehicle assembly as the Wolfsburg-based automaker seeks to expand its operations in Southeast Asia under the Strategy 2018 growth program. The announcement came after VW abandoned alliance talks with Malaysian state-owned carmaker Proton earlier this year for undisclosed reasons.

It appears that Aston Martin won't be the only British sports car maker to have a controversial small city car in its range. Lotus chief executive Dany Bahar told Car magazine that the Concept City Car, which was previewed at the recent Paris Motor Show alongside five sports car studies, has been approved for production. The comapny's CEO said the car will be manufactured in cooperation with Lotus parent company Proton and an undisclosed third party.

"Our city car has been confirmed and will be launched in October 2013," Mr. Bahar told the British magazine. "We are doing this together with Proton and another OEM [original equipment manufacturer, or car maker]. We will build three versions: one for the Asian market, one for Europe and a sportier one."

The Lotus flavored Concept City Car is based on one of the three Giugiaro-penned Proton EMAS design studies, which were first shown in Geneva earlier this year.

Lotus announced today that it’s taking over the “Renault F1 Team” and creating a new team named “Lotus Renault GP” that will compete in the 2011 Formula 1 season and onwards. This is not the first time that the two companies have worked together in Formula 1, as in the 1980s, Lotus used turbocharged engines sourced from the French carmaker.

Taking center stage at Proton's 2010 Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show booth alongside the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO-esque Jebat study, is yet one more concept model based on another manufacturer's vehicle, the Lekir. This time, Proton looked into its own car bin and in particular, Lotus, which it acquired back in 1994, as the Lekir is essentially a rebagded Europa coupe. Mind you, it's not the first time we've seen the Europa wearing different logos as Dodge displayed an EV concept of the model at the 2009 Detroit Show.

The 2010 Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show at the Putra World Trade Centre in Malaysia saw local automaker and owner of Lotus, Proton, revealing a host of concept models including a sport prototype of the recently launched Inspira called the Jebat. Needless to say, it's clearly inspired from the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X.

As you may remember, the Inspira is a rebadged Mitsubishi Lancer sedan and is the result of an OEM collaboration between the Malaysian automaker and Mitsubishi Japan. However, we're not so sure if Mitsubishi had this in mind when it was signing the agreement with Proton.

In any case, the Jebat study, which could very well lead to a similar production model, features a wide body kit with blistered wheel arches and splashes of matte black paint all around the car. Power is provided by a turbocharged 4-cylinder MiVEC engine producing 237HP (177kW) at 6,000 rpm and 343Nm of peak torque at 3,000 rpm.

Proton has officially unveiled its Mitsubishi Lancer-derived Inspira mid-sizer, after its soft launch to the public and media in late October. Since then Proton has received over 1,800 bookings from customers around Malaysia in anticipation of its market launch this month.

The new model is the result of an OEM collaboration (the word "rebadge" sounds nastier...) between PROTON and Mitsubishi Japan, the latter providing the mechanical and design basis and the former tweaking the model for the Malaysian market.

Among those changes are the signature Proton grille and -according to the Malaysian company- the incorporation of Lotus DNA in the Inspira's ride and handling.

Proton Inspira has been spied with masked tapes and it has been often refer as the re-badged Mitsubishi Lancer, or the Proton Waja replacement model. Proton has made quite a few changes and cleverly “Protonize” the Lancer to Inspira.

The Proton Inspira 2.0 Premium gets body kit which is also design by Proton. From the rear, the "Proton Inspira" 2.0P gets full body kit, as well as the rear boot lip spoiler. The car is rebadged with Proton’s Logo as well the Inspira badge. Proton has also retain the metal stripe on the boot from the Mitsubishi Lancer Ex model. Proton has given the Proton Inspira newly designed rims. The Proton Inspira is equipped with all 4 disc brakes and standard ABS (Anti-lock braking system) with EBD (Electronic Brake-force Distribution).

Moving forward to the Technical Specification of the Proton Inspira, the 1.8 Executive model will be fitted with Mitsubishi 4B10 1.8 MIVEC 4 Cylinder DOHC 16V Engine mated with Manual or CVT Transmission. This 1.8 engine is similar to Mitsubishi Lancer Fortis 1.8 in Taiwan. The 2.0 Premium model is fitted with Mitsubishi 4B11 2.0 MIVEC 4 Cylinder DOHC 16V Engine mated with CVT Transmission. The 2.0 engine is similar engine with the current Mitsubishi Lancer GT, GLS or EX. Based on the specifications list, the Inspira’s engine is having slightly lesser output compare to the Mitsubishi Lancer by 3HP (Inspira 1.8 – 138HP; Lancer Fortis 1.8 – 141HP) to 6HP (Inspira 2.0 – 147HP; Lancer GT 2.0 – 153HP). Apart from engine slightly detuned, it is physically identical to the Lancer’s engine.
Regrettably, the 1.8 Manual is still fitted with 5 Speed Manual Transmission.

The Proton Inspira was unveiled at Proton Edar Sdn Bhd’s (Proton Edar) showroom at Jalan Tun Jugah here yesterday. Proton offers CVT with intelligent and innovation vehicle electronic control systems in a variant of the Proton Inspira.
Among practical features users stand to gain from include auto cruise, automatic light and rain sensors, welcome and coming home light systems, fully automatic air conditioning system with climate control system for both front and rear occupants, and all-round airbags for passengers’ safety.
What do you think – does a two-door Lancer-based Proton Inspira look good?

Proton, Malaysia's national carmaker and owners of Lotus, has taken the wraps of its latest model. No, you aren't looking at a cheesy Photoshop and this isn't an April Fools joke come six months late: this is the firm's new mid-sized Inspira sedan.

For those of you fooled by the *cough* deceptive *cough* restyling Proton has done, the Inspira (from the Bahasa Malaysia word 'Inspirasi' which means 'Inspiration') is based on the current generation Mitsubishi Lancer.