Proton Holdings, Malaysia’s privately-owned first national car company, is expected to sign a new strategic partnership with a foreign vehicle manufacturer at the end of March 2017, a government official told local reporters this week.

In June 2016 Proton sent out invitations to 14 international carmakers to discuss a potential strategic partnership and has already held preliminary talks with most of them.

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Deputy international trade and industry minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan is reported to have stated that Proton is currently carrying out in-depth evaluations of 2-3 potential partners it has shortlisted and is expected to enter into a formal partnership at the end of the current financial year.

Datuk Ahmad added that a new partnership will help Proton become a viable and competitive carmaker at international level.

Proton has lost its dominance of its home market over the last 20 years and exports have also fallen to a trickle as the company struggled to keep up with rising technical requirements of key overseas markets.

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Perodua, the country’s second national car company which has Daihatsu as its foreign partner, has taken over as the country’s dominant carmaker in recent years.

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In the first nine months of 2016, Proton sold just over 50,000 cars in Malaysia to claim a 13.5% share of the country’s passenger vehicle market. This compares with its 70% market share in the mid-1990s. Perodua sold 150,000 vehicles in the same period to claim a market share of over 40%, while Honda sold more than 63,000 vehicles.