By CHOI TUCK WO

NORFOLK, ENGLAND: The multi award-winning Lotus Evora will be launched in Malaysia by the end of next month, said Proton Holdings Berhad managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir.

The price has yet to be finalised, he said.

"We'll look at the market place; the price structure and try to be competitive," he told Malaysian journalists during Proton adviser Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's visit to the Group Lotus plant headquarters in Hethel, eastern England, on Tuesday.

Proton chairman Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, who was also present, said the Evora would be more expensive than its 48,000 pounds (S$104,395) and above the price in Britain due to Malaysia's higher taxes.

The Evora has received rave reviews since its British launch in July 2008, bagging seven major awards last year and the eighth this month - Best Car under 50,000 pounds (S$108745) by GQ magazine.

The sports car is powered by a 3.5litre, V6 engine and can reach a top speed of 261kph.

The waiting period can be up to six months in some markets.

Lotus has delivered or has orders for several hundred Evoras from customers in Europe, Japan, Australia and South Africa.

The first cars are to be delivered to markets such as the United States in the next few weeks.

Dr Mahathir also met briefly with British supermodel Naomi Campbell who visited the plant in conjunction with her "Naomi for Haiti" Lotus Evora auction to raise funds for the earthquake victims.

So far, three of the eight special edition Evoras have been auctioned off, with the highest bid of 320,000 pounds (S$695968) by Campbell's boyfriend Vladimir Doronin.

Bidding on the remaining five via the www.naomiforhaiti.com website will end at noon this Sunday (8pm Malaysian time).

Campbell will announce the grand total at the Lotus press conference at the Geneva Motor Show on March 2.

Dr Mahathir, who test-drove the Evora on the Lotus test track, described it as a nice car to drive despite having six gears.

"Even with the way I use the gears, I was able to speed quite a bit on the straight and could handle the obstacles very well," he said.

The former prime minister, who was instrumental in leading the acquisition of Lotus by Proton in 1996, said there had been a lot of changes since his last visit eight years ago.

He said he then came to try out the hybrid car and to look at the new engine, adding that the changes over the past few months were in terms of management personnel.

On how Proton could leverage on the Lotus technology to help drive the company forward, Dr Mahathir said there was not much that it had gained in the past.

But now, he could see areas where Lotus could play a part in the development of Proton cars.

"I've seen some of the technology advancement developments they have accomplished," he said, referring to the Proton Exora MPV, which used Lotus technology.

twchoi@thestar.com.my