PSA could purchase Proton but the Lotus brand could be bought by Chinese manufacturer Geely, reports suggest.

Although currently negotiating a deal to take over General Motors Europe, it is thought PSA is ready to invest in Proton and build a new plant in Malaysia.

Geely, which owns Volvo, is also interested in purchasing Proton but may be offered a deal to take only Lotus. Those terms could suit PSA, which has less interest in the Lotus brand.

Proton is looking to get a foreign partner involved in the business after being bailed out by the Chinese government six months ago following a long period of poor financial results.

It is thought PSA's plans for Proton include building a new plant to raise its output in the South East Asian market, which would aid PSA's Push to Pass strategy. Reports suggest PSA is aiming to raise Proton's production capacity up to two million units from the current 150,000.

Proton is itself owned by DRB-Hicom, a large Malaysian conglomerate, and last year revealed it would consider offering Lotus to the market in its attempts to save an ailing Proton.

At that time PSA, Renault and Suzuki were reported to have all voiced interest in purchasing Proton, but the purchase of Lotus was still uncertain.

This isn’t the first time the future of Lotus and its parent company have been cast into doubt because six years ago the Malaysian brand faced similar financial issues. However, the purchase of both brands by DRB-Hicom enabled Lotus to commit to a more secure future.

This future includes an all-new Lotus Elise that will go on sale in 2020. Comment about the model’s development coincided with news that Lotus has made a profit for the first time in two decades.