While most of us knew Petronas as the caretaker of our oil and gas resources, the company has engaged in many other activities beyond its main role. These activities include engine research and development which resulted in the birth of the 2.0-litre Petronas E01 engine through their partnership with Sauber F1 Team when Petronas was still a title sponsor of the team from 1997 and 2005.
We haven’t heard much about the engine after that – apart from a manufacturing agreement with a Chinese carmaker and a development partnership with Proton – which is why we are quite surprised to learn that Proton is now the owner of all Petronas’ engine technologies through a RM 63 million deal that was made official earlier today. Apparently, the move was made after Petronas decided to ditch their involvement in engine development in 2010.
Through the acquisition, Proton now has additional 2.0-litre naturally aspirated and turbocharged engines as well as 2.2-litre turbocharged engine at their disposal alongside its own Campro engines. That being said, the national car maker has yet to reveal its actual plan with the newly acquired engines and all the technologies surrounding them although we do believe that it might be possible to see those engines in future Proton cars in one form or another.
