According to a report Malaysian news agency Bernama, Proton plans to manufacture a new affordable Lotus model in Malaysia in late 2007 or in 2008. “If everything goes on well, the affordable Lotus will be done and assembled in Malaysia. Both Lotus and Proton have agreed on the plan,” a representative said at a press conference. According to Proton, the car will cost around RM100,000. That translates to somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000 U.S. dollars, when comparing current vehicles prices. That’s right around the expected retail price for the Volkswagen GX3. Incidentally, the GX3 has been seen in testing at Lotus’ facility in Britain. Lotus is believed to be helping engineer the vehicle. Lotus even went as far as telling AutoWeek it will build niche vehicles for other companies. Could the GX3 be the vehicle in question here? Might Lotus sell a derivative under its brand as well? We’ll keep you posted. (See the full report on the Volkswagen GX3 Concept here).