BERLIN - German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) will start to assemble its cars in Malaysia at the end of this year, the company said Friday.

The first model to be assembled together with Proton, the Malaysian partner of VW, will be an Asian variant of the "Passat" and in later 2006, the compact car "Fox" will also be built in the Proton plant in Tanjong Malim, China's Xinhua News Agency reported.

Expand market share

According to the German newspaper Braunschweiger Zeitung , the VW management has planned to assemble a third model, "Golf", in Malaysia from 2008/2009 and build VW vans in Indonesia.

With cars assembled in Malaysia and Indonesia, VW will be able to expand its market share in South-eastern Asia from its current one percent to 12 percent, the paper said.