Malaysia will not impose a deadline for a turn around by loss-making carmaker Proton, deputy prime minister Najib Razak said Thursday after the auto ditched alliance talks with Germany's Volkswagen.

"There is no time limit but we will monitor it (Proton's performance) very closely," Najib told reporters.

Najib's comments came after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Proton management had already demonstrated the ability to turn the company around and rejected a bailout for Proton, as its shares crashed 18.6 percent Wednesday.

On Thursday, Proton shares reversed losses.

It closed up four sen or one percent at 4.06 ringgit (1.2 dollars) which analysts attributed to a technical rebound. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index had fallen 15.69 points or 1.2 percent at 1,344.16.

"We are giving the management of Proton every chance to revive the company. They also have access to big regional markets, especially China and they believe things will look up for Proton.

"We we are giving them the opportunity to resuscitate Proton," Najib said.

But analysts and industry officials said there were many outstanding issues that Proton had to grapple with since it lacked economies of scale in its production while facing fierce competition from foreign carmakers.