French car giant PSA Peugeot Citroen has ended talks on cooperating with Malaysia's troubled counterpart Proton, Le Figaro newspaper reported today.

The newspaper quoted new Peugeot chief executive Christian Streiff as saying that a deal with Proton did not offer the cost-cutting possibilities that the French firm wanted.

"After a detailed study of the case Christian Streiff has decided to put an end to the talks that could have relaunched relations between the two groups," said the paper, which published an interview with Streiff ahead of the Geneva car show.

Malaysia's government is currently in talks with a number of companies to boost the prospects of the loss-making Proton, the national carmaker.

The Malaysian government owns 59 percent of Proton, including a 43 percent stake held by its investment arm Khazanah Nasional.

Proton last week announced its third consecutive quarter of losses, blaming sluggish sales and increased competition.

Proton has been in talks with US auto giant General Motors and Germany's Volkswagen as well as Peugeot.