Group Lotus buys Renault F1 Team

[forty-two]

The Renault Engine

Hmmm, yes interesting that. The prior owner of the F1 team with which Team Lotus are now in legal dispute with.

Doesn't this seem a little bit fishy? Could we see Team Lotus mysteriously backing down over this issue in the next few days, perhaps as a result of a threat of withdrawal of Renault engines?

[N12ck]

what do u think off this (slightly off topic) but group lotus dont own any shares in renault : http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Geni ... n-Auto.com

[N12ck]

hi, what do you think of this, lotus hasnt bought into renault f1 team as confirmed by eric bouliern have a read, they are simply a sponsor as is vodafone to mclaren : http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Geni ... n-Auto.com

[marcush.]

just why is Boullier quick to point out that Lotus is just sponsoring?
And why does Group lotus try to make it more than this...

[CHT]

I like Tony's approach and I recognise him as being very skilful in management, but I wonder about one thing. Why isn't he willing to build his own legend rather than reviving Lotus from ashes?

Tony would not have started this team if not because of Proton and Malaysia government willingness to support him.

Despite what Team Lotus said about 5 years plans etc. I think Tony's Team Lotus days in F1 are numbered. It make prefect sense for Tony to continue to fight on as this can only be free publicity for him.

[adrianjordan]

just why is Boullier quick to point out that Lotus is just sponsoring?
And why does Group lotus try to make it more than this...

I think he's seeing the negative publicity and trying to distance the brand he's responsible for (Renault) from it as much as he can...

[marcush.]

Proton gets bad mouthed by banks in malaysia already doing irresponsible things putting so much money into this for a questionable return.
Proton bankrolling effectively the lotus sponsorship + all the programmes they have started need funding too.....you can get dizzy thinking about it..

[gibells]

I've just read in Britain's Car Magazine that 1 of Bahar's 5 new models has been scrapped (Elan), and that the other 4 have been delayed by a year. I'm starting to see the writing on the wall...

[forty-two]

Case brought forward to the 21st of March 2011 by high court judge:
http://www.f1sa.com/index.php?option=co ... Itemid=157

Looks like the judge wants the two parties to sort things out quickly. The date of the next hearing will be one week AFTER the first race of the season, so presumably, once either team has run a race under a new name, the names are tied in for the duration of the season. Perhaps this one will be settled out of court prior to Bahrain?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

@ Gibells

The undertaking and expansion that Bahar was talking about was insane. I think he mentioned it with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and if he didnt then he is certifiable too.
Shame to see a name like Lotus be sullied thus

[gibells]

The undertaking and expansion that Bahar was talking about was insane. I think he mentioned it with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and if he didnt then he is certifiable too.
Shame to see a name like Lotus be sullied thus

Yup, I'm erring on the side of a jumper for the man, but wait, why such long sleeves? :Lol . It is a shame for Lotus because they have a great history (of road cars and racing). But currently, added to the fact that they don't make their own engines (Ok, it's a small company), he's now putting stickers on racing cars as if he was rebadging a FIAT into a Lada. Coupled with the fact that neither Group Lotus nor parent Proton has made an ounce of profit for years, his spending & plans seem out of control. Impassionately if I were in the market for a sports car company I'd be watching from the shadows, waiting for it all to crumble.

[conni]

shouldnt have to wait too long as they made people redundant before christmass

conni

[Antony-M-Peacock]

The undertaking and expansion that Bahar was talking about was insane. I think he mentioned it with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and if he didnt then he is certifiable too.
Shame to see a name like Lotus be sullied thus

Yup, I'm erring on the side of a jumper for the man, but wait, why such long sleeves? :Lol . It is a shame for Lotus because they have a great history (of road cars and racing). But currently, added to the fact that they don't make their own engines (Ok, it's a small company), he's now putting stickers on racing cars as if he was rebadging a FIAT into a Lada. Coupled with the fact that neither Group Lotus nor parent Proton has made an ounce of profit for years, his spending & plans seem out of control. Impassionately if I were in the market for a sports car company I'd be watching from the shadows, waiting for it all to crumble.

What you just said isn't actually correct.
There wasn't just one Lotus company, there was two:
Group Lotus/Lotus Cars - the company woh created such iconic cars as the Esprit, who have never entered F1 themselves only as a sponsor of the Team Lotus F1 team.
Team Lotus - the sister company of Lotus cars that raced in F1 and created racing cars, it has always been separate from Lotus Car, but the two worked together in certain apsects, before Lotus Cars/Group Lotus were sold to GM.

[segedunum]

It's obvious that Bahar was and is nuts. Lotus is a small sports car company. It isn't Ferrari. You can't just start announcing new models and then sponsoring a F1 team. Building Lotus up as a more major car maker was going to take years and lots of careful investment.

[Pandamasque]

- Lotus Cars have exhausted their supply of Toyota engines for their road cars so only the supercharged Elise, Exige and Evora can be manufactured.
- 100 members of staff have recently taken voluntary redundancy.
- There is every likelihood that 50-100 more staff will lose their jobs.
- The levels of unallocated (un-sold) stock is rising rapidly with approximately 200 cars now in US port stock
- Sales forecasts have been reduced to the point that about a fifth of the forecast is currently unallocated stock waiting to find buyers
- Dealerships have been served with two year notices of termination
- Lotus have borrowed over $100M to cover existing budget shortfalls with more to come early in 2011
- Lotus paid Renault F1 $14.5m in November.
- The current monthly salary commitment is $6.47M and that was before Nigel Mansell and Jean Alesi were announced as Brand Ambassadors.
...
I suppose the one consolation in all this is that if the electricity does get switched off at the factory in Hethel, they could always keep the lights on using the power generated by Colin Chapman spinning violently in his grave.

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