All rather interesting, wonder if Lotus might end up with a large manufacturer in the end?
good news if it is!!!
Yawn. Zzzzzzzzzz :tired:
FWIW I have it on good authority that there may not be green and yellow cars which may not be in a team called “Team Lotus” next season.
It seems that Tony F has had enough of the squabbling and will probably enter as Team Caterham Air Asia or something like that. Let’s face it, he always said that all he wanted to do was work with Lotus and help put the brand out globally. Group Lotus, and Bahar in particular, have effectively stopped him from helping Lotus as a brand and he now owns another brand which could benefit from the publicity.
So it seems that all of the brilliant work achieved by the Hingham Team will be re-focussed and re-branded for next season.
All of that would fit in with this particular story from Joe Saward (like me a strong supporter of Team Lotus and Tony F), particularly if the Renault Lotus F1 Team IS putting a consortium together to buy Group Lotus. That would be the natural home for a team called LOTUS in F1.
Whatever happens, we can be sure that it was Tony Fernandes and the Hingham boys who put the Lotus name back in F1, and not Group Lotus or Danny Bahar.
A little bird flew over Hethel and noticed a large number of french registered cars in the carpark and the little bird had a walk around and found a large office full of Garlic and Gauloise smoke which is locked as far as the Lotus staff are concerned 
there could have been the noise of calculators whirring .
Mon dieu Les Frogs mange les Lotus… Jamais…su mon corps mort! Mate
Clive,
It’s probably no worse than having the Germans, the Italians or the Malaysians at the helm, is it?
I wonder if they should put Clive Chapman in as Chief Exec? - make it a sinecure so that he can focus on Classic Team Lotus. They could offer Tony F a job as Business Development director…
Thinking about it the French might just be the people to "undersdand " Lotus, they like small quirky cars and there is a huge interest in Lotus in frogland plus they have always had some innovative engineers …might just work lets hope so.
The possibility of a Caterham takeover would be quite surreal…but again might work.
If the Renault stuff is true is it not just part of the F1 name owning saga?
It’s Now Official but it seems that Danny Bahar is staying put for the time being.
Group Lotus Plc and Proton Holdings Berhad, 1Malaysia Racing Team, Caterham Cars and Tony Fernandes
Hingham, UK - 9th November 2011
Proton, Group Lotus, 1Malaysia Racing Team and its owner Tony Fernandes are delighted to announce that the legal dispute in the English Courts relating to the “LOTUS” and “TEAM LOTUS” brands has now ended amicably with the parties agreeing settlement terms earlier this month.
The terms of the settlement are confidential but the deal sees the “LOTUS” brand reunited under the sole ownership of Group Lotus. This includes the rights to the “LOTUS” and “TEAM LOTUS” names in Formula 1 motor racing.
1MRT will race in the 2012 Formula 1 season under the name “CATERHAM F1 TEAM” and will use a �CATERHAM� chassis.
The deal also sees a working relationship established between the parties and they will work together on future projects in the automotive field.
Group Lotus Chief Executive Officer Dany Bahar: �On behalf of Group Lotus and Proton I would like to express how pleased we are that this matter is finally closed and we can now focus on looking forward to the future.
�We understand that this has been a very difficult and confusing time for the fans of the sport and the Lotus brand so we are glad to have reached a clear resolution on this important matter � I would like to take this opportunity to thank our fans for their continued support, it means everything to us.�
Riad Asmat, Group CEO: "We are proud of what we have achieved by bringing the Team Lotus name back to Formula One when many tried and although we are sad to say goodbye to Team Lotus we are excited about owning our own future and being in control of our own destiny. Now we have no one to be compared to. We make our own history and we will remain green and yellow.
“Now we look forward to an exciting future racing under our new team name of Caterham F1 Team. Please continue to support our very special spirit of never say die and support us on the track as we move up the field and demonstrate that the good do win.”
ENDS
As I said elsewhere, I suppose we shouldn’t have expected any other outcome. A huge vote of thanks to Tony Fernades and the Hingham team for bringing the Lotus name back to F1. They have been brilliant and their PR and fan base services have been superb.
No doubt Group Lotus gave a handsome profit to TF for the Team Lotus name.
The good news is that we all now know where we stand and while the Lotus fan base may well look away from the Caterham F1 Team in favour of the new Team Lotus, I suspect that many will keep looking over their shoulder towards the Hingham Team with fond respect. The bad news is that Mike’s Musings in the next issue of LDC’s Chicane magazine may be a little out of date…
Here is the latest news from Caterham, alreday something quite a lot bigger than a kit car company based in Kent. Note the paragraph on the car building strategy…
CATERHAM GROUP
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / Hingham, UK - Sunday 27th November 2011
Caterham Group has today officially been confirmed as the parent company name for the range of automotive, motor racing, technology and innovation companies that sit within a single group business under the stewardship of Caterham Group CEO Riad Asmat.
Caterham Group Chairman Tony Fernandes gives his overview of the organisational structure in an exclusive first look at how the future Caterham Group strategy is being activated: �We have been talking for some time now about our plans for Caterham in all its guises, from the road car company to Formula 1 and GP2, and in the technology, design and innovation fields. Now, with the announcement we made last week about the rebranding in Formula One to Caterham F1 Team for 2012 and beyond, we are in a position to give a much more in-depth explanation of how the Caterham Group is taking shape.
�Under Riad�s guidance, there are currently four main areas of the business, and we will be adding more in the future. I will go into more detail about each arm of the Group, but in simple terms we have Caterham Cars, Caterham F1 Team and other motor racing investments including our GP2 team Caterham Racing, Caterham Technology and Innovation (CTI) and Caterham Composites. The range of businesses interests we have gives us a very strong foothold in a number of growth sectors, staffed with teams of people with a strong mix of experience, youth, creativity and passion. In short, we have all the right ingredients in place to do some incredibly exciting things in markets that are ripe for innovation and new ideas.
�I will start with Caterham Cars, under which all our road car interests sit with Ansar Ali as CEO. This has been such a busy year that it feels like we made the announcement we had purchased the car company a long time ago, but in fact it was only a few months back, and since then the team in Dartford and in Surrey have been very hard at work maintaining the growth of the existing line-up and working on an ambitious new product range that will see the first car launched in 2014. Alongside that they have also been focusing on establishing new markets for Caterham Cars, and the recent announcement about Caterham Cars India is the first fruit of that project. They are now looking at similar ventures in the Middle-East and across Asia and the level of interest they are generating bodes extremely well for that area of our business.
�Caterham F1 Team is the new and permanent incarnation of our Formula One investment. On and off track we continue to invest in people, infrastructure and technology and 2012 is a critical year in our development. Underneath the F1 team sits Caterham Racing, the new name for our GP2 team, and then we have our driver development programme that encompasses various motor racing formulae from karting, GP3, World Series by Renault and right up to F1 � a staircase of talent that gives opportunities for drivers, engineers, mechanics and all the associated skill-sets across the motorsport industry the chance to learn, develop and reach the top. This is also complimented by the various Caterham Cars racing series, currently with approximately 700 cars competing in series around the world and now given a new impetus by the direct links to the F1 team and all our associated motor racing interests.
�Then we have CTI - Caterham Technology and Innovation. We launched CTI in September and they are working closely with Caterham Cars on the development of a completely new line of accessible and affordable sportscars inspired by the lightweight, minimalist philosophy of the Seven, as well as drawing on the advanced technologies and materials from the Group’s Formula One and Caterham Racing GP2 motorsport operations. In addition to the next generation of Caterham Cars, CTI will undertake advanced projects for external companies operating within the automotive and aerospace sectors, including a current project looking at a radical new in-flight entertainment system.�
�Completing the Group is the newly formed business Caterham Composites. Mike Gascoyne will combine his role as CTO of Caterham F1 Team with that of CEO of Caterham Composites and will head up a company specialising in the composites industry. They are already working on projects across the aerospace, nautical, motorsport and roadcar industries and will work closely with all our associated companies to provide their market-leading experience in the composites field to complete the Group�s interests.
�With those four arms in place, and more to be announced in due course, we have a dynamic group of businesses already working together that gives a clear vision of what our long-term strategy is in their respective fields, and as one entity under Caterham Group. The group will be based across a number of centres of excellence � Caterham Cars, Caterham F1 Team and our motorsport interests will be based in one location that we are close to announcing, and our technology and composites interests will be based in Norfolk. With those plans now complete we have the foundations in place for long-term growth and success, and now we are in complete control of our own destiny. We have a very exciting future ahead of us and are all looking forward to seeing the rewards of our hard work pay off for many years to come.�
ENDS
'tis official then…Proton off-loading Lotus with Genii or whatever they are called in the running.
Saw that on seloc & thought it was pure speculation by city suits 
So Mr BaHa will have to convince someone else of his cunning plan 
Have I missed something? Has there been an extra announcement since the end of Nov or is this just journo-lag catching up with old news and adding a fair bit more of speculation to jazz up the story?
Steve et al, report PROTON FOR SALE
Read to the bottom… Bahar’s plan need �500m and the company is worth …�200m tops.
Ergo, if Group Lotus is sold off then Bahar gets the sack, probably.
Read the latest evo Mag.
Thanks for the link - can’t begin to think what’s going to happen but it certainly looks like there will be changes in 2012.
Struggling to understand the �200 million valuation if Proton were willing to put in �500 million - they must have thought it would work or was that before other things changed?
Also, if Proton own 64% of Lotus, who owns the other 36%?
[quote=stevegreen]
Also, if Proton own 64% of Lotus, who owns the other 36%?[/quote]
Their official spokesman…Tim Marra
I wish!