Did everbody else read about an alleged battle between Alchemy and Rover, to take over Lotus. Price tag put at < �20 miilion due to to debts of �40 million. Could we not have a whip round? �20 million is less than most AIM entrants!
Sorry, forgot to mention that it was in the ‘Business’ section of today’s Sunday Times.
I thought GM would be sniffing around given their commitment to the VX220.
Read about that today also Ken.Neither would be ideal long-term owners IMO.Alchemy, being VC’s, are principally concerned with realising ashort-term profit from their investments ie within 5 years or lessif the right offer comes along. They’ll aim to buy cheap, restore profitability and then look for an exit.Rover? Well IMHO they will be lucky to survive for long and the brand probably does not merit the financial investment of anyof the global car co’s. Perhaps Rover think they will be more attractive to a buyer if they also own Lotus?The best solution would probably be for Ford/VW/GM to come tothe rescue and guarantee the LONG-TERM future of Lotus,Getting tired of Lotus getting kicked about like a football.
quote:Originally posted by Ally:They’ll aim to buy cheap, restore profitability and then look for an exit.But that’s good right ? If they can make it profitable again. Good luck to them ! quote:The best solution would probably be for Ford/VW/GM to come tothe rescue and guarantee the LONG-TERM future of Lotus,I’m not so sure. Look at what Ford did to Aston Martin… sure they stopped them from dying, but at what cost ? The DB7 was given to them by Jaguar and it’s a Ford Escort parts bin extravaganza… from an �80K car ! Aston represented bespoke manufacture, not mass produced production line stuff.Jaguar again, that was in troubled ways, but was kept alive by Ford. The X-type is a fancy mondeo in my view. Even the new XJ8 series has lost the sumptuous interior that the pre '95 cars had.So it seems that these large corporations DO keep the old companies alive, but at what cost ? They take away everything they stood for and fall back on the name as branding to charge a premium for a lesser car.Ford would no doubt release a Lotus Mondeo style car with “Lotus tuned suspension” etc. and water down everything the marque stood for.Well, that’s my 2cents anywho.
Agree with most of your points David just not sure what the alternatives are unless Lotus could sustain itself independentlywhich with the high costs of car development is difficult.VW seem to be on the right track with Lambo. but then again it’searly days with their ownership.Al (aka Lemmy)
It’s a shame TVR can’t afford Lotus…
quote:VW seem to be on the right track with Lambo.Having just come back from the launch of the Diablo replacement at the Lambo factory in Italy on Sunday I’m not sure I’d agree. VW/Audi may have provided some form of stability, but for me the new car lacks the “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” of previous models. [image]http://www.exiges.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/frown.gif[/image] Talking to the main man, he failed to convince me that we�re going to see monsters like the Diablo GT in the future. Such is…
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