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Lotus Cars gets £270m bankroll from six financial institutions

April 15, 2011 at 7:14 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Lotus

Looks like Lotus Cars Limited’s five-year business plan is on. The wholly-owned subsidiary of Proton Holdings today signed an agreement for facilities amounting to £270 million (RM1.33 billion), extended by a syndicate of six financial institutions.

The six financial institutions acting as lenders are CIMB Bank, Malayan Banking, Overseas-Chinese Banking Corporation, Export-Import Bank of Malaysia, Affin Bank and EON Bank.

The agreement was inked at the Proton Centre of Excellence Complex in Shah Alam by Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar on behalf of Lotus Cars Limited, while signing on behalf of their respective banks were Datuk Seri Nazir Tun Razak, group chief executive of CIMB Group; Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar, president and CEO of Maybank; Tuan Syed Abdull Aziz Jailani Syed Kechik, CEO and director of OCBC; Adissadikin Ali, CEO of EXIM Bank; Datuk Zulkiflee Abbas Abdul Hamid, CEO of Affin Bank and Peter TC Chow, head of group business & investment banking and principal officer of EON Bank.

The loan syndication forms part of the funding required to execute Lotus’ five-year business plan. With the conclusion of the syndication exercise, the external portion of the funding is now in place and, together with other financial resources, this means that Lotus has successfully raised the required funding to realise the future plans.

“On behalf of Group Lotus, I would like to express our sincere appreciation to CIMB Group, Malayan Banking Berhad, Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation Limited, Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Berhad, Affin Bank Berhad and EON Bank Berhad for their support and, above all, confidence in our future plans,” Bahar said.

“With the help of this external financing, we look forward to introducing our exciting new models to the world, which will complement our current product range. I am confident that the execution of our business plan will mark the return of the iconic Lotus brand into the elite ranks of the world’s premium sportscar manufacturers and generate greater profitability and long-term financial sustainability for the company and its stakeholders,” he added.

“I would like to thank our shareholders, Proton, for the unwavering support and confidence in Lotus. I believe Lotus has a lot to offer to Proton moving forward. As the future plans bear fruit, I am confident that Proton will benefit in terms of branding, product development, and sales and marketing,” Bahar concluded.

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Lotus Renault GP team pays a visit to Proton

April 7, 2011 at 6:29 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Local News, Lotus, Motorsports, Proton

The Lotus Renault GP team paid a visit to Proton’s headquarters in Shah Alam today, with the entourage led by LRGP’s managing director and team principal Eric Boullier, accompanied by key representatives of his senior management team.

Joining the visit were the team’s driver Vitaly Petrov and reserve driver Bruno Senna. Also present to represent Group Lotus was its director of corporate affairs, Gino Rosato, and Group Lotus brand ambassador Jean Alesi.

The visit, a follow-up to a trip made by Proton’s senior management team to the LRGP facility in Enstone in the UK earlier this year, provided the Formula One team an insight into the Malaysian car manufacturing industry and underlined a partnership envisioned to extend beyond the realm of F1.

The Proton team, headed by managing director Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin, who was accompanied by the Group’s senior management team, gave the LRGP team an exclusive tour around Proton’s Research & Development facilities and the production lines at the main plant.

Syed Zainal said that Proton’s association with LRGP aims to explore mutually and significantly beneficial opportunities. “As partners, it is important to be acquainted about each other’s operations, business strategies and plans. This will also give both parties the opportunity to explore how else we can help each other and benefit from one another,” he said.

He also announced that a select and elite group of Proton’s engineers will soon be joining the LRGP family under an engineer exchange programme designed to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, skills and experience.

“Valuable exposure in a specialised environment and the opportunity to be involved in the development of technologically-advanced performance vehicles will significantly strengthen our engineering and technological capabilities, which we would like to see applied and integrated into the future generation of Proton cars,” Syed Zainal said.

“The involvement in F1 has clearly had a strong and positive impact with the handful of car manufacturers that have been involved in the sport since the early fifties. With Group Lotus’s involvement in F1, I’m certain that Proton will reap the rewards of this relationship, not least through technical, engineering and marketing opportunities and as a major business platform too,” Boullier added.

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Team Lotus refutes David Hunt’s allegations, claims Hunt is the one who refused to accept the original deal

March 22, 2011 at 3:41 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus, Motorsports

Yes, the High Court trial between Group Lotus and Team Lotus may have begun, but it’s the stuff outside that’s making all the news, with claims and allegations bringing about counter claims.

The current outdoor blaze started when David Hunt claimed that Tony Fernandes had gone back on an agreement regarding payment for the brand, as reported in The Telegraph.

The relationship has deteriorated significantly, it would seem – the paper also said that Tony has allegedly instructed his lawyers to sue Hunt for defamation in the past week, although Hunt claimed he did not know on what grounds.

Hunt had told the paper that “he [Fernandes] apparently ‘changed his mind’ at the 11th hour, by his own admission, now that I’ve done so much work on his company’s behalf, and he’s trying to renegotiate by offering new terms which are, frankly, ludicrous.”

Now, however, according to another report, again by The Telegraph, Team Lotus have responded by claiming that it is Hunt who has refused to accept the original deal agreed between the two parties and is now seeking to extract more money out of them (Team Lotus).

“Team Lotus has an agreement with David Hunt which was signed by both parties. David Hunt has tried to renegotiate that agreement, which Team Lotus is not prepared to do,” said a team spokesperson.

So, how does all this affect the trial, if it does? Looks like we’ll just have to see what else comes along, but one thing’s for sure – this one just gets more sordid as the days roll on.

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Lotus vs Lotus court battle starts today, Tony Fernandes’ dispute with David Hunt over payment surfaces

March 21, 2011 at 10:02 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus, Motorsports

The most ‘entertaining’ side show of the off season, the naming battle between Group Lotus and Team Lotus, will finally go to the British High Court today to be settled once and for all. However, all’s not well in the green and yellow corner as Tony Fernandes’ bitter dispute with David Hunt has come to surface. This is major, since Hunt is a main character in this soap opera.

This comes as a surprise as we’ve all been led to think that Hunt – brother of ex world champ James and the man who sold Tony the rights to use Team Lotus – is a firm supporter of Tony’s cause. The reason of the conflict? Money, of course!

As reported in UK’s Telegraph, the dispute centres around Hunt’s claims that Fernandes has gone back on an agreement they struck in January over payment for the Team Lotus name.

Tit for tat, Hunt is now refusing to back Team Lotus in court, despite having agreed to do so in January. He’s now claiming that there are “potentially some serious holes” in TL’s case. The paper also said that Tony has allegedly instructed his lawyers to sue Hunt for defamation in the past week.

“When we had to make the Team Lotus staff redundant in 1995 I made a promise to them and the fans to return it to F1 in the hands of a worthy custodian, and initially I had high hopes that Tony, Din and Nasa were going to tick the boxes,” David Hunt told Telegraph Sport.

“What angers me is that I have, in good faith, worked extremely hard on the build-up to the hearing because I believed Tony would honour our January agreement. He’s apparently ‘changed his mind’ at the 11th hour, by his own admission, now that I’ve done so much work on his company’s behalf, and he’s trying to renegotiate by offering new terms which are, frankly, ludicrous.

“All I’m looking for is for Tony to stick to his word and honour our agreement. If he doesn’t, then regrettably I don’t see why I should continue to provide assistance and this trial won’t be the last battle he’s facing, even if he wins,” the man added.

For full effect, read it through again with For The Love Of Money by the The O’Jays (theme song for The Apprentice) playing in the background. Money money money money…. money!

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Jarno Trulli: Team Lotus has made a huge step forward

March 14, 2011 at 12:26 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus, Motorsports

Last month, we heard Heikki Kovalainen’s views on the Lotus T128. The Finn said that this year’s car is now at the level that a modern F1 car should be, and that the mood at the Team Lotus camp is bouyant. To recap, the Malaysian owned team, which didn’t score any points in 2010, is targeting between 40 to 50 points this year.

Now we get to hear some comments from Jarno Trulli, who just finished testing the Renault powered T128 at Barcelona. The Italian says that TL has made a huge step forward.

“We have one of the best rear ends you can have in the paddock, because the gearbox is amazing, as well as the engine. Everything fits perfectly. The car looks good, and it looks quick as well,” he told Autosport. “If I have to compare to last year, it’s day and night. It’s a huge step forward, and everybody has been working really hard.”

The team wasn’t totally free of reliability issues in testing though, and Trulli gave hints that they won’t be starting the season in Australia in full flight. “So it might be difficult at the beginning, but maybe then we can get on top. Looking at the lap times it’s difficult to get a clear idea, but we can probably chase Force India and maybe Sauber. Obviously we are ahead of Virgin and HRT. This at the moment is the picture that we have,” he said.

Meanwhile, TL has announced Italian Davide Valsecchi, Brazilian Luiz Razia and Ricardo Teixeira as their test and reserve drivers this season. The former two drive for Team AirAsia in GP2, while Angolan Teixeira drove in Formula 2 last season.

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Lotus Evora Enduro GT Concept in Lotus-Renault colours

March 3, 2011 at 12:58 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Lotus, Motorsports

Besides the stripped out Elise Club Racer, Lotus also unveiled the Evora Enduro GT concept car in Geneva. The Evora Enduro is, as its name suggests, designed for endurance racing, and is based on the Evora GT4 Endurance race car. It was shown in black and gold with splashes of red, just like the Lotus-Renault F1 car, which was also present at the Lotus stand.

Developed by Lotus Motorsport under the watch of Lead Designer Nicola Scimeca, the Enduro will be the base point from which the GT2/GTE homologated cars for FIA and ACO endurance racing will be built. This year, Lotus Motorsport plans to compete in the Nürburgring ADAC 24 Hours (23-26 June), Spa 24 Hours (28-31 July) and the Silverstone 24 Hours in October. 24 hour races in Dubai and Daytona are on the list for 2012.

Lotus did not reveal any specs, but the Evora Cup GT4 car is powered by a Toyota 4.0-litre normally aspirated V6 with 360 PS and 445 Nm paired to a six-speed sequential gearbox driving the rear wheels. Unladen weight is 1,190 kg.

The Evora Enduro can be bought by private individuals and adapted for racing. Gallery after the jump.
[Read more...]

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Lotus Elise Club Racer – entry level variant loses 24 kg

February 28, 2011 at 10:14 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Lotus


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As shown in Paris 2010, the future of Lotus may be gradually moving away from its basic, stripped out roots – one needs more luxury to tempt customers away from Porsche and Ferrari – but the marque’s new guardians promise to maintain the brand’s USP, which is performance through lightweight. That mantra’s perfect example is this Geneva debutant, the Lotus Elise Club Racer.

We all know that the sub 900 kg Elise is one of the most basic sportscars around, but Lotus has managed to further trim more than 24 kg off its scales. This is from a lighter battery (saves 5.4 kg), the removal of the soft top roof (5.9 kg) and to the extent of replacing the standard badges with stickers (60 grams). Among the other things removed are the Elise’s radio/speakers, noise insulation and carpets, central locking, passenger footrest, mud flaps and the airbags.


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The base Elise’s 1.6-litre 1ZR-FAE engine remains unchanged, although there’s an optional Club Racer Power Pack for the track which ups power from 134 hp to 139 hp. Also new is the Sport setting for the DPM (Dynamic Performance Management) that “allows even the less experienced sports car drivers to feel at the top of their game”. It can be fully switched off, of course.

“The traditional Lotus approach of reduction and purity has lead to one of the most zeitgeist and contemporary sports cars around. For over 15 years the Lotus Elise has become an icon in the sports car market, carving out a niche market with a dedicated following of lightweight fans. The new Club Racer will definitely give these people something extra to get their teeth stuck into. This car epitomises everything that’s cool about the Elise – it’s fast, raw, responsive and a huge amount of fun to drive,” said Wolf Zimmermann, Chief Technical Officer Lotus Cars.

At £27,500, this is not only the purest, but cheapest Lotus one can buy today.

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Lotus T128 is now a modern F1 car, says Kovalainen

February 18, 2011 at 5:07 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus, Motorsports

Team Lotus, the best rookie team of 2010, is bullish on its prospects for 2011. The Malaysian owned team, which is locked in a Lotus vs Lotus battle with Lotus Renault GP, is targeting between 40 and 50 points this year. No longer just fighting with Virgin and HRT, TL wants to challenge Toro Rosso, Sauber, Force India, and later Williams and Lotus Renault.
[Read more...]

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Tony Fernandes rejects Lotus’ out of court settlement offer

February 14, 2011 at 9:30 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Formula 1, Lotus, Motorsports

As you know, the Lotus vs Lotus naming dispute is going straight to the British court and a hearing has been scheduled for 21 March. According to Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes, Proton owned Group Lotus has made an offer for an out of court settlement, and he has rejected it as the sum was deemed too small. The declined offer was worth £6 million.

“It was six million pounds for an out-of-court settlement. Of course I would like to end it but the proposal by Proton would have bankrupted the company. We could not accept it,” the AirAsia chief told AFP, adding that 250 jobs and huge investments by shareholders are at stake.

“We never created the situation. We had a five-year agreement. Proton thought they can bully us out. We honestly worked hard to revive the Lotus name in F1. I hope it will end soon. The legal row does not help. That is for sure.”

As a recap, the current stalemate started when Group Lotus terminated its licence agreement with the Lotus Racing before throwing its support behind Renault to form Lotus Renault GP. Meanwhile, Fernandes entered his team as Team Lotus after purchasing the rights to the old name from David Hunt. Group Lotus is arguing that they have no rights to the Lotus name.

To the court it is!

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Lotus Evora by Mansory – it’s carbon-fibre central!

February 11, 2011 at 1:03 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Lotus


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“Is it always wise to customise? If you must, then do it with some style …” So goes the intro to Lotus’ brief release on its upcoming offering that will be showcased in Geneva.

The car in question is the Evora, and the company is quick to point out that the car going to the show isn’t an Evora facelift, but “a taste of the future of Lotus product customisation. Merely the first toe in the water and a showcase of the potential future.”


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Turns out that the Evora has been given a cosmetic reworking by aftermarket tuning outfit Mansory, which has done a fair number of mods on upmarket cars, some in a rather over-the-top manner.

That’s not the case with the Evora by Mansory, which displays enough carbon-fibre to wage a little war with, but all delivered in clean enough fashion. The roof, rear spoiler, rear diffuser, side skirting as well as front splitter all get the carbon graphite treatment. No idea what the interior’s like, but you can bet there’s more of the stuff to be had inside.

Geneva will reveal all.

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