According to Paris daily Le Figaro, French carmaker Renault is about to sell its remaining 25% stake in the Renault F1 Team to national carmaker Proton, and that the deal will be formalised this Wednesday, citing unidentified people close to the matter. Renault has already sold 75% of the team to Genii Capital Partners last year.
Proton’s wholly owned subsidiary Group Lotus will be the team’s sponsor, and will pour about 30 million euros ($41 million) annually over five years into the team, the report said, adding that the team’s new name may be Lotus-Renault as the French automaker will continue supplying engines. Renault engines will also power champions Red Bull Racing and Lotus Racing next season.
Rumours of a “Lotus-Renault” surfaced earlier this month. When questioned, Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn not only did not deny the rumour, but hinted strongly at the possibility of a name change for the F1 team. Click here to read what he said.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
IMHO
proton should pour more money on their r&d for better quality products rather than involve in f1
i believe they’ve got many attention due to their involvement in WRC, and they can sell more cars abroad if they provide better quality cars
is it better proton to sell or lotus to sell?… i think proton involvement in F1 is more for lotus, not proton itself. lotus came out with 5 prototypes, and they need to sell that. I am more into lotus to make the huge profit, and channel the profit into the r&d for proton cars and subsidies the price of the proton cars for malaysian.
yes, Dany Bahar need this for the rebranding & to build brand confidence.
Proton will just assist Lotus in this & maybe just merely shareholders.
This is a good platform for Lotus. they coming big soon & to be associate with such sport is good.
Finally, some intelligent comments (yamseng & bryan.jones)
Better Proton sell.. coz i think F1 is for Lotus… WRC for Proton.. If too much Lotus on the road.. then, Lotus not sound special anymore.. Just ordinary car..
Well.. There’re plenty of Ferrari on the road too. eventhough the Lotus gonna be on a bigger mass market. But the price is still very high. Even the Lotus Eterne is going to be priced higher than the Porche Panamera. So.. There’re so many ferrari and Porche or even Lambo on the road.. It’s not unique dy?
Well.. Lotus is doing some serius marketing so people from worldwide can acknowledge it.
Ya la… Porsche Cayenne is like Myvi in Subang, too many bloody rich people in Subang… that means Porsche is not special la.
thats a lot of money…
please share a bit for quality & service improvement of proton cars..
this is for lotus, the parent company trying to help its subsidiary.
If you want quality cars, buy the Lotus cars, otherwise buy the Protons .. There are reasons why Lotus cars are more expensive than the Protons; quality is one of those ..
do you know anything about lotus? lotus is not about quality or cars.
Lotus is about light. weight!!! they only do chassis man. They are failed.
and lotus car is bad, its not for mass market, its for track use, thats why it bankuprted in the first place.
this country need more bright ppl to run the car company la……
u shud watch top gear…. jeremy clarkson them also complaint abt lotus quality… hahaha
did not.. on lotus evora
Wow… Interesting…
With 5 new models coming next 5 years, they crave the attention from motor sports enthusiasts to sell those cars. A good move from proton, its about time lotus make some real money.
Kinda looking like they’re gonna spend a lot of money first. Lets label it as ‘investment’
Let’s hope somebody got money & interest to buy them first. …LOL
woww … interesting stuff …
hopefully the driver line-up will be..
Robert Kubica + Kimi Raikkonen
the battle in Japan ~ robert vs kimi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLtbHvmnK2U
currently Dany Bahar (LOTUS CEO) and Gino rosato (LOTUS Vice-President of Corporate Affairs) have a very close relationship with Kimi Raikkonen in previous project, hopefully Kimi Raikkonen will drive for PROTON.
the last F1 Abu Dhabi race..
as you can see Robert Kubica from RENAULT F1 can jump from 11th position to 5th position (if the strategy is better i think he already in the podium finish).. while “Fernando faster than you” already give middle finger gesture to Vitaly Petrov (Renault F1 driver) because so hard to overtake the RENAULT F1 car.. LOL
please bring Kimi Raikkonen back to Malaysia side like previous Sauber Petronas F1 project.
PROTON for F1 World Champion 2011!!!
Theres also the rumour that Proton wrote a cheque to Tony Fernandes last week to buy whatever he bought from David Hunt, check out some french F1 Blogs…
No money to develop “affordable car” but got money to waste in glamour F1 sport.
That’s sound very familiar. Our good’old M’sian symptom. No money to feed the kids but got money to spend on luxury items…..
Another good example: No money to build free highway but got money for mega white elephant tower…..
please la ploton don’t waste ur money for other “old” sake..
Yet again Proton is about to make a major blunder
in their quest to be a hero.( zero)
Initially the move into F1 with TonyF was a fantastic deal.
However they have burned the bridges and now P1 and esp DSZ thinks
they can outdo Tony.
Proton should just sell Lotus and continue doing what it knows best.
– enjoying govt protection and rebadge future MMC cars.
If TM made a mistake on MV Agusta then DSZ’s is into F1.
Don’t forget the very reason why BMW pulled out of F1 was that they felt
the 250 mil euro cost savings would be best channeled into producing
better efficient dynamic cars.
BMW are run by germans, P1 are run by whom? we all know.
How on earth did proton manage to get so much money to invest in F1??? This is a waste. Proton have sponsor team Lotus Racing. Is Proton have toe greed of power? Proton can yet complain that to manufacture one car is expensive, but investing a team can’t really go anywhere. But somehow I’m a little bit confused. Is Lotus Group buying Renault or is Proton buying Renault??? It’s better for Proton to improve it’s R&D and their facilities and compete with the world leading market. If Hyundai and Kia can do it, why not Proton?? So invest something that’s useful than investing a team that you’re not getting anything from Renault F1.
because we never know… they’re not stupid right?
Group Lotus to cough approx RM100 million the former Renault team? I wonder is this coming from the rumoured middle eastern’s investors or Proton have to cough some amount of money? Proton annual income after tax barely reach 100 mil and this is a burden to Proton, or worse our taxepayers!
proton = misubishi+lotus+renault?
if after that proton still cannot get the mechanics to be reliable, dunno what to say d.
lol….MItsu (MI) + LOtus (LO) = betul betul kereta tin milo…
What’s next? Renault Megane Sport as the next Satria R3? If that is is why not.
Renault is bailing out of F1 by selling their remainder 25% in Renault F1 Team
Proton can never ever afford to buy 25% of Renault.
Get the facts right.
They say there is a sucker is born every minute
and P1 falls into this gullible category
25% management power will only get you peanuts.
i feel that proton will get the money from bank.
to proton, better dont put yourself into debt crisis..
Proton never gets money from bank. Sate owned company, by Khazanah…. Rakyats taxes goes into proton. Not enough money, just draw from else where. Like draw from education fund, public transport fund, maybe even EPF.
Thats how they run, the only state owned car company in the world. Leech peoples money to do worthless stuff to gain nothing.
malaysia need how many F1 team?
Naza, petronas, 1 lotus, now proton lagi. 4 teams?????
Are we too rich or wat?
this is crazy.
4? you know how to count team or not? ever watch f1 or not? ever been to sepang or not? or do you know how to drive and own a car in the first place?
naza sponsor one team
petronas one team
lotus one team
proton another team.
you cant count? see your nick i understand that you are drunk.
ya, i watch F1, i been to sepang, i drive and own a car. and i pay my income tax. Do you qualify to pay income tax in the first place? Too much beer perhaps?
YOU can’t count. Naza and Lotus is the SAME team. Noob.
Urm Naza sponsors lotus f1… With mr Tony… Petronas is with merc Benz… Lotus cars aka proton wants to selit in with renault
tbh the only real team that is really “Malaysian” team is lotus under Tony the other two are sponsors with their own agenda petronas one is clearly define if you ever seen their ads overseas.
Petronas needs f1 presence, to have brand awareness for their lubricants in Europe, Africa and south america which they are actively doing I’ve seen their banners in workshops in south Africa and they pretty much tie everything to their involvement with f1.
I guess for proton their logic is to brand lotus cars since a whole range of new lotus sports cars are being introduced some time soon.
Please la look beyond your own Borders why must everything be a conspiracy… And just because proton joins f1 does not mean their cars will get any better that’s dumb logic there… Want a better car stop talking crap and work for it…
You think this companies join f1 to merely tumpang glamour?
There is a limit to how much you can blame (system of governance, proton, economy, etc) before you your self is the main problem.
Why can’t all these guys get together and create one SOLID F1 team? We’ve got Petronas sponsoring Mercedes, Air Asia and Lotus, and now Proton and Renault?
I think they should really put aside all the pride and “I can do better than you” mentality, pool resources and go better together.
You can break a match on it’s own, but not if they are tied together.
It is proton that is creating an issue…….. why do they want to stop Lotus Racing from having the name? WHy cant they just buy into the grp. And worse still what are the politicians who control proton doing? Najib formally endorsed the 1malaysia f1 team, and now why didn’t he insist on proton joining with Lotus Racing.? More engineering knowhow commited into one team is much better than splitting the beans into few cans. STUPID Proton. Bodoh!!!!!!!!!
Threat could be used to deal with proton in this issue like opening up the car market for level playing which is a governmental policy
If the rumour is right then it is true it is Dany bahar strategy to take control Lotus when it is in red for let say 2-3 years to come. then he can buy Lotus for only IEuro just like MV-Augusta proce before.
It’s deja-vu again.
Wonder what advisor Tun will say on this
after AV Agusta was sold at 1 Euro to Gevi Spa.
Gevi spa subsequently sold it to Harley Davidson for US$109mil
and BMW for 93mil Euro respectively.
Dany Bahar will milk Proton dry !! Moo !! :)
lotus will attack ferrari under heavy bangkai point
why you guys so bitter meh
it’s PROTON meh… money no problem
got no money … there’s always malaysian tax payers money to burn
be proud meh…
EORU$150Million for 5 years sponsorship of renaultF1..
no big fus la meh….
I’m proud meh!!
LOL
this is what we call advertising.
to produce a global brand.
in future, there may be many other investor would like to invest in proton, or maybe rebadge proton car just like china did.
everything is imposible, money is coming in, so do the technologies.
in year 2020, maybe lotus car can fly..
PROTON.. please hire MIKA HAKKINEN as Team Principal for PROTON F1 project!
Finland race: Mika Hakkinen teaches Captain Slow to drive – Top Gear – BBC Autos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bmqdnx5R1U
listen at minute 0:50
Top Gear : “so where did you learn car control because they say the fins.. u know they
have an instinct for it other nations on earth don’t have..
u can just do it (lol sound like NIKE theme)”
Finland famous racer Mika Hakkinen : we (Finland people) start doing this “bored (erm am i right hearing this??) very very young so automatically we learned car control”……….. I AM FULLY AGREE WITH MIKA HAKKINEN STATEMENT!
Mika Hakkinen as PROTON F1 Team principal
Drivers line-up : Robert Kubica + Kimi Raikkonen
F1 DREAM TEAM 2011!!!
let’s bring back Kimi Raikkonen to Malaysia side like the Sauber Petronas F1 project before.. and also Mika Hakkinen as Team Principal
PROTON ~ F1 World Champion 2011!!!
Cracks me up :) LOL
I wonder whether you’re the same person spreading untruths about Lotus Cars buying into Renault when in fact they are looking into buying over 25% (held by Renault SA) in the Enstone based Renault F1 team and that the purchase has nothing to do with the Renault SA owned engine facility in Viry-Châtillon
only official announcement will speak the truth..!!
Mika Hakkinen + Kimi Raikkonen + Robert Kubica
awesome dream team… let them test the PROTON car n develop it to the maximum!
already got Gillez Panizzi (the tarmac master of World Rally Championship) in PROTON side.
Malaysia automotive industry is heading to the right direction!
thank god that Kimi Raikkonen (the fastest driver on the planet) start his F1 career with SAUBER PETRONAS F1 project.. he is very talented.
kimi contacted RENAULT F1 about joining the team before but feel pissed-off with Eric Boullier statement.. hopefully PROTON can correct this situation.
let bring back Kimi Raikkonen to F1, bring kimi back to Malaysia side.
if can Mika Hakkinen also.. as PROTON F1 Team Principal.
Proton only buy 25% of the stake,
75% owned by somebody else.
there will be no PROTON F1 name la. hahaha….
please PROTON.. i am begging u PROTON, i and my friend will pay the grandstand Malaysia GP Sepang F1 ticket next year 2011 if u guys from PROTON really fulfill our wish to bring back Kimi Raikkonen make him team-up with Robert Kubica and also make Mika Hakkinen involved with the PROTON F1 project next year.. i promised this PROTON, please fulfill our wish!
really hope Kimi Raikkonen back racing in F1.. Malaysia F1 fans support 100% Kimi Raikkonen back to F1.. Malaysia F1 fans already show this banner in Sepang 2010 F1 race event in support for kimi to come back to F1
http://media2.blackfalconmedia.com/2010/6/15/medium/12952260352119400170.jpg
hopefully Kimi Raikkonen will join the PROTON F1 project next year.. please PROTON. please PROTON.. make our wish come true!
just ignore the keyboard warrior but support real person who always come down in support for Malaysia F1 program.
please PROTON, please PROTON.. please PROTON.. make kimi come back to Formula One again..hopefully with Mika Hakkinen as new PROTON F1 Team Principal next year 2011
that dude is high on weed when he surf paultan website
he play too much F1 manager fantasy game
lolzz
hopefully this wednesday, PROTON will come-out with detail plan of the proposed Sepang PROTON racing motorsports technical center.
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=530362
its good that Claudio Berro (ex-Alfa Romeo and FIAT racing chief is also now on PROTON side, as LOTUS Motorsports director).. after this is Kimi Raikkonen back to Malaysia side!
n hopefully Mika Hakkinen will be the Team Principal of PROTON F1 project!
PROTON for 2011 F1 World Champion title!
let the PETRONAS keep ally with the germans Mercedes in F1, BMW in Super Taikyu Japan.. and now PROTON to ally with French RENAULT and also Finland.
“BERSEKUTU BERTAMBAH MUTU” ~ malaysia main philosophy
Mika Hakkinen start his F1 career with Team Lotus in year 1991, i wish this time Mika Hakkinen make a come back to F1 as Team Principal to PROTON-LOTUS F1 project next year 2011.
Kimi Raikkonen start his F1 career with SAUBER PETRONAS F1 project in year 2001.
Mika Hakkinen + Kimi Raikkonen + Robert Kubica + ART GP (the most successful F1 drivers development in history) + PROTON motorsports technical center in Sepang
WHAT A DREAM TEAM!!!
PROTON F1 for 2011 F1 World Championship title
only official announcement from PROTON will speak the real truth!
….
last time i suggest to bring back Michael Schumacher (7x world champion) to MERCEDES GP PETRONAS FORMULA ONE TEAM project.
thanks alot to PETRONAS and MERCEDES for granting my wish.
now.. make another dream team.
Mika Hakkinen + Kimi Raikkonen + Robert Kubica under PROTON F1 project.
PROTON please fulfill my wish!
Anak di rumah mati kelaparan, monyet di hutan disusui….Inilah MALAYSIA
So after this a special edition yellow with black stripe Satria Neo Renault F1 version meh?
yeah like Malaysia olympic squad custome and our football team.
nice what that colour with tiger stripe. :)
Gerard Lopez, the Renault team chairman and major shareholder, said his Genii Capital had long-standing links outside Formula One with Lotus Group but would not comment on future plans.
“We are interested in Lotus as a car company. Is there something with the team to be done? We’ll see,” he told Reuters.
… http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLDE6AE1S020101115
30 million euros per year… Wow.. wonder where that comes from per year.. Hope it’s not from our pockets.
the truth is PROTON give 770 MILLION pound sterling to Dany Bahar to revive back LOTUS brand to its former glory
“It’s 770 million pounds sterling” – Dany Bahar, LOTUS CEO
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/15/lotus-adds-robert-lutz-to-its-extreme-makeover-team
please read above source first before further comment..
LOTUS is bankrupt before, PROTON save them..
NISSAN also bankrupt before.. more worst but now people talking about the awesome of NISSAN GT-R 35.. thanks to Carlos Ghosn RENAULT CEO genius
hopefully, PROTON can learn from RENAULT on how to revive back the automotive company to generate profit for Malaysia economy.
wow… really enjoy my reading here..
I’dlike to think this all just a gimmick by Malaysian.. i mean, Tony Fernandez & co. really cant fight Proton & co.. there’s a political string that TF need to carefully considered before start the war…
i mean without we even notice, somehow i seen Proton’s name, lotus group’s name, 5 prototypes lotus car, proton emas, air asia name & renult;s name all over the world (blogs)…everyone who had a direct benefit over this fiasco.. Proton might have been planning this all along.. they need to open ways into F1 4 Lotus comeback and regenerate profit from lotus.. but by 2009, they not yet ready to do so.. the prototypes still in a middle stage… so , TF & Naza group also need a some sort of banner to enhance their own business all over the world.. football just not enuff for him.. so…to cut the story short.. proton use TF & co as puppy to manage this Lotus Racing team until they ready 4 the baton..
now the time has come.. the 1 year deal has finalize… but somehow, some wise man in Proton think “hmmm how do we enter it with a bang?”” and then walla.. here they are.. everyone can smell TF in between the lines.. Proton daringly reavelin their intention.. TF & co has been giving enuff money to run their own team for few more years by Proton as a bonus … in the end everyone from Malaysia win, TF get to promote his Air Asia, Naza get more faith in automotive world as a respectable dealer, Tune got an instant brand awareness teleco & hotels (i mean look at umobile.. once there they r..and then silent) and Proton/lotus got their long after share of world’s mass sport car market and redirect thee profit back to proton R&D … and poor hunt hahaha
well thats wut i’d like to belief hehe..
“PROTON turut memperoleh akses luas kepada pembangunan teknologi enjin F1.
Katanya lagi, justeru, dengan akses luas itu, ia dijangka menghasilkan satu pemindahan teknologi enjin yang besar kepada PROTON bagi pembangunan produknya untuk pasaran domestik dan antarabangsa pada masa depan, sekali gus mengukuhkan lagi jenama PROTON di persada industri automotif antarabangsa.”
sumber dari website kementerian penerangan Malaysia : http://pmr.penerangan.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7881:16-nov-proton-beli-25-peratus-ekuiti-renault-f1-team&catid=412:2010-11&Itemid=27
Haaa haaa. Sorry I had to laugh when I read that. It’s the usual bs PR writing spiel from someone with insufficient understanding of the industry just to attempt to make things pretty for the public. But the public these days are more intelligent and not gullible like those days.. thanks to internet.
1. The write up is a writer’s opinion, not from any official press release.
2. There is little to no technical benefit these days that can be derived from an F1 engine programme and applied in to road cars. The technical objectives are divergent, the design objectives do not match and do not complement one another. The only benefit is PR – to associate the car brand with a ‘high-tech’ environment of F1. Whether there is actual tech transfer or not is inconsequential. In fact in many cases it is the F1 engine builder that is relying on the deep resources of the large auto company to spur the team’s F1 engine programme
3.Lastly, the speculation is that Group Lotus(Proton) are buying 25% of Renault F1 team, not Renault SA the car maker. Renault F1 and Renault SA are two separate entities. Renault F1 do not own or control the F1 factory in Viry-Chatillion. That factory is owned by Renault SA whilst Renault F1 is the client receiving the engines. Furthermore Renault SA will remove it self from having a stake in any F1 team and will just be an engine and technology supplier to any F1 team willing to be a customer. Buying into the F1 team does not give Proton access to the F1 engine technology owned by Renault SA, UNLESS there is some additional collaboration agreed directly between Proton and Renault SA.
4.Proton’s market share in major global automotive markets is negligible and certainly not a match to the global target audience that watch F1 which is the matured international markets. Syed Zainal himself expressed that Proton’s goal is to expand from domestic market and into international but non-developed markets like Iran etc. They are still far from being able to compete in matured markets like Europe, US (F1 markets). Proton knows they have a lot of groundwork still to do to get their business right before embarking on non-essential spending like F1. And thats why F1 benefits Lotus Cars better, not Proton’
This the statement “..sekali gus mengukuhkan lagi jenama PROTON di persada industri automotif antarabangsa.” is very naive!