If you’ve been paying attention to the national press, you would know that the Prime Minister was in the UK recently for official visits. He met the Queen, and he also paid a visit to Proton’s sports car maker subsidiary Group Lotus.
He took a tour of the design studio and the production line, and was given an experience around the refurbished Hethel test track in the new Lotus Evora IPS with automatic transmission.
“To be honest, when I first learnt of the future plans for Lotus, I felt a small degree of scepticism due to the level of investment required but now I’m going home as a strong supporter of the turnaround plan. I’d like to categorically say that Group Lotus has the endorsement of the Malaysian Government and Khazanah. With the current plan in place, I can see that the level of professionalism is high, enthusiasm and morale are high too and I have a sense that the business plan is more than achievable. It might be bold and ambitious or even audacious but there is nothing like the motivation that comes from setting such high targets, with this situation you can strive and go the extra mile and achieve what you may not otherwise be able to achieve. I wish Group Lotus all the best, good luck and this definitely won’t be the last time I visit,” said Datuk Seri Najib at the end of his visit.
The Group Lotus turnaround plan has been heavily criticized by many – most have the opinion that it is too big a task that costs too much money to do in too little time. According to Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, Group Lotus has completed year one of the five year plan and the Lotus Esprit project has made good progress. The plan seems to be evolving with time as well – for example, we recently heard that the Elan has been delayed and the Evora will continue in the line-up.
“Feedback regarding the Elan showed us that it was too close in style and positioning to the Esprit, and so as a consequence we have delayed the delivery of the Elan – delayed not cancelled. This allows us to focus more of our attention on the Evora which I believe has fantastic potential. Another major development that has come about as a consequence of the feedback we received is that we are now developing our own engine to use in our future cars, creating even more the pure Lotus experience,” said Dany Bahar.
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Elan berwarna KUNING best!!
I love the look of the new Esprit.
Can’t wait to hear the 5 liter V8 engine roaring!
I’m sorry, i think it’s 4.8 v8 right?
dont u remember yellow just tumbang in thailand and yellow was defeat by a girlllllll……y u all make fuss bout yellow…our flag star is yellow if u dont remember, our official king color is yellow if u not remember, the carpet that king “pijak” is yellow, ur dirty teeth is yellow, betik is yellow, some of ur poopoo is yellow, malaysia football team jersey is yellow, in Holocaust ww2 the yellow badge also called the jewish badge, some people called other people otak kuning, there are road symbol yellow color state stop dont enter, road not straight, u-turn, dont horn, turn left/right…..only 1 symbol said go straight …do you think all people wear yellow support that NGO aka oppo
Elan is nice ,’Yellow” colour is best, but may be they dont know tis Yellow colour is ban in our land…
GL support Bersih juga.
I see a Yellow Lotus here. Is this the same as the Queen wearing yellow too?
Lets face it, don’t be too happy the government wants to fund this Lotus project thing. We all know, say RM2 billion will be allocated for example, only RM500 million will actually go to Lotus. The rest, as usual, will go into pockets. That is the Malaysian style. That is why we create projects and contracts. So Paul, the Government has no love for Lotus lah, contrary to what you think, its just another project for many to fill up their pockets. Its like building a new bridge, building a new airport etc etc. I reiterate again, there is no love for Lotus, its just another way to fill their pockets.
The yellow Lotus is an Elan. Maybe that’s why it got postponed eh?
Jokes aside…
I just quoted Najib. I didn’t say that was what I think. I’m not saying that’s not what I think either. Just pointing out that you shouldn’t put words into other people’s mouths. There’s a difference between a reporting piece and an opinion piece.
Paul, you can’t talk anything good about Najib or the G in the internet.
If you talk good things about Najib or the G, those people will think you are one of the crony. They like to talk before they think. That what their leader tell them to do.
from the way you said, i bet if u at Najib’s position, u may do the same thing. pathetic…
No wonder ‘TV3 BERSAMAMU’ show still go on
yes Paul, don’t layan such silly soul.. That “Real Malaysian” guy , his mouth is full of shit , always skeptical and negative about everything, even he suspects his father is sleeping with the maid.Very pitiful
hahaha…
yo real malaysian, i think you dah sesat blog daa..this bog is about a car..dun you get it..i suggest u go to malaysiakini lor.. a lot of your BUDDIES will cheer u there..cheers
thats not impressive. wait until perodua present their development plan for daihatsu and toyota.
and what will that be ?
15 variants of bumper design for “lagi best” ?
15 variants of limited edition tags for “lagi best” ?
15 variants of interior color for “lagi best” ?
guys, dont get the joke eh.
perodua present the development plan for toyota n daihasu? kamonnnnn…
guys, he’s just being sarcastic… it’s like saying ‘wait until cat grow horn’.. which means the ‘perodua dev plan’ is almost unlikely to happen.
Paul, you went there with Najib as well?
Bahar, ko tau aku nk dtg.. apsal ko tunjuk elan kaler kuning kat aku haa? Dahle aku kene perli dgn queen…
Someone is missing from the entourage. Oh, I’m quite forgetful. She’s maybe somewhere around, shopping like nobody business :-)
i like ur comment bro.hahaha
Luv ya mama Roast !!!!
Is it white another new Bersih theme? Whatever our political affiliation, we must support Lotus to be great motoring brand.
I love the Lotus Elan even thought it’s one fugly car but yellow color make the car look pretty cool and nice!i love it hehe
1st pic… Is it Campro Turbo?
Najib: I think last time Agong already turned on this engine right?
Proton MD’s: Yup, that’s why this engine still here… hehehe…
Did Najib’s face distorted at a flash when looking at the ‘Elan’ sports car :D
Yellow power in the UK.
LOTUS ……only design car….but engine? mostly from T the old 1.8 VVTI-1ZZ-FE
some of T engine still sub-con to Yamaha
Rosie…Rosie…!!! Saya tak tahan lagi dengan lawatan KUNING ini.
Dah siap dengan pembelian mu? Saya harap tiada berlian kuning kali ini…pasti MAUT dengan Demam Kuning (Yellow Fever).
See that yellow dipstick? No wonder Najib punya face distorted…
no matter how good the car, as long as it keeps in the garage and not selling it, its equal to nothing. Those Ah-mo sure knows how to rip off money from the project to build there name, its just their stepping stone to another bigger post in other manufacturer.
I bet the result will come out only year 4 of 5 year project, where they have milk all the money….you think those Ah Mo so nice in doing business with Msia company?
Enough with the lame Bersih jokes already, it’s getting old…..
It’s not funny at all, the jokes are annoying, it’s a colour, don’t politicize a colour and an automotive news.
I din notice, until you mentioned it.
Noticed how Paul’s and other admin commentators’ comments are in a yellow box?
yellow is our royal color for century so what the problem……please next time dont say our sultan also support ‘YOU KNOW WHO’…..hehe peace no riot…..
owh….yellow Elan look delicious……
Cars for display at the moment. 5 years plan, 2020 plan and etc. I dont have many 10 years to go, yet sales taxes need to be paid for. Why didnt I notice LandRover has a plan for Evoque? Yet, it is coming to Malaysia soon. If Lotus is owned by government, I am doubtful if it is competitive. Quote: Maxis Vs. Celcom.
but celcom still offer the best coverage and rate :) similar to proton, proton cars are still cheaper than other entry level cars. maybank is also a GLC, and now among the largest in Asean. Petronas? Fortune ranks Petronas as the 80th largest in 2009. It also ranks Petronas as the 13th most profitable company in the world and the most profitable in Asia. so, who says companies owned by gov can’t be competitive. it depends on who’s running it.
Yeah, GLCs are not all bad. Some are horrible and horribly run but the likes that you mentioned are going great strides. Look at Sime Darby Motors as well. Its is growing well, especially in China according to recent news reports. I also learned that Sime Darby is the 3rd largest BMW distributor in the world. That’s saying something!
i know bro.
You hate gov because u didnt get the chance to work in gov sector rite? lol
i just watched this news @rtm1 this evening, our G’s about to invest around 500 million pound (RM2.5 billion?) on this 5 years plan. Imagine who’s money they’re using actually, and the best part is who’ll benefiting from this deal? The rakyat get what? Barang Naik!
well, u get the wrong idea because you only hear about it now. don’t you know that the funds are actually borrowed from banks? will somebody ask you: whose money are you using to buy your car and house when you make loans from bank? are you using rakyat money??
get a life, and read more news before you speculate on anything.
So how about those so claim “R&D funds” G money or bank money?!? Besides that, how much EPF or Khazanah money pouring in during economy downturn?!? And in the end, whoes money is in EPF & Khazanah?!?
any company can get R&D funds even if they’re not Proton. many local companies get a different grants too, for example, multimedia dev grant. some other companies get diff incentive such as tax reduction and lower tariff. farmers get subsidies for their fertilizers, and YOU also receive several other subsidies including petrol, foods and tolls. do you agree that you’re also using rakyat money? well of course if you’re just ordinary man and doing nothing significant, you won’t get that dev grant. understand?
and about EPF.. do you see your saving shrink and disappear for no apparent reason? no, right? in fact, you get 5% dividend every year. last year they give more than RM20bil in dividend. so, do you think Proton is using your money??? EPF managing more than RM300bil of funds and they have their panel to justify any investment or any loan.
Do not get lazy to read a lot!
this country still gonna go bankrupt anyhow
if u think like that better migrate lah…
wish i can have that LOTUS brown leather jacket….
why cant the government provide some lower-tax, incentives etc for the rakyat to buy Lotus cars? I thought Rakyat didahulukan?
Some more what is the financial performance of Lotus? Is it still bleeding money?
Paultan…
aku bosan dok baca komen yg merapu – rapu .
inikan aotomotive site . so pleaselah .
Wow! Yellow bumblebee! Too bad, smaller than Camaro! Younger brother of Bumblebee. Wahaha! WTH… Car so fast, KL no road can speed 1. All the while keep in carpark. Keep money in bank got interest, keep in car park have to pay parking. Park in expo, people take photo, can collect entry fee. Hahaha! So different usage.
In the 1st pic, tat’s a Campro with some sort of Variable Valve Timing mechanism on the intake side!!! it can be seen clearly on the timing belt cover!