Lotus headed for sale?

[Jag_Warrior]

Matt Miller mentioned this on Bloomberg. The rumor/story now seems to be gaining steam. Since this might affect both F1 and to some degree, the IRL, I wasn't sure where to post this. But with a cloud still over the IRL effort, I guessed that it might affect F1 more.

Also, it's pretty amazing to learn that Lotus sells less than 2000 cars a year globally.
James Bond (http://topics.bloomberg.com/james-bond/) stopped using Lotus as his vehicle of choice to fight villains 30 years ago. Investors say Malaysia (http://topics.bloomberg.com/malaysia/)’s Proton Holdings Bhd. (PROH) (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=PROH:MK) should follow suit in abandoning the sports-car maker.



Proton, the Malaysian maker of sedans and taxis that bought control of Lotus in 1996, hasn’t made any profit from the British unit for 15 years and probably won’t at least until 2014. Now that Proton itself may be divested by its state-run parent, investors such as Gan Eng Peng say Lotus Group International Ltd. is ripe for a sale.

Lotus needs about 2.4 billion ringgit in order to help it return to profit, according to OSK Holdings Bhd. (OSK) (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=OSK:MK) estimates. The brand may be worth about 1 billion ringgit, or about triple its current value, once it’s profitable, according to Ahmad Maghfur Usman, an OSK analyst.



For that to happen, Lotus will have to sell 8,000 vehicles a year, he said. The carmaker sold 1,985 units for the year ended March 31, according to its annual report. That compares with Ferrari, whose chairman said in September will probably post record sales of 7,000 cars this year.



Those numbers may be difficult to reach under current ownership.
“Proton is better off without Lotus,” said Alexander Chia, a Kuala Lumpur-based analyst at RHB Capital. “There are no product synergies.”

[RS]

I'm not surprised they don't make a profit if they sponsor an F1 team and make less than 2000 cars anually!

If Proton put them up for sale then Tony Fernandez could buy Lotus and.....

[Malbec]

Matt Miller mentioned this on Bloomberg. The rumor/story now seems to be gaining steam. Since this might affect both F1 and to some degree, the IRL, I wasn't sure where to post this. But with a cloud still over the IRL effort, I guessed that it might affect F1 more.

Also, it's pretty amazing to learn that Lotus sells less than 2000 cars a year globally.

Lotus being up for sale has been rumoured for some time now. Dany Bahar's optimistic plans for expansion never did get much interest from investors and Lotus had to raise money from state owned Malaysian banks to fund its plans, they were supposedly forced to lend the money by the Malaysian government.

Oddly he has been frittering money away sponsoring anything on four wheels and celebrity endorsements when he should have spent everything possible on car development. I was surprised to hear the Indy engine project is still going on, where did they get the money from?

Incidentally Bahar has worked for Sauber, Red Bull and also Ferrari, all of whom were happy to see him go. He is not a car or product man but a PR and merchandising guy and it shows. His last act for Ferrari was to sign them up to supplying A1GP shortly before they went bust, the Italian team never saw their money from that deal.

If true the rumours indicate Proton has finally lost its patience with him and thats good news.

[wedge]

Lotus being up for sale has been rumoured for some time now. Dany Bahar's optimistic plans for expansion never did get much interest from investors and Lotus had to raise money from state owned Malaysian banks to fund its plans, they were supposedly forced to lend the money by the Malaysian government.

Oddly he has been frittering money away sponsoring anything on four wheels and celebrity endorsements when he should have spent everything possible on car development. I was surprised to hear the Indy engine project is still going on, where did they get the money from?

Incidentally Bahar has worked for Sauber, Red Bull and also Ferrari, all of whom were happy to see him go. He is not a car or product man but a PR and merchandising guy and it shows. His last act for Ferrari was to sign them up to supplying A1GP shortly before they went bust, the Italian team never saw their money from that deal.

If true the rumours indicate Proton has finally lost its patience with him and thats good news.

Danny Bahar = complete dick or marketing genius?

Retro F1 car livery , Indycar program - like the average petrolhead with £50k to burn gives a toss, let alone reviving the Esprit?

Evora is the new NSX and will never be able to compete with the 911.

The new line up is over optimistic. It's got hari-kari written all over it, IMO.

Saying that I can see the same happening to Caterham even if Tony Fernandes has done wonders for QPR by using common sense.

[Prisoner Monkeys]

This could really screw Raikkonen's return (not that I'm bothered by this). If Lotus were put up for sale and the buyer terminated their motorsport activities, the team would likely lose a lot of money - and I wouldn't be surprised if they lost their name, too. Which would put serious pressure on them because they would be considered a new constructor, and therefore lose their claim to the FOM television rights pay-out.

If Proton put them up for sale then Tony Fernandez could buy Lotus and.....
Maybe, but he won't re-name his team as 'Lotus'. He's tied Caterham's image into his team; recanting and rebranding it as Lotus would just waste money on both fronts. Lotus the car maker needs serious work before it can start sponsoring Formula 1 teams again.

[Mia 01]

The rumour is that Kimi and the Roberstsons already have started to buy Lotus share for share.

[Malbec]

The rumour is that Kimi and the Roberstsons already have started to buy Lotus share for share.

Kimi's partners from the UAE are buying into Lotus F1, Robertson is not involved. This thread isn't about Lotus F1, its about Group Lotus which builds roadcars.

[BDunnell]

Lotus being up for sale has been rumoured for some time now. Dany Bahar's optimistic plans for expansion never did get much interest from investors and Lotus had to raise money from state owned Malaysian banks to fund its plans, they were supposedly forced to lend the money by the Malaysian government.

To say nothing of £10 million from the British government. Personally, I don't think funding Dany Bahar's pipedreams is a good use of taxpayers' money, no matter how many jobs the money helped secure.

[Malbec]

To say nothing of £10 million from the British government. Personally, I don't think funding Dany Bahar's pipedreams is a good use of taxpayers' money, no matter how many jobs the money helped secure.

They didn't get that in the end did they?

Tony Fernandes was supposed to be waiting for Lotus to fall flat on its face so he could buy it off Proton for a pittance, I wonder if he's still interested.

[BDunnell]

They didn't get that in the end did they?

You may very well be right, now I re-read the local news story that reminded me of it in the first place.

Lotus boss admits sell-off possibility - Business - Eastern Daily Press (http://www.edp24.co.uk/business/lotus_boss_admits_sell_off_possibility_1_1172800)

[nigelred5]

They didn't get that in the end did they?

Tony Fernandes was supposed to be waiting for Lotus to fall flat on its face so he could buy it off Proton for a pittance, I wonder if he's still interested.

Aren't his airline and a few more things he owns in Bankruptcy?

[SGWilko]

Aren't his airline and a few more things he owns in Bankruptcy?

AirAsia is doing OK I think, and he got a nice slice of the domestic market courtesy of the Malaysian Gov't in order to clear the way for Proton to retain the Lotus name exclusively.

It's VJ that has debts bigger than the average Eurozone country's economy.

[milly]

Lotus being up for sale has been rumoured for some time now. Dany Bahar's optimistic plans for expansion never did get much interest from investors and Lotus had to raise money from state owned Malaysian banks to fund its plans, they were supposedly forced to lend the money by the Malaysian government.

Oddly he has been frittering money away sponsoring anything on four wheels and celebrity endorsements when he should have spent everything possible on car development. I was surprised to hear the Indy engine project is still going on, where did they get the money from?

Incidentally Bahar has worked for Sauber, Red Bull and also Ferrari, all of whom were happy to see him go. He is not a car or product man but a PR and merchandising guy and it shows. His last act for Ferrari was to sign them up to supplying A1GP shortly before they went bust, the Italian team never saw their money from that deal.

If true the rumours indicate Proton has finally lost its patience with him and thats good news.

Dany Bahar has signed a four-year contract extension as CEO at Lotus.

AUTO RACING - INDYCAR: Busy Times For Lotus (http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-busy-times-for-lotus/)