RE: Is Lotus about to change owners?
Wednesday 17th January 2007
Lotus Elise 111RCould Lotus end up in the hands of General Motors?
Is Lotus about to change owners?
Rumours suggest GM could buy Proton
Lotus Elise 111R
That's one intriguing possibility following a story in Autocar which suggests that the giant US carmaker has expressed an interest in buying loss-making Proton, the Malaysian company that owns Lotus.
GM has both owned and made use of Lotus' chassis honing skills in the past, and of course, the Hethel-built Vauxhall VX220 -- perhaps the best Vauxhall that very few people ever bought -- demonstrated an even closer relationship, consisting as it did of a Elise chassis under a different body and engine.
Whether GM would retain Lotus were it to buy Proton is unclear at this stage -- but Lotus, like most small sports car makers, is not stranger to a rocky financial ride.
Discussion
GM has made use of Lotus' chassis honing skills in the past, and of course, the Hethel-built Vauxhall VX220 -- perhaps the best Vauxhall that very few people ever bought -- demonstrated an even closer relationship, consisting as it did of a Elise chassis under a different body and engine.
Their ownership of the company, 1986-1993, demonstrated a rather closer relationship than either of the above
Their ownership of the company, 1986-1993, demonstrated a rather closer relationship than either of the above
Let me scotch this one: we've referred to Autocar stories prior to Haymarket's acquisition and will continue to do so if it's newsworthy. There's nothing sinister about this - it's been standard practice on PH for years as ten seconds with the news search facility will show.
Manek
PH Editor
Edited to add:
I wouldn't be doing this if thought I was under pressure to toe a corporate line. I also know that Haymarket is keen not to break PH - but your vigilance is welcome.
Manek
PH Editor
Edited to add:
I wouldn't be doing this if thought I was under pressure to toe a corporate line. I also know that Haymarket is keen not to break PH - but your vigilance is welcome.
Edited by manek on Wednesday 17th January 12:15
We are one of the top 5 richest countries in the world, why for god sake, can't someone on these shores take the British sports car industry by the scruff of the neck and kick some ass to all the foreign owners who seem to play musical chairs (replace chairs with owners) with our heritage - Lotus, TVR, MG etc...
We have the finest engineering talent in the world, many of today's mass produced cars are designed by British studio's - so come on, what's the FCUK'in brickwall that stops us taking control of these companies and giving the world the best handling mid-range sports cars to die for!!?
We have the finest engineering talent in the world, many of today's mass produced cars are designed by British studio's - so come on, what's the FCUK'in brickwall that stops us taking control of these companies and giving the world the best handling mid-range sports cars to die for!!?
autoart said:
We are one of the top 5 richest countries in the world, why for god sake, can't someone on these shores take the British sports car industry by the scruff of the neck and kick some ass to all the foreign owners who seem to play musical chairs (replace chairs with owners) with our heritage - Lotus, TVR, MG etc...
We have the finest engineering talent in the world, many of today's mass produced cars are designed by British studio's - so come on, what's the FCUK'in brickwall that stops us taking control of these companies and giving the world the best handling mid-range sports cars to die for!!?
We have the finest engineering talent in the world, many of today's mass produced cars are designed by British studio's - so come on, what's the FCUK'in brickwall that stops us taking control of these companies and giving the world the best handling mid-range sports cars to die for!!?
interesting point
IMHO relevant points may be:
We are rich but the wealth is all tied up in housing and land
The design / engineering talent is great and is highly valued and exported successfully so investment is attractive
Manuafacturing is dead in this country - too risky, too much investment required intially and ongoing (continued EC changes re. emissions/safety etc and suddenly that engine you spent years developing is scrap)
Manuafacturing is dead in this country - undercut by developing countries.
I'm an australian, and I hate seeing lotus tossed about as a loss maker... I mean, holy crap. If there's one company in the world that can turn a bag of puss into something sane handling and reasonably comfortable, it seems to be lotus. Oi! Mazda! You know how to build sportscar chassis. They can upgrade your stuff, use your parts bin, and some ford power. Lotus Erin: Lighter, restyled RX8 chassis and a duratec V6 from ford, with more european styling and trim interior. Lotus Elenor: RX8 powered Elise. (Oh come on. Who in the world wouldn't want to see it?) Hell, you could even add the hydrogen hybrid motor and it'd actually go at a reasonable pace. Not much to push.
Lotus needs an owner that can donate chassis and parts that aren't to expensive and yet have traits suitable to lotus, as well as passing on lessons in how to get their management in order. After the dark mid-late 90's where MX5 and RX7 kept the flame alight, Mazda is one company that could do it.
Lotus needs an owner that can donate chassis and parts that aren't to expensive and yet have traits suitable to lotus, as well as passing on lessons in how to get their management in order. After the dark mid-late 90's where MX5 and RX7 kept the flame alight, Mazda is one company that could do it.
GM got a stack of cash recently to affect a turn-around of their business. As its the North American business that is doing most badly because of labour related costs, buying a company like Proton where the opposite is true makes some sense. Lotus though I think they won't want as part of the deal unless they can be persuaded that a loss making sports car manufacturer is a sensible purchase, which I wouldn't have thought they could.
I reckon if this happens Bamford might like it.
I reckon if this happens Bamford might like it.
Adam B said:
IMHO relevant points may be:
We are rich but the wealth is all tied up in housing and land
The design / engineering talent is great and is highly valued and exported successfully so investment is attractive
Manuafacturing is dead in this country - too risky, too much investment required intially and ongoing (continued EC changes re. emissions/safety etc and suddenly that engine you spent years developing is scrap)
Manuafacturing is dead in this country - undercut by developing countries.
I'd add that we are rubbish at running businesses. I see this every day in Cambridge - hundreds of clever engineers coming up with all sorts of brilliant products. Can they turn those products into successful businesses? Usually the answer is no, and often these companies are bought up by larger American concerns if they don't go bust first.
I'm sure I've read somewhere that Proton consist of two parts and GM might be interested in one part, as an investor rather than an outright owner? There seem to be rumours that someone is going to buy Lotus or Proton every couple of months.
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