[Lotus] vendita possibile?

[alettone75]

io proporrei l'acquisto di Lutus da Parte di Alfa, così potrebbero produrre delle fantastiche sportivette (a debito di mamma Fiat)... sai quante eiaculazioni precoci provocherebbero ad alcuni dei nostri forumisti eh, per lo meno fino a quando i debiti non avranno travolto anche la stessa Alfa

[Giò]

Credo che nonostante il nome sicuramente blasonato

e parliamoci chiaro nonostante gli elogi sperticati

della stampa inglese la evora non ha appeal

per il mercato alla quale si vorrebbe proporre.

Se non hai dietro un grande gruppo una sportiva

in questo mercato non ce la fa' contro Vw , mercedes,

ferrari etc. Non è malaccio ma in ogni aspetto c'è un offerta

migliore sul mercato.

[nicogiraldi]

un divertente messaggio su facebook di lotus cars!!

anzitutto questa immagine http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/306629_371667082877743_135849009792886_1146106_487917079_n.jpg

Lotus Cars

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story….

Take a little look at what we found online. Don’t you think it’s funny? We do. We had a good old giggle. After all, we love a bit of self irony, just as well really. Although it’s funny, this one’s not accurate but then again, why let the facts get in the way of a good story? The inconvenient truth is – surprise, surprise – we have never said that there are no problems at Lotus.

So whilst lots of people obviously feel the need to comment on Lotus’ current situation in the absence of proper facts or evidence, we can’t ignore these particular mistruths any longer even if we would like to, so we have decided to turn a negative into a positive and use this hilarious piece of ‘art’ to set the record straight regarding the status quo at Group Lotus and try to return a little stability to a fast changing situation.

False rumour #1: Dany Bahar is no longer CEO of Group Lotus.

Fact: Rubbish – Dany Bahar still is.

False rumour #2: Dato’ Sri Syed is no longer Managing Director of Proton.

Fact: Again rubbish. He still is.

You can thank good old Tony Fernandes for these two. Don’t take everything he tweets too seriously – perhaps he’s still frustrated about owning Caterham instead of Lotus and the fact that he fights HRT and Marussia instead of Mercedes and Ferrari in F1.

And whilst we’re on the subject of jokes - do you know the latest F1 joke? Mike Gascoyne, Caterham Group’s Chief Technical Officer, has gone missing. Why? He’s looking for the 30 to 40 points he predicted for the last F1 season. Funny.

Speaking of F1: It seems that one special so called ‘independent’ source is at the root of the lion’s share of damaging rumours and misleading stories. The delightful Joe Saward which leads us nicely to….

False rumour #3: Joe Saward is JUST an independent journalist.

Fact: He is an active Director on the Caterham Group Board.

And unlike some, we don’t want to get too personal, so we’ll leave it to you to judge how ‘independent’ his stories about Lotus are.

False rumour #4: Group Lotus is no longer involved in F1.

Fact: Lotus F1 Team and Group Lotus have reshaped their commercial relationship earlier this year. The new governance agreement signifies the continued commitment of Group Lotus to the team and the sport.

Group Lotus’ branding and marketing rights and subsequent activities remain unaffected by the new agreement until at least 2017. Alongside continued branding and title partnership status, Group Lotus is also the exclusive master licensee for all Lotus F1 Team merchandise.

The new agreement was reached following Group Lotus owners Proton providing team owners Genii with a £30m loan which is repayable within three years. In order to secure the loan Genii used 100% of the F1 team’s assets as collateral meaning that under the conditions of the loan agreement Proton have been given full title guarantee to all plant, machinery, show cars, computers, office and the Lotus F1 Team headquarters.

In addition Proton retains the rights to purchase 10% of the F1 team. Another 10% share option will be activated if the team default on their loan obligations with Proton.

Again we leave it to your judgement how ‘bad’ Lotus’ current situation in F1 is. And speaking of bad situations…..

False rumour #5: Group Lotus is going into administration.

Fact: Rubbish. The takeover of our parent company Proton by DRB-HICOM couldn’t have come at a worse time, but up until that point Proton was (and still remains) fully committed to our five year business plan to create jobs and to expand the factory and business. With the takeover process the funding has been restricted and DRB-HICOM is taking time to understand what to do with the business. DRB-HICOM is currently in the middle of due diligence of Group Lotus and there have been and continue to be positive discussions between Group Lotus senior management and senior management at DRB-HICOM both here in Hethel and in Malaysia. At no point has DRB-HICOM indicated to Group Lotus that it intends to put the company into administration. The over-active rumour mill is seriously damaging our business reputation, image and credibility but it is what it is.

The simple fact is, and we haven’t denied this - Lotus is going through a very difficult phase at the moment but we are showing true fighting spirit every day in trying to keep this vision alive. This is also a fact – no matter what people outside of Lotus may say or tweet or blog.

via lotuscars.com page in facebook.com

[nicogiraldi]

Non posto perchè son 4 pagine d'intervista a Bahar..

CAR interviews Dany Bahar, Lotus CEO on those rumours (2012) | Automotive & Motoring News | Car Magazine Online

imho aria fritta

[superkappa125]

Intanto Autocar ci rassicura con la notizia della ripresa della produzione e della conferma di Esprit per fine 2013.

[h=1]Lotus to restore full car production[/h]26 April 2012

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Lotus Cars has secured enough investment from its new Malaysian owner, the automotive giant DRB-Hicom, to restore full car production at its Hethel assembly plant in the next few days, and continue build-up to the launch of the first of its new-wave models, the Esprit supercar due in showrooms before the end of 2013.

A four-model, five-year plan devised by CEO Dany Bahar has had to be amended because a 60-day financial “freeze”, a routine occurrence when Malaysian firms sell major assets, has interrupted the flow of agreed development funds and introduced considerable production delays.

The resumption means that from beginning of May Lotus should be making Elises, Exiges and Evoras at a combined rate of 44 cars a week, and will be continuing to to spend on the development of the Esprit, especially its own-design V8 engine and novel automated manual transmission.

Other new models proposed beyond Esprit remain in abeyance for the time being but Lotus expects to launch at least three improved versions of existing models in time for this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, late in June, where it is this year’s “chosen” marque. The company celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, as well as the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first Lotus Elan.

Bahar vehemently denies recent assertions made during a recent parliamentary debate by local MP, Richard Bacon, that the business consultancy KPMG has been tasked with finding a buyer for the company in China.

“It’s just not true,” he says. “There is no fire sale, no selling process and no bidding. If there were, lots of strange people would be here doing inspections and due diligence, but there is nobody. Besides, I have no authority to sell the company. That’s a job for the shareholders. I am just an employee.”

He also laughs off recent reports that his contract contains incentives to sell the company. “You can look at it any way you want,” he says. “I have a fairly normal CEO’s deal that means if our plan were to be successful at some time in the future, there could be a benefit. That is nothing out of the ordinary.”

Commenting on reports that DRB-Hicom had appointed a highly-placed Proton employee to Lotus’s top management, Bahar said the move was extremely welcome. “We have been joined by the CFO of the Proton Group, someone we have known for two and a half years, and who knows our company and situation very well. He has been nominated to form a co-operative link between DRB and us, and this is very helpful because we have not had this before.”

A Lotus Youngman company, recently registered in London with himself as one of two shareholders, had been intended to extend links between Hethel and the Chinese manufacturer Youngman that already sells an “Engineered by Lotus” saloon range in China. But it is unlikely now to go ahead, he says. “Our two companies started talks with the aim of doing new products under a different logo, but it is now very unlikely that we will finalize the deal.”

The Lotus CEO keen to scotch reports that Youngman is Lotus’s Chinese importer: that function is fulfilled, he says, by Lotus China Symphony, who have so far opened three dealerships this year in China, and have plans for another 13 before the year-end.

Bahar regrets the severity of his media examination, but can understand the reason for it. He admits that DRB-Hicom has still to decide whether it will operate Lotus as is, modify its ambitious management plans or move to sell it. He is frustrated by the situation, he says, but understands that the new owner needs to concentrate on its much larger purchase, Proton, in the early weeks.

“The past four months have been really tough for us,” he says. “We were working at a pace nobody had seen at Lotus for many years, so the shut-down, as I call it, was very hard for us. It is still not good, but it is where we are. My job is to convince our shareholders — and critics — that we can build a successful business here. But I’m feeling a lot happier now than I was a month ago.”

[Cosimo]

ieri in giro per le langhe in vespino mi son beccato un'elise nera e oro e devo dire che era carinissima, spero che sto benedetto marchio passi questo brutto periodo

[nicogiraldi]

mmmm ormai ho poca fiducia.

Anzitutto le exige v6 saranno consegnabili dall'autunno... , le elise s si spera per inizio estate..

Io la vedo ancora maluccio, c'è poco da fare ci vorrebbe una bella casa automobilistica che si pigli tutto!

[justjames]

ieri in giro per le langhe in vespino mi son beccato un'elise nera e oro e devo dire che era carinissima, spero che sto benedetto marchio passi questo brutto periodo

Non posso che quotare.

[Guest EC2277]

Continuo a pensare che la Lotus starebbe benissimo nelle mani della Lexus.

Anzi, penso che un simile matrimonio sarebbe vantaggioso per entrambi i marchi.

[nicogiraldi]

Tutta uk ne parla.... Bahar sospeso! situazione difficilissima.

Lotus boss Dany Bahar suspended | Autocar