Team Lotus with Caterham

[GroupLotusRenault]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90907

With the Team Lotus having Dispute issues with Group Lotus, Caterham could be a new manafactor to join F1 and rename the team. I find this good as it could bring other teams like this to the sport, not huge car companys, but small ones.

[Captain Hammer]

If this is true, then I'm predicting a settlement in the court case is on the way. This move has come from left-field, but is entirely in character for Fernandes: buy up an historic name and claim it is his own before going racing with it.

[GroupLotusRenault]

If this is true, then I'm predicting a settlement in the court case is on the way. This move has come from left-field, but is entirely in character for Fernandes: buy up an historic name and claim it is his own before going racing with it.

Do you think Caterham are just in talks atm? But seeing How team Lotus have improved over the winter, this could be a chance for them.

[Myrvold]

If this is true, then I'm predicting a settlement in the court case is on the way. This move has come from left-field, but is entirely in character for Fernandes: buy up an historic name and claim it is his own before going racing with it.

Well if I buy something, I will claim that it is mine, and I will use it's name and history for whatever it's worth, everyone would, don't see the problem.

However, with one user called grouplotusrenault, and the other having Petrov and a Renault as an avatar, this thread might have been started slightly biased

[Captain Hammer]

I think it's signiicantly more than "just talks". Fernandes Lotus (I refuse to refer to them as "Team Lotus") have made plans for what they call an "exciting annoucement" about the team's future to be made on April 27th when they do straight-line aero tests at Duxford Aerodrome. Then, less than twenty-four hours later, talk of a tie-in with Caterham surfaces?

I suspect Fernandes is going to buy Caterham and rebadge the team, probably as part of a settlement with Group Lotus. The only way they'd accept a settlement would be if a) they knew the writing was on the wall and they would lose the case, or b) the resolution from the case did little to resolve the stalemate (ie ruling that both Fernandes and Renault may continue to use the Lotus names). Fernandes would probably agree to drop the Team Lotus name in exchange for Group Lotus renouncing all claims to the history of Team Lotus, plus some financial repatriations equal to the amount they paid David Hunt for the Team Lotus name. Such a deal would likely guarantee that the team continues with their historical multiplier for television rights payouts under the Concorde Agreement, with the co-operation of FOM; in other words, they would suffer no loss of income for changing their name. The other teams would have to agree to the proposed name change - something like "Caterham Grand Prix Engineering" - but would not be able to force Fernandes to keep the Team Lotus name (I've heard the suggestion that the likes of Force India and Hispania might try and block a name change to slow Fernandes down and preserve their position in the midfield), because he would be legally obligated to change it.

[GroupLotusRenault]

I think it's signiicantly more than "just talks". Fernandes Lotus (I refuse to refer to them as "Team Lotus") have made plans for what they call an "exciting annoucement" about the team's future to be made on April 27th when they do straight-line aero tests at Duxford Aerodrome. Then, less than twenty-four hours later, talk of a tie-in with Caterham surfaces?

I suspect Fernandes is going to buy Caterham and rebadge the team, probably as part of a settlement with Group Lotus. The only way they'd accept a settlement would be if a) they knew the writing was on the wall and they would lose the case, or b) the resolution from the case did little to resolve the stalemate (ie ruling that both Fernandes and Renault may continue to use the Lotus names). Fernandes would probably agree to drop the Team Lotus name in exchange for Group Lotus renouncing all claims to the history of Team Lotus, plus some financial repatriations equal to the amount they paid David Hunt for the Team Lotus name. Such a deal would likely guarantee that the team continues with their historical multiplier for television rights payouts under the Concorde Agreement, with the co-operation of FOM; in other words, they would suffer no loss of income for changing their name. The other teams would have to agree to the proposed name change - something like "Caterham Grand Prix Engineering" - but would not be able to force Fernandes to keep the Team Lotus name (I've heard the suggestion that the likes of Force India and Hispania might try and block a name change to slow Fernandes down and preserve their position in the midfield), because he would be legally obligated to change it.

No offence to malaysia but they have enough of our car industry as it is, plus Caterham arent doing that badly off.

[MansellsEyebrows]

I think it's signiicantly more than "just talks". Fernandes Lotus (I refuse to refer to them as "Team Lotus") have made plans for what they call an "exciting annoucement" about the team's future to be made on April 27th when they do straight-line aero tests at Duxford Aerodrome. Then, less than twenty-four hours later, talk of a tie-in with Caterham surfaces?

I suspect Fernandes is going to buy Caterham and rebadge the team, probably as part of a settlement with Group Lotus. The only way they'd accept a settlement would be if a) they knew the writing was on the wall and they would lose the case, or b) the resolution from the case did little to resolve the stalemate (ie ruling that both Fernandes and Renault may continue to use the Lotus names). Fernandes would probably agree to drop the Team Lotus name in exchange for Group Lotus renouncing all claims to the history of Team Lotus, plus some financial repatriations equal to the amount they paid David Hunt for the Team Lotus name. Such a deal would likely guarantee that the team continues with their historical multiplier for television rights payouts under the Concorde Agreement, with the co-operation of FOM; in other words, they would suffer no loss of income for changing their name. The other teams would have to agree to the proposed name change - something like "Caterham Grand Prix Engineering" - but would not be able to force Fernandes to keep the Team Lotus name (I've heard the suggestion that the likes of Force India and Hispania might try and block a name change to slow Fernandes down and preserve their position in the midfield), because he would be legally obligated to change it.

No offence to malaysia but they have enough of our car industry as it is, plus Caterham arent doing that badly off.

If Caterham are in an OK position despite the troubles of the last 2 years in the car industry, that's probably why Fernandes sees them as an attractive business opportunity.

This suggests to me that TF expects his case to lose in the Lotus row, and I support him in this new alternative. I hope this happens and we see 'caterham Grand Prix', it has a good ring to it.

[Shizuka]

Caterham-Renault! Now how will the livery look? White with those stripes?

[Cynon]

At least it gets rid of that hideous farce that Tony Fernandes has the gall to call "Team Lotus" *VOMIT* off the F1 grid.

[GroupLotusRenault]

Two Lotus teams are just plain stupid, Fernandes will change the name. Plus it will bring more manfactors into the sport.

[Londoner]

If this is true, then I'm predicting a settlement in the court case is on the way. This move has come from left-field, but is entirely in character for Fernandes: buy up an historic name and claim it is his own before going racing with it.

Well if I buy something, I will claim that it is mine, and I will use it's name and history for whatever it's worth, everyonue would, don't see the problem.

However, with one user called grouplotusrenault, and the other having Petrov and a Renault as an avatar, this thread might have been started slightly biased

At least my avatar at the moment is of the original Team Lotus! In all seriousness, I am mainly on Team Air Asia's side here, as I believe that they did purchase the Team Lotus name fairly, and thus have the right to use it. I suppose Bahar is angry that someone beat him to buying the name, and seeing as Proton own Group Lotus, he feels he has the right to the Team Lotus name. Maybe this Caterham tie-up is like with the old Benetton team (I call them that to avoid confusion), being a sponsor.

[Yannick]

To be honest, I have never heard of Caterham before. Are they only known in the UK?
I must say I had never heard of Spyker before they went to F1 either. And neither have I after they left the series.

[TomWazzleshaw]

To be honest, I have never heard of Caterham before. Are they only known in the UK?
I must say I had never heard of Spyker before they went to F1 either. And neither have I after they left the series.

Well the Caterham R500 "Smashed the Bugatti Veryon's one million pound face in" at the Top Gear test track a few years ago.

[dr-baker]

To be honest, I have never heard of Caterham before. Are they only known in the UK?
I must say I had never heard of Spyker before they went to F1 either. And neither have I after they left the series.

Well, here is a picture of the only model that Caterham produces - the Caterham 7 (which used to be manufactured as a Lotus 7):



I have always been biased towards Fernandes ever since I discovered he and I went to the same school and were in the same boarding house, albeit about 15-20 years apart.

[eagleash]

To be honest, I have never heard of Caterham before. Are they only known in the UK?
I must say I had never heard of Spyker before they went to F1 either. And neither have I after they left the series.

Well the Caterham R500 "Smashed the Bugatti Veryon's one million pound face in" at the Top Gear test track a few years ago.

In simple terms, the Caterham Car Co. (based in...er... Caterham, Surrey) obtained the "rights" to the old Lotus 7 & their current production is still very much based on the original design. Top Gear have featured their products on several occasions. Including one episode where Stig drove an assembled 7 from Caterham to Scotland whilst the lads built one from a kit in the same time at the destination.

http://www.caterham.co.uk/

Edit....."dr" just beat me to it.....we're both from leafy Surrey.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Including one episode where Stig drove an assembled 7 from Caterham to Scotland whilst the lads built one from a kit in the same time at the destination.

Ah yes, the Stig got arrested 3 miles from the Knockhill Circuit for (presumably) speeding.

[eagleash]

Including one episode where Stig drove an assembled 7 from Caterham to Scotland whilst the lads built one from a kit in the same time at the destination.

Ah yes, the Stig got arrested 3 miles from the Knockhill Circuit for (presumably) speeding.

"Heavy Scots accent" "is this your car Sir?".....silence......

Last seen leaving in the back of a Patrol Car......

[pablo_h]

Classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... Jkg#t=552s

[MaxZero]

I must say I had never heard of Spyker before they went to F1 either. And neither have I after they left the series.

Spyker's current set-up has in my view been quite comical, i've been following them since i saw them in F1 because the road cars are very much something different, the new C8 (don't think its in production yet) is at the top of my list of cars i would buy if I was rolling in it

(grabbing the opportunity to rattle on about Spyker with both hands) - Since leaving F1, Spyker brought Saab, but had to sever all ties with a Russian shareholder who has alleged links with the mafia before GM would sell to them. The Saab process has taken up so much of Spykers time and resources that Spykers managers opted to sell Spyker to said Russian in full, the parent company still has Spyker in the name but sod all to do with it now.
The new parent company is now CCP Global Holdings, a UK coachbuilder in Coventry who had ties with the company before, they put a few of the C12s together (the car they said they released in celebration of getting into F1, i don't think any were deliverd to people until after they sold Spyker F1 on), so on a personal level, at least a city that i lived on the outskirts of is getting a few new jobs as last time i saw it, it was looking grimmer than usual.


On Topic, i'm on Fernandes' side

It annoyed me that Lotus would grant naming rights for a single season and then bugger up the fluidity by doing it themselves, it stinks of mis-management and/or twattery of the highest order that they would have two such contrasting approaches in as many years. I enjoyed following Team Lotus' progress and tho Fernandes' legal antics may have been daft at times, it still to bears the ethos of a Tescos opening somewhere and ruining all the smaller shops in the high street with Renault's transformation



(I haven't proof read this as its now lunchtime)

[GroupLotusRenault]

If this is true, then I'm predicting a settlement in the court case is on the way. This move has come from left-field, but is entirely in character for Fernandes: buy up an historic name and claim it is his own before going racing with it.

Well if I buy something, I will claim that it is mine, and I will use it's name and history for whatever it's worth, everyonue would, don't see the problem.

However, with one user called grouplotusrenault, and the other having Petrov and a Renault as an avatar, this thread might have been started slightly biased

Oh yea true didnt think about that. But Im a huge Caterham fan (when My dad was a marsall at brands Hatch many of the club races were with Caterham) and to be honest it would benefit Fernandes team more having them then Team Lotus.

[Jordan192]

Basically, Fernandes planned to rebuild Lotus' racing image a bit and eventually gain control of Lotus as a whole. After he'd been granted the Lotus Racing licence for 2010, new management (Bahar) came in and decided to take the road car company in a totally new direction and just copy Aston Martin. He also needed to cut Fernandes out of the picture as quickly as possible and started negotiating with Renault and lining up to find some grounds to terminate Fernandes' naming agreement.

Group didn't make anything beyond token attempts to tie in with Fernandes because doing so would give Bahar less control over the setup

Fernandes' reaction was to protect his investment, and so he went to Hunt for the the Team Lotus name (which he hadn't needed earlier when he had the goodwil of the pre-Bahar Group).

I have a feling Hunt gave Fernandes certain assurances about the solidity of the Trademark which haven't really panned out, or Fernandes isn't willing to fork over the full amount in case the trademark gets crushed in court, so Hunt and Fernandes fell out.

As for the caerham thing? On one hand, Caterham is not a household name, so the team will definitely suffer publicity-wise, but on the other hand, if Group Lotus don't actually want to be Lotus anymore, and stop making the lightweight sportscars that have defined the brand, who better to fill that gap?

Lotus, making overweight, by he numbers luxury sports pap in a attempt to oust Ferrari from their turf, or Caterham with the money to move on from just making 7s? I know which interests me more.

[MaxZero]

How did the 'Hunt sues Fernandes over non payment' pan out?

[Captain Hammer]

Basically, Fernandes planned to rebuild Lotus' racing image a bit and eventually gain control of Lotus as a whole. After he'd been granted the Lotus Racing licence for 2010, new management (Bahar) came in and decided to take the road car company in a totally new direction and just copy Aston Martin. He also needed to cut Fernandes out of the picture as quickly as possible and started negotiating with Renault and lining up to find some grounds to terminate Fernandes' naming agreement.

If Bahar was appointed to guide Lotus and felt that allowing Fernandes to take control through the racing team was the wrong way to do it, then he's entitled to find a way to have the contract terminated. That's basically what his job is: to make decisions that steer the future of the team.

[Jordan192]

Basically, Fernandes planned to rebuild Lotus' racing image a bit and eventually gain control of Lotus as a whole. After he'd been granted the Lotus Racing licence for 2010, new management (Bahar) came in and decided to take the road car company in a totally new direction and just copy Aston Martin. He also needed to cut Fernandes out of the picture as quickly as possible and started negotiating with Renault and lining up to find some grounds to terminate Fernandes' naming agreement.

If Bahar was appointed to guide Lotus and felt that allowing Fernandes to take control through the racing team was the wrong way to do it, then he's entitled to find a way to have the contract terminated. That's basically what his job is: to make decisions that steer the future of the team.

I'd maybe refine that slightly ints that Ferenade's immediate plans ended as soon as Bahar came in. Bahar could have allowed the F1 operation to continue as it was. but that means Fernandes is still hanging around the upper levels of the company, hovering in case things start going awry and the people putting up the cash start getting jittery.

Given all the fallout that we've seen, I think it's pretty safe to say that what would have been best for Lotus would have been to keep Fernandes on board. Bahar's decision to cut Fernandes out of the loop pretty much only serves Bahar's interests.

That's not to say he wasn't entitled to do that, though. Fernandes' intentions aren't pure charity and he almost certainly would have done the same under similar circumstances. However, He does seem to have the better awareness of what Lotus as a brand is supposed to be (or at least, used to be) about.

I definitely take Fernandes' side on this, but it's an emotional thing around the way Team Lotus are going about their racing and the way Bahar seems to be taking the road car company down a route that seems so clearly doomed to failure. Legally, though, the only resolution that makes sense is to allow Group to do their thing and Team Hingham just have to find their own niche.

I really hope they can.

As for Hunt/Fernandes, I'd imagine they've put things on hold until we find out whether Tony paid millions for a viable trademark or a piece of paper - that's just my own hunch and not based on anything solid, though.

[eytl]

Obviously it's too early to confirm anything but if the name of the team does change then it will make an absolute mockery of the whole "which team (if any) is continuing the Team Lotus legacy" issue.

FORIX have listed Fernandes' team (including its participation in 2010 as "Lotus Racing") as a continuation and revival of the original Team Lotus. Most people still refer to Renault as "Renault". If Team Lotus becomes Caterham, will that mean that Lotus disappears for a second time? Or will Renault suddenly assume the mantle? All very confusing for a pedantic anorak.

[GroupLotusRenault]

Obviously it's too early to confirm anything but if the name of the team does change then it will make an absolute mockery of the whole "which team (if any) is continuing the Team Lotus legacy" issue.

FORIX have listed Fernandes' team (including its participation in 2010 as "Lotus Racing") as a continuation and revival of the original Team Lotus. Most people still refer to Renault as "Renault". If Team Lotus becomes Caterham, will that mean that Lotus disappears for a second time? Or will Renault suddenly assume the mantle? All very confusing for a pedantic anorak.

I agree fully, its a confusing issue for a name which is legendly in F1 and in a sort of way mocking it. The issue for me is who has the right of name? Renault or 1Malylisa?

[Klon]

The issue for me is who has the right of name? Renault or 1Malylisa?

Well, Fondmetal Team Malaysia owns "Team Lotus" and Renault (the team, not the company) owns "Group Lotus". That's why this court case won't resolve jack s**t.

[Captain Hammer]

However, He does seem to have the better awareness of what Lotus as a brand is supposed to be (or at least, used to be) about.

I know I can be vehemently anti-Saward, but I can also give credit where credit is due - and in this case, he's been unusually sharp on the uptake:

In the meantime his plans for the Team Lotus brand continue to develop. A string of new companies have recently been established including Team Lotus Bikes, Team Lotus Hotels and several others.

And according to Companies House, here's some of the other IPOs he's registered in the Team Lotus name:

01593504 TEAM LOTUS LIMITED
07535146 TEAM LOTUS BIKES LIMITED
07535171 TEAM LOTUS DESIGN & ENGINEERING LIMITED
07523952 TEAM LOTUS ENTERPRISES LIMITED
07535190 TEAM LOTUS HOTELS LIMITED
01225833 TEAM LOTUS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
07535209 TEAM LOTUS JETS LIMITED
07523945 TEAM LOTUS MERCHANDISING LIMITED
02998306 TEAM LOTUS VENTURES LIMITED

Are hotels and jets really what Team Lotus is all about? Fernandes appears to be setting Team Lotus up as a franchise. And with this in mind, I've found some evidence that suggests he may not have been quite so noble in honouring his contract with Group Lotus:

I think the dispute was over LR8 ("Lotus Racing 8"), an energy drink that Team Fernandes was developing. It never went to the market; the idea was that it would be the "official drink" of the team, and it would only be sold through them. It wouldn't see the conventional market the way the likes of Red Bull and Monster do. But the LR8 logos were pulled from the T127 halfway through the season, to be replaced by a tobacco-style self-censored design, a Rothmans-esque question mark. I suspect that if you look closely enough, the LR8 decals were pulled at about the same time Group Lotus started making noises about Fernandes being in breach of his licencing contract. The contract stated that Fernandes could only use the Lotus name for the team. Group Lotus' argument in court likely centres around Fernandes' plans to sell LR8, which was not an approved use of the name; Fernandes would counter that because the product was only intended to be sold through the team, he wasn't actually doing anything wrong.

Now for the real kicker: this is the last picture I can find of a Lotus carrying the LR8 logo - it's Heikki Kovalainen at Spa, which was held on the weekend of August 29. This picture, on the other hand, is Jarno Trulli at Singapore (I can't any clear side-along shots of the car at the Italian Grand Prix), which was held on the weekend of September 26. You can clearly see that the LR8 logo has been replaced by the question mark. Something changed in the space of a month. I don't recall any explanation being given, but a quick check of the archives reveals this article about Group Lotus sponsoring ART Grand Prix in GP2, and this one about Fernandes establishing Team AirAsia, the very first signs that Dany Bahar was moving away from Tony Fernandes. And the date on both? September 21st, four days before the Singapore Grand Prix - the earliest recorded date the LR8 logo stopped appearing on the Lotus T127. Group Lotus and Tony Fernandes going their separate ways in GP2 the same week that a merchandise logo stops appearing on the Lotus Racing Formula 1 car is a massive coinkydink. I'm willing to give you good odds that LR8 is pivotal to the court case between the two parties.

Now, Saward reckons that Fernandes intends to keep Caterham and Team Lotus entirely separate from one another and take the Seven to Asian markets – but I’m not so confident. We’re just weeks out from a final verdict in the court case, and all of a sudden Fernandes purchases a small sports car manufacturer with historical ties to the car company he’s locked in the legal dispute with? And he does it in such a way that it is a week before anyone finds out about it? Come on, that’s a massive sequence of coincidences that have to stack up on top of one another. Too many, if you ask me. Especially since Fernandes is the kind of guy who loves to make big statements to the world (and small ones, which he dresses up as big). Maybe it really is Fernandes’ intention to take the Caterham Seven global (and I applaud that – it’s a fantastic little car) … but you can’t deny that it’s also a convenient out in the event that he does lose the court case against Group Lotus.

[eytl]

Nice one Captain - I think you're onto something there.

[Yannick]

I guess it's the "Team Lotus Hotels", etc. brandname registrations that have pissed off David Hunt because had he known about Tony's plans of these, he could have asked for a much higher price for the name.

Anyway, maybe Caterham is just a pawn for Tony to reach an out-of-court settlement with Group Lotus?

How about "Caterham Hotels Ltd.", etc. ?

[Jeroen Krautmeir]

Oh dear Tony. I really thought I would be standing by you all the way, and now you do rubbish like this with a historical name? Well, sc*ew you. I'm not supporting Group Bahar either, never have, but I really couldn't care less about the whole affair anymore. Let's just have Lada and Caterham. Done.

[Captain Hammer]

I guess it's the "Team Lotus Hotels", etc. brandname registrations that have pissed off David Hunt because had he known about Tony's plans of these, he could have asked for a much higher price for the name.

Hunt didn't object to that - his problem was that Fernandes had not honoured his obligations from the deal where he purchased the Team Lotus name and was instead trying to regnegotiate on better terms that Hunt felt were ripping him off.

[dr-baker]

As previously mentioned, I heard Fernandes give a talk at my old boarding school in late November 2010 and he was already talking about a Lotus-branded chain of hotels, etc.

[SuperAguri]

I was always under the impression that Lotus Cars seperated from Team Lotus back in the 1954 so they were two seperate companies, so if one went bust they did not take the other down, although they were related and still did work for each other, they were still two seperate comapnies. In 1991, the two Peters, Collins and Wright bought team lotus and struggled on with the team, where in 1994, David Hunt bought the team and then did a deal with Pacific for 1995 where they became Pacific Team Lotus, look at a Pacific PR02 and the side of the nose you will see a Lotus badge.

Now as they were seperate companies there is no reason why David Hunt who bought and owned the Team Lotus name and company could not sell it to Mr Fernandez. Companies like Virgin, who have many brands are generally owned by different people with a number having 0% ownership or with Richard Branson or his holding company. A number of the companies have been sold on and are still trading as Virgin (whatever...). Mitsubishi who make cars, household goods, military equipment and even pens are all seperate companies with different owners who share the same name but have the same route.

Personally, I can't see Mr Fernandez losing the case, although he might be selling Team Lotus back to the Lotus Group for a nice profit and with the change buy Caterham who own the rights to basically produce the Lotus 7...

[Captain Hammer]

Group Lotus' argument will centre around the liquidation of the original Team Lotus. They claim David Hunt had no right to sell the name because he never actually owned it because the liquidation was not carried out properly.

Even if Tony Fernandes is declared the legal owner of the Team Lotus name, he can still lose the right to use it. The main issue here is the licencing agreement between Fernandes and Team Lotus: when Lotus competed in 2010, the Lotus name they used was actually that of Lotus Cars, not Team Lotus. Group Lotus claim that Fernandes used the Lotus name in ways that they did not approve of (and which he did not have permission to do so under the licencing agreement), prompting them to go their own way. They settled on sponsoring Renault. They claim that Fernandes did damage to their name, and they no longer want to be associated with him. However, because he insists on using the Team Lotus name and the inherenet similarities in the Team Lotus and Lotus Cars names - even if they are separate, they still sound similar - then the two teams have an implied association to one another. Group Lotus are simply trying to distance themselves from someone who misused their name and protect their own name.

And if he did break the contract through creating LR8, there's going to be little defence that he can offer. The courts can force him to stop using the Team Lotus name, even if they decide he is the rightful owner.

[mario]

For what it may be worth, James Allen has chipped in with his theory behind what Fernandes might be trying to achieve.

Like a number of other theories, it turns on the presumption that Fernandes is after Group Lotus, and using the F1 team as a vehicle for acquiring the car manufacturers. Of course, Bahar's arrival has scuppered any chance of that happening in the short term - realistically, the only way that Fernandes will acquire Group Lotus will be if they and Proton go bankrupt. That is now a somewhat tenuous hope for Fernandes - asides from the fact that the Malaysian Government would probably prop up Group Lotus and Proton (it's rumoured that the $440 million loan which Proton recently got from a number of Malaysian banks only came about through heavy political pressure). As things stand, it seems that it'd take a number of years for Group Lotus to go broke if all went wrong (and there is a chance that Bahar might just pull off his plans, overambitious though many think they are).

However, it seems that Fernandes has spotted a different opening. Bahar's plans to push Group Lotus into the high performance sports car market (i.e. in excess of £50,000) has alienated most of Lotus's traditional buyers. Moreover, Fernandes reckons that, internationally, there is a far greater worldwide market for moderately priced sports cars (£20,000 to £40,000) - particularly in Asia, where a number of moderately wealthy young men want something nimble and quick, but can't afford to buy a premium mark.
So, in essence, what Fernandes might be trying to do is to position Caterham into that market - if Lotus move out of that market, why not move into their old market with an alternative competitor? There is a chance that you could tap into Lotus's former customer base, and potentially tap into that youthful market Fernandes has talked about - and have the benefit of using the F1 team to provide a high profile billboard for your enterprise.

All in all, it is an interesting theory - I can buy certain elements of it, but I guess time will tell how close they are to the mark. http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/04/f ... everybody/

[TomWazzleshaw]

Bahar's plans to push Group Lotus into the high performance sports car market (i.e. in excess of £50,000) has alienated most of Lotus's traditional buyers.

But Lotus has always been about light and nimble sports cars and the like.

Go home, Danny Bahar!

[GroupLotusRenault]

Bahar's plans to push Group Lotus into the high performance sports car market (i.e. in excess of £50,000) has alienated most of Lotus's traditional buyers.

But Lotus has always been about light and nimble sports cars and the like.

Go home, Danny Bahar!

And stay home Danny Bahar!!
He doesnt seem to know anything about cars or F1 at all

[Captain Hammer]

Sorry, but any businessperson worth their salt knows that you can't remain static simply for the sake of it. You have to move onwards. If Lotus' current market position doesn't have any benefits for them, they have to diversify.

[mario]

Sorry, but any businessperson worth their salt knows that you can't remain static simply for the sake of it. You have to move onwards. If Lotus' current market position doesn't have any benefits for them, they have to diversify.

True, although personally I'd have thought that it might have made more sense for Group Lotus to expand their subsidiary, Lotus Engineering - unlike the manufacturing division, Lotus Engineering is fairly profitable, and has a number of different revenue streams that have strong potential.

And, of course, there is the issue that, whilst it is a good idea to diversity into other markets, there is the question of whether the market is there for Group Lotus to exploit. Yes, sales in the premium sports car region can generate strong profits per car, but you are taking on several very well established marks. Besides, Lotus's recent attempts to produce more upmarket cars, such as the Evora and Europa S, received mixed reviews - with the handling of the Evora let down by poor build quality, which was a similar complaint for the Europa S.