Group Lotus and Lotus split

MarcLister · 6 Apr 2012 at 16:53

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/04/new-twist-in-lotus-saga-as-lopez-confirms-group-lotus-split/

So the sponsors of Lotus F1, Group Lotus are no longer sponsoring the team Lotus F1.

It seems as if there are problems at Group Lotus involving debts (not entirely surprising considering Bahar's behaviour and claims about the number of cars Group Lotus could sell. If they didn't pass the sponsorship amount to Lotus F1 then Genii will have to make up the difference and hunt for a new title sponsor. Surely there's another company out there with Lotus in the name.

And a second article to back up James Allen's site from Joe Saward: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/lotus-and-lotus-part-439/

Seems that Lotus F1 might find it hard to change their name to Genii F1 or whatever now that they have split with Group Lotus.

I guess Tony Fernandes is laughing his head off now he rebranded his team to Caterham and he's well out of this mess.

arknor · 6 Apr 2012 at 17:02

lol.....

Kenai · 6 Apr 2012 at 17:18

Being discussed in the Off Topic thread

MarcLister · 6 Apr 2012 at 17:28

It is? Oh drat! Surely such a topic deserves its own thread?

Flibster · 6 Apr 2012 at 17:57

So, to put it simply...

2010 - group lotus involved in f1 through licensing deal to bring lotus racing onto the grid.

2011 - licensing deal revoked so lotus racing become team lotus and group lotus start sponsoring the genii owned team named renault and start legal proceedings, that they lose, against team lotus about the use of the name lotus.

2012 - Team lotus become caterham, renault become lotus and group lotus stop sponsoring lotus.

Simples.

MarcLister · 6 Apr 2012 at 18:16

Well when you put it like that Flibster!

How could Kimi, being the chatty bloke that he is, not be able to explain it like that on Top Gear a few weeks back eh?

englishpremier · 6 Apr 2012 at 18:16

Lol Proton are an embarrassment. As much as i hate Genii guys, i hope they got a nice fat payoff from Lotus for breaching the contract. I can't imagine that Lotus said they want out and Genii said ok no worries we'll release you 6 years early.

The earlier situation was pretty clear. One team was called Leam Lotus, the other was called Renualt. There was no confusion for anyone with a braincell. I think the media did try to their best to try and make it confusing though.

Skeeter · 6 Apr 2012 at 18:22

It's because the Malaysian government have sold their share in Proton and the new owners are re-evaluating all the current and future plans that Lotus were initially given the green light for.

This is just the start. Lotus have their fingers in a lot of motorsport pies and then there's the massive New road car plans. If the money gets cut off this could spell the end for Lotus Cars all together.

Duke · 6 Apr 2012 at 19:07

LOLtus

TaKeN · 6 Apr 2012 at 20:31

Duke said:
LOLtus

CaptainRAVE · 6 Apr 2012 at 20:39

As if it wasn't already super confusing! You couldn't make this stuff up.

Skeeter · 6 Apr 2012 at 21:17

So what does this actually mean for the team? The same as the Renault period? Will the car look exactly the same with Lotus stickers and logos all over it, yet no money coming from Lotus to the team?

Or will they drop the Lotus logos and stickers but just keep the Lotus name as the team name, like BMW Sauber did?

englishpremier · 6 Apr 2012 at 21:26

All that has happened is that a sponsor has left - simple. No different to say if vodafone left McLaren or when ING pulled out of Renault.

Not sure why you guys find it so complicated.

The chassis will still be called Lotus as the name can't be changed mid-season, and a change at the end of the season could see them lose TV/prize money unless a deal is struck.

Indy500 · 6 Apr 2012 at 21:32

GL have been letting down the Indycar teams they were backing as well. Poor ECU\engine reliability, late shipments, etc etc. They couldn't even get a spare engine ready for the Indy test.

Skeeter · 6 Apr 2012 at 21:34

englishpremier said:
All that has happened is that a sponsor has left - simple. No different to say if vodafone left McLaren or when ING pulled out of Renault.

Not any more its not.

Last year they were just a title sponsor, like Vodafone, but this year the actual team is called Lotus. The manufacturer is Lotus, so they are in the place of 'McLaren' in Vodafone McLaren. Yes we all know the team is owned by Genii and Lotus just pay for their name to be there, but thats no different to a lot of the rest of the grid (McLaren used to only own 30% of the McLaren team).

So the better comparison is BMW pulling out of the BMW Sauber team. They are the manufacturer, so the team and chassis will still be called Lotus, but I will assume if the money has dried up then all the Lotus branding will go too. Maybe not the plain text saying 'Lotus', but the Lotus Cars emblem should certainly go.

JRS · 6 Apr 2012 at 22:19

Duke said:
LOLtus

Quite.

Side note - I think I first used that name for them on here when the 'OMG I H8 FERRARI' Paranoia Thread Du Jour™ hit the forum about the barcode on the side of the Ferrari F1 cars getting banned, and I made the observation that LOLtus-Genii-Renault trying to evoke the old JPS cars was as much subliminal advertising as what Ferrari and Marlboro were getting accused of.

I don't remember where I first saw it (I very much doubt I came up with it all by myself!), but it's getting more and more appropriate. Unless we need to up it to ROFLCOPTERotus-Genii-Renault....

Indy500 · 6 Apr 2012 at 22:24

JRS said:
I made the observation that LOLtus-Genii-Renault trying to evoke the old JPS cars was as much subliminal advertising as what Ferrari and Marlboro were getting accused of.

They have it on the #7 Dragon Racing car that Bourdais drives in IZOD as well.

Skeeter · 6 Apr 2012 at 22:32

sr4470 said:
They have it on the #7 Dragon Racing car that Bourdais drives in IZOD as well.

An 1 (maybe 2) LMP2 cars in the ALMS series, and a GP2 team, and likely elsewhere too.

I think a better name is Nothing-To-Do-With-Lotus Lotus

Indy500 · 7 Apr 2012 at 00:09

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20120404000101/Article/index_html

Affin Investment Bank said in a September 2011 report that Lotus was expected to continue bleeding red ink at least until 2014. Proton gained control of Lotus in 1996 from the liquidators of Bugatti Automobili SpA.

The national carmaker has not made any profit from the British unit over the past 15 years, which has been struggling to compete against other sportscar makers such as Porsche AG and Ferrari SpA in Europe.

Lotus has promised much and delivered very little to the bottom line of Proton. In 2010, Proton sought to turn around Lotus with a five-year business transformation plan that would potentially cost up to RM2.37 billion, a feat that has since been a drag on the company’s earnings.

There has also been talks in the market of a consortium of local banks, which includes CIMB Bank Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd, having stopped lending money to Lotus due to its management’s inability to meet certain conditions in their loan agreements.

No surprises there, Group Lotus failed to make a profit as of 2011.

The results of the impending audit by the new ownership will be very interesting...

Kerming · 7 Apr 2012 at 00:13

Duke said:
LOLtus

on the floor laughing......