Lotus

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
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Autocar seem to think Lotus have gone bust :( Any further info?

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/group-lotus-being-liquidated

Though it does say:

An announcement from the HM Courts & Tribunals Service has revealed that Group Lotus PLC is being wound up
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Wishful thinking but doesn't this just mean the HM Revenue and Customs (Or perhaps a supplier) have issued a Winding Up Order, as they often do against firms with unpaid tax liabilities (Or other unpaid debts)? It's not quite the end and is in some respects just a scary sounding formality.
 
That's a huge shame if true, it has been mentioned in the press as a possibility quite a lot recently though.
 
Imy said:
Don't Lotus have an F1 team? They can't be that short of cash!
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They have nothing to do with the F1 team. In reality, the F1 team shouldn't have "Lotus" in the title at all, it's effectively a PR stunt because it's "historic".
 
Been on the cards for months sadly, they've been struggling with cash flow for ages and I know people who have really found it hard to get paid by them. Such a shame, like Lotus, proper British cars and much better designs than most British made cars such as TVR/Noble etc which were simply space frames and plastic. Lotus always seemed to make technically very good cars.

They'll be back, too good to let go.
 
Such cases are often the result of a creditor or group of creditors seeking to have a company's assets liquidated as a result of failure to pay debts.

However, Group Lotus spokesman Alastair Florance told Autocar the appearance of Group Lotus plc on the Companies Court Winding Up list was the result of a contested petition from a supplier that “was settled amicably several weeks ago”.

Group Lotus will not be wound up, or liquidated, said Florance. The petition still exists on the court lists because once the process begins it has to be completed before a judge. Group Lotus plc is expected to issue a statement on the matter shortly.
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Doesn't sound like they're going anywhere (yet) tbh.
 
[TW]Fox;23959432 said:
And now the article has been edited :confused:
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It's showing the last edit as 09:33.. which is before you started the thread :confused:

edit; I presume that's the when article was put up, not last actually edited. I don't like that.
 
Last edited:
So basically Lotus hasn't bothered to pay their debts and its dragged on so long that one or more of the creditors has filed a bankruptcy petition against them, or something similar? but Lotus reckon its fine as they have the money to cover it they just weren't bothering to pay?


GeX said:
It's showing the last edit as 09:33.. which is before you started the thread :confused:
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That's when it was created.
 
GeX said:
Doesn't sound like they're going anywhere (yet) tbh.
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No, but they're just treading water.

I'm not 'business' minded by any stretch, but IMO they need a cash injection and develop something that can sell en masse for a lower price ala the MX5 or a hot hatch. Their niche market is getting smaller and smaller.
 
It has certainly been edited since Fox posted the thread. I read the link before there were any replies and the article has certainly been edited.

It wasn't clear before at what was being reported. There was also no quote from anyone at Lotus
 
Not heard of any particularly imminent issues. Press must be bored or something.

In summary Lotus are still owned by Proton. Proton however were bought out by DRB-Hicom about a year ago. Since then DRB have been managing Lotus directly with a strong focus on cutting back on spending (Basically cleaning up after all the money Bahar ****ed up the wall).

DRB have plenty of money behind them, if push comes to shove the money is there to pay the bills that need to be paid. There's just a reluctance to hand out money without knowing where it's going and why which delays payments and causes suppliers etc to get jumpy, occasionally one of them goes to court to force the issue.
 
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