Will VW buy Lotus?

[enzo1]

Will Volkswagen Buy Lotus?
Has Volkswagen got room for one more sportscar brand under its umbrella? Volkswagen has a whole mess of sportscars brands under its belt, including Porsche, Lamborghini and Bugatti. But has it got room for one more?The German auto giant recently acquired the remaining shares of Porsche to make its ownership complete, which in turn bought the Nardo high-speed test facility in Italy. VW also acquired Italdesign Giugiaro - a design house that has penned countless sportscars - and recently took control of the Ducati motorbike company. Now reports are indicating it could take over Lotus.

The development, reported by Reuters, projects that VW could buy the entire Proton group from its new owners DRB-Hicom. The Germans could be interested in Proton in order to secure a foothold in the Southeast Asian market, but the Malaysian automaker also happens to own Lotus lock, stock and proverbial barrel - an asset that Wolfsburg would not be likely to forfeit, particularly considering its recent spending spree.Lotus, if you've been following the industry news, has fallen on hard times recently. After over-extending himself, the company's ambitious chief executive Dany Behar was fired by his new employers. The resulting management shift has left Bahar's plans to expand the brand's product portfolio in the waste bin. With an injection of cash from the wealthy Germans, however, Lotus could find itself with the wherewithal to develop some, if not all, of those (or other) new models.Volkswagen, in turn, would get one of the top engineering consultancies in the business, renowned for fine-tuning the suspensions and perfecting the chassis of all manner of cars from the original DeLorean and Aston Martin DB9 to the Vauxhall Carlton and Isuzu Impulse. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled to see where this one goes.

[kevin993]

Interesting. Why not? Closer to world domination by adding lightness.

[Flieger]

renowned for fine-tuning the suspensions and perfecting the chassis of all manner of cars from the original DeLorean and Aston Martin DB9 to the Vauxhall Carlton and Isuzu Impulse

Bwahahaha

[algs911]

Yes, I think there's room. The lowest price sports car (The GTI is NOT a sports car, I owned a newer one, I know.) they have is the Boxster, and that's pretty pricey. Perhaps the Lotus brand could use one of the fine 2.0T motors in a next gen Elise? Then, keep the price in the 35k range. I could see that working out very well.

Al

[enzo1]

Originally Posted by Flieger

Bwahahaha

[doug_porsche]

Well, this would make explaining why I own a 911 and an Elise much easier.

[intakexhaust]

Lots of other sportcars makers mixing it up too. Mazda and Alfa... Fiat. $50k MX5 / Veloce coming.

[Jim Bremner]

Pelican GROUP buy?

[sc_rufctr]

It's good to see VW being successful... I would like to see them beat Toyota

[Willem Fick]

Originally Posted by Flieger

Bwahahaha

Not so fast. I can't comment on the Isuzu, but the DeLorean was deemed completely undriveable untill Lotus were tasked with making it work, which they did. The mentioning of Vauxhall Carlton doesn't mean much, untill you do a search for Lotus Carlton or Lotus Omega.

[kach22i]

recent article on the current owners of Lotus, and how much money they have already started to pour in.

Analysts optimistic on Lotus outlook because of new plan
Analysts optimistic on Lotus outlook because of new plan

Chia also said that new model pipeline was likely to be trimmed to three (from five), and the burn rate on expenses was likely to be cut back, with high-cost consultants to be reduced.....................

It was reported yesterday that some £200mil has been pumped into Lotus since January, and DRB-Hicom is prepared to put in another £100mil by 2013.

This is apart from the £270mil syndicated loan taken at the end of 2010 for which Proton has given its corporate guarantee.

What are/were these five models?

They only make the Evora currently, right?

The launch of Lotus Group’s Exige S sports car and flagship store in London recently. Analysts say DRB-Hicom should make greater use of the engineering expertise and skill sets at Lotus.

I thought they stopped making the Elise and Exige models, along with the Tesla body.

[5String43]

Hmm. If they did, that would put them in F1, wouldn't it? They've said they had no interest in F1.

[Zack Esseth]

Hello, I'm new to this forum but signed up to be a part of this conversation. I'm not a vw owner but i am a major lotus enthusiast. The five new models in question are the new Esprit, Elite, Etern, Elan, and the correct city car, the Ethos. All of these projects where started when Danny Bahar was ceo, but since he WA fired due to stealing money from the company and its new owners, he was sacked. The new owner of Proton ha, however, decided that the development of these five models would be a waist of money and has so scrapped them. Thus new parent company also has plans of just returning lotus to a small sports car company. Thus would most likely kill off lotus.

[Zack Esseth]

It would bring VW into Formula 1. And they have hinted that they may want to join F1 but have not stated under what brand. As for the new Lotus models, they are the new Esprit, Etern, Elite, Elan, and the city car, the Ethos. These cars where all a part of Lotus's new CEO Danny Bahar's plan to expand Lotus back to its super car glory days. Unfortunately, once Proton mobile was bought up by Lotus new parent company (of which I don't know the name of), they discovered that Danny was stealing money from the company and Sacked him (not that I liked him stealing from my favorite auto maker). Shortly after the new parent company decided that the new models would be to expensive to develop and have so thrown them out the window as well. Their plans for Lotus is to return it to the small sports car company it was before the Evora. Thus would most likely kill the company off effectively.
Also, the Elise and Exige are still in production. Just they are no longer for sale in the US due to an expiration of a deal with the NHTSA that allowed them to sell these cars in the states without an air bag.
Also btw. Hi im new. Im no VW owner, just a Lotus Enthusiast.

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by Zack Esseth

Also, the Elise and Exige are still in production. Just they are no longer for sale in the US due to an expiration of a deal with the NHTSA that allowed them to sell these cars in the states without an air bag.
Also btw. Hi im new. Im no VW owner, just a Lotus Enthusiast.

I seem to recall the issue causing the Elise and Exige to be pulled from the US was due to Toyota discontinuing the engine they supplied to Lotus which was already certified for US sale. The current engine Lotus is using is not certified, and the expense to get it certified is more than the company believes is worth.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Zack Esseth

As for the new Lotus models, they are the new Esprit, Etern, Elite, Elan, and the city car, the Ethos.

I'm having a devil of a time finding reliable images of these cars.

Would you by any chance have a link to provide?

Three basic body styles on the official website.
http://www.lotuscars.com/gb/our-cars

[carrera84]

Answer is : NO

W.W. will go to LOTUS and buy VW

[Zack Esseth]

First i would like to say sorry for the double post. I thought it didn't take my first one. As for the Elise and Exige, I'm running off of what the dealer told me.
This Is the link to a picture of the Elite http://uncrate.com/p/2010/09/lotus-elite-xl.jpg
Eterne http://www.automotivesight.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/2013-Lotus-Eterne-4.jpg
Elan http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/03lotuselanparisliveopt.jpg
Esprit http://luxedb.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/2013-Lotus-Esprit-3.jpg
Ethos http://www.autoguide.com/gallery/gallery.php/d/387040-4/Lotus+Ethos+03.jpg

[doug_porsche]

The Elise/Exige had a couple of federalization issues:

The 2zz-ge fed motor was discontinued by Toyota.
The fed bumper exemption expired, it sort of needed some.
The fed headlight exemption expired, too low
The car needed a two stage airbag. There was barely room in the steering wheel for a 1 stage airbag.

but dang, is it fun to drive!

[onewhippedpuppy]

VW is the new GM but with cooler brands.