Filed under: Lotus, Tesla Motors, Zap
Is Lotus for sale? Will Spyker purchase them?
News has been flying around here regarding Lotus designing and collaborating with other companies like Tesla and ZAP for the last few months. Lotus is known for their ability to do research and development work for other companies, and then assist them with the manufacturing of major components. Additionally, Lotus is known for being able to reduce the weight of their vehicles, which is certainly a boon for efficiency, leading to better performance and less consumption.
Now news comes that Proton, Lotus' current owner, Proton, is considering the sale of the company. Rumor has it that Spyker, the Dutch manufacturer of supercars, is interested. This comes after Spyker purchased an F1 team and announced plans to launch an SUV. Maybe with the help of Lotus, Spyker would be able to compete better in their racing endeavors, and perhaps inherit some of their weight consciousness too.
[Source: AutoWeek.nl via Autoblog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tony Belding 12:16PM (3/17/2007)
Isn't it funny how this ended up on AutobogGreen instead of the main Autoblog site? I guess Lotus really are re-inventing themselves as a green car company, given their partnerships with Tesla and ZAP, plus the ethanol-powered Exige they demonstrated.
I can't help suspecting that Lotus have gone this way more by happy accident than from any long-range strategic vision.
Lotus and Proton always seemed like a mismatch. And since Proton's fortunes declined so much, they haven't been able to give Lotus the support it deserves (as witnessed by delays to the new Esprit program). Spyker and Lotus together sounds pretty good to me.
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Scala 8:47PM (3/18/2007)
Lotus had been aware of the operating efficiencies offered by their lightweight sportscars since the 1960's. Their customer base of racing teams largely came as a result of those efficiencies. Not quite as familiar a concept in North America, where banked speedways are designed to mask the inefficiencies of heavier cars, rather than reveal them. But I digress - long story short, Lotus has long been the 'efficient' sports car.
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