Team Lotus buys Caterham as dispute over iconic name takes new twist
The row over the Lotus name in Formula One took an interesting twist on Wednesday with confirmation that Team Lotus has bought the niche British sports car manufacturer Caterham.
Main man: Tony Fernandes, the boss of Team Lotus, at the Malaysian GP Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Tom Cary, F1 Correspondent 6:41PM BST 27 Apr 2011
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Malaysian entrepreneur and Team Lotus owner Tony Fernandes announced the tie-up, which had been widely predicted after he and his business partner were named as Caterham directors on Companies House documents earlier this month, at a media event at Duxford Airfield.
It is an interesting move by Fernandes, who originally wanted to enter the automotive market with Group Lotus and indeed raced last year under licence from the British car maker.
However, that relationship turned sour with Group Lotus eventually deciding to sponsor the Renault F1 team, a decision which prompted Fernandes to snap up the iconic Team Lotus name instead to protect his investment.
Last month the increasingly bitter dispute over the rights to the Lotus name in Formula One went to the High Court with the judge expected to hand down his ruling within the next few weeks.
Fernandes now has a back-up should he lose, although the Malaysian was adamant that was not the rationale.
"This isn't being done... just in case we lose the case," he said. "We've invested a lot in bringing Lotus back into racing. We've acquired Team Lotus, have spent a lot of money building this brand up, and it's not something we want to give up.
"We always wanted to be a manufacturer. Now we are a tiny manufacturer. But at least now we've got the genesis and a strategy of what we are trying to put together."
The Air Asia boss added that he had no immediate plans to rebrand his F1 team - assuming the High Court ruling goes his way, which it is expected to - but the Caterham name is expected to appear on the car and the company will eventually contribute to the Lotus budget as a sponsor.
In a blatant swipe at Group Lotus chief executive Dany Bahar, who is planning to introduce five new luxury models to the market in a direct challenge to Porsche and Ferrari, Fernandes said that the partnership with Caterham “reunited” his team with late Lotus founder Colin Chapman and his goal of making lightweight, affordable sportscars.
Chapman sold Caterham the rights to the famed Seven model, which is still raced around the world, in 1973.
“Lotus is all about lightweight, more is less,” Fernandes said. “That is all the terminology we like, and it fits with F1. We feel there is a huge opportunity for Caterham in a market no one is really looking at right now."
Telegraph.feedsportal.com
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