Lotus: we're keeping going

Business as usual despite sale of Proton, says Bahar

Lotus CEO Dany Bahar has said that the company will continue with its ambitious new model plans even though parent company Proton is in the process of changing hands - in fact new owner DRB Hicom has told them to keep going.

In an interview with Autocar magazine, Bahar said that "We have explained our plans to the new owner and have been told to keep going as we are. The immediate problem is to manage the cash in the business carefully during the 60-day pause, but I am confident that this is a temporary technical issue."

That 60-day pause is down to the length of the change of ownership process required by Malaysian legislation, but aside from that Bahar is bullish about Lotus's plans, brushing off speculation that DRB Hicom might look to offload the British sports car maker.

"To the best of my knowledge, no one is about to buy the company," Bahar tells Autocar. "You'd have to consider the market implications before deciding to sell. Right now we have crazy demand for the latest Exige - 383 orders already. The Evora GTE will be homologated by May, and we have 200 orders for that. Things are looking really promising."

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mrdemon

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