RE: Group Lotus PLC may be wound up

[zebedee]

Thorburn said:

OT, but who's doing a 1:24 model of the Evora? Only seen 1:43 models by Spark.

Bburago, currently on 3 for 2 at Modelzone: http://www.modelzone.co.uk/bburago-1-24-lotus-evor...

[BBS-LM]

I really hope this is not the end for Lotus. Not a good start to Monday.

[SidewaysSi]

Another week, another Lotus story. I love the cars though. Yes, practicality and some build issues, however they tend to drive better than the equivalent Porsche. I look at them in the same way as I do a GT3 or RS rather than a standard Cayman or 911. Stunning cars if you really love driving.

But unfortunately I don't think that many people really love driving.

[zebedee]

SidewaysSi said:

Another week, another Lotus story. I love the cars though. Yes, practicality and some build issues, however they tend to drive better than the equivalent Porsche. I look at them in the same way as I do a GT3 or RS rather than a standard Cayman or 911. Stunning cars if you really love driving.

But unfortunately I don't think that many people really love driving.

Agree. A believe a lot of people buy a 911 because it is a 911 and (frankly) their neighbours will be impressed. They don't care about the brilliant engineering and the hours of research making it a finely honed driving machine. They wouldn't buy an Evora because they don't really know what it is so they are pretty sure their neighbours won't. Before I get flamed, I do understand that it doesn't apply to all 911 owners and that some of them are enjoyed to their full capability, but I know of a few people who have them that really can't drive worth s**t, so that clearly isn't why they bought them. And the same applies to lots of different cars too by the way, but the 911 suits as it is often mentioned as a rival, is a 2+2 and has lots of engineering specifically aimed at sportiness rather than practicalities etc.

[Stephanie Plum]

Complete non story. Typical Autocar reporting something that they haven't bothered to think about first - they seem to have had it in for Lotus for some time now. Bit surprised that PH didn't check it out before just repeating it either ......

[anniesdad]

Nick644 said:

The Elise and Evora have much the same problems and just aren't particularly comfortable, (at least from my experience of an Elise).

Edited by Nick644 on Monday 18th March 13:14

Please take yourself to a Lotus dealer and try the Evora out, it's a wonderful car and very very comfortable. The suspension is put together using wishbone fairy magic and the standard Recaro seats are supremely comfortable. Entry and exit into the cockpit is easier than in the Elise and once inside it feels a special place to be.

[kazino]

I for one am very sad of this news, being an Elise owner and aspiring to the new exige. They are just awesome cars with no rival for driver involvement, I hope they are picked up by Tata who will maybe develop some kind of volume model which sells off the back of the brand or a super car for more old school types with a manual gearbox.
I know Bahar was using the Lotus 'cool' and trying to develop that with the rapper from the USA (who I hadn't heard of before), Porsche had the 'cool' factor and as such was able to develop a gargoyle looking SUV and sell in relatively large volume for a more niche manufacturer. I am not saying Lotus would be able to sell an SUV but they have a great design team and maybe under Tata they could put together some kind of practical good looking coupe to take on the 3 series coupe market and sell a few thousand cars a year?

Edited by kazino on Monday 18th March 15:47

[oilit]

kazino said:

I for one am very sad of this news, being an Elise owner and aspiring to the new exige. They are just awesome cars with no rival for driver involvement, I hope they are picked up by Tata who will maybe develop some kind of volume model which sells off the back of the brand or a super car for more old school types with a manual gearbox.
I know Bahar was using the Lotus 'cool' and trying to develop that with the rapper from the USA (who I hadn't heard of before), Porsche had the 'cool' factor and as such was able to develop a gargoyle looking SUV and sell in relatively large volume for a more niche manufacturer. I am not saying Lotus would be able to sell an SUV but they have a great design team and maybe under Tata they could put together some kind of practical good looking coupe to take on the 3 series coupe market and sell a few thousand cars a year?

Edited by kazino on Monday 18th March 15:47

interesting - but i bet the biggest supplier to jlr is tata! (just think of all the aluminium bodies etc (and teabags !!)) not sure tata is in the grp market - but the alu chassis could be interesting

[odyssey2200]

Nikolai Petroff said:

Good news of course... but the vultures are still circling. That moron Bahar has pretty much finished the company.

The prat that appointed Bahar and approved his plans has finished the company.

When will the Mastretta be here, again?

[Mark-C]

So when do we get an update from the hearing (which was supposed to be this morning) or a statement from Lotus (also promised as part of the story)?

Is there anything to see here or is it a non story?

[Stu R]

Tabloid speculation aside I really hope Lotus can hold it together and get through the next few years. I'm still clinging on to hope that one day we might see new Exige, Esprit and hotter Evoras selling well.

[Nick644]

anniesdad said:

Nick644 said:

The Elise and Evora have much the same problems and just aren't particularly comfortable, (at least from my experience of an Elise).

Edited by Nick644 on Monday 18th March 13:14

Please take yourself to a Lotus dealer and try the Evora out, it's a wonderful car and very very comfortable. The suspension is put together using wishbone fairy magic and the standard Recaro seats are supremely comfortable. Entry and exit into the cockpit is easier than in the Elise and once inside it feels a special place to be.

Please read the rest of my posts on this topic to know why I won't be visiting a Lotus dealer any time in the near future.

[braddo]

odyssey2200 said:

Nikolai Petroff said:

Good news of course... but the vultures are still circling. That moron Bahar has pretty much finished the company.

The prat that appointed Bahar and approved his plans has finished the company.

When will the Mastretta be here, again?

Or perhaps more accurately, who approved his plans without the means (and balls) and actually finance them through to fruition. It was big budget ambition; it needed a big budget.

Of course it might have still failed, but it's even worse to have approved the plans and not topped up the kitty.

[Captain Muppet]

Mark-C said:

So when do we get an update from the hearing (which was supposed to be this morning) or a statement from Lotus (also promised as part of the story)?

Is there anything to see here or is it a non story?

From the other thread:

BibsTLF said:

Statement from Lotus:

"Contrary to rumours initiated by Autocar, Lotus is not being liquidated.

Earlier this year, Lotus was in a contractual dispute which was resolved amicably a number of weeks ago. However the High Court process meant that the matter was still shown on the High Court website, as there was a hearing scheduled for today. This is what appears to have been seen and misunderstood. The case was only listed for the proceedings to be disposed of.

The claim has now been dismissed with no order as to costs."

[Mark-C]

Captain Muppet said:

Mark-C said:

So when do we get an update from the hearing (which was supposed to be this morning) or a statement from Lotus (also promised as part of the story)?

Is there anything to see here or is it a non story?

From the other thread:

BibsTLF said:

Statement from Lotus:

"Contrary to rumours initiated by Autocar, Lotus is not being liquidated.

Earlier this year, Lotus was in a contractual dispute which was resolved amicably a number of weeks ago. However the High Court process meant that the matter was still shown on the High Court website, as there was a hearing scheduled for today. This is what appears to have been seen and misunderstood. The case was only listed for the proceedings to be disposed of.

The claim has now been dismissed with no order as to costs."

Cheers Captain

[braddo]

Wow, nice scoop, Autocar.

[TheLastPost]

Mark-C said:

So when do we get an update from the hearing (which was supposed to be this morning) or a statement from Lotus (also promised as part of the story)?

And here's the statement on Lotus' website.

[toppstuff]

Given that PH and Autocar are all a part of the Haymarket group and also the apparent fact that this is a legacy of a dispute now settled, is not the tone of the reporting rather inaccurate and misleading?

Maybe PH editorial staff can explain themselves?

[odyssey2200]

TheLastPost said:

Mark-C said:

So when do we get an update from the hearing (which was supposed to be this morning) or a statement from Lotus (also promised as part of the story)?

And here's the statement on Lotus' website.

Fair do's.
but I would still think twice before placing a deposit for a while.

[zebedee]

Well that's cleared up on here, let's ensure that PH please verify this on their main news page as they promised they would. And it would be nice if it looked a bit like an apology too, given the roots of this website (arguably) was very much Lotus and TVR British petrolheads (or it was with my rose tinted glasses on anyway).