After weeks of agonizing wait, it has been officially confirmed that Group Lotus will come into Formula 1 next season with Genii Capital, owner of the Renault F1 team. According to the press release, Group Lotus have signed a title sponsorship deal that will run till 2017.
As previous reports have suggested, Group Lotus has purchased all of the remaining shares held by Renault. This new partnership between Group Lotus and Genii has given birth to the Lotus Renault GP team. The team will continue to have Renault as its engine supplier, hence the reason why the French brand is in the team’s official name.
Furthermore, it has also been confirmed that the team will make use of Lotus’ iconic black and gold colour scheme as the team’s official livery in 2011, as pictured in the artist impression above.
Interestingly, Tony Fernandes’ Lotus Racing team also plans to do the same. This colour combination was last seen in the 1980s.
So, it possible that we could see two teams competing under the Lotus name, both in the same colours, with the same engine supplier- Renault's engine.
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Proton will finally enter India next year with three models, the Saga, Savvy and Exora, CNBC TV18 reports. The Indian business channel’s sources say that Proton is close to announcing the entry.
According to the news report, Proton is currently re-engineering the cars to suit Indian roads and are in talks with certain OEMs to source diesel engines.
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Lotus plans to move its plant operations from Hethel, Norfolk, United Kingdom to the Central European countries following the difficulty in obtaining financing for the expansion of operations in that country.
Proton is considering a number of countries, including Germany, France, or Spain as a preferred destination for relocation of manufacturing plants in the near future
Rumors said Group Lotus failed to obtain loans worth 40 million pounds (RM197 million) from the UK government to be used to finance the upgrading of its plant in Norfolk.
Rumors said Group Lotus failed to obtain loans worth 40 million pounds (RM197 million) from the UK government to be used to finance the upgrading of its plant in Norfolk.
SRi:Lotus have no money to upgrade their very own factory-but suddenly they have billions to sponsor Renault F1 Team till 2017. So confusing...
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Lotus will introduce an automatic gearbox with paddle shift for its Evora model in Malaysia next May.
The Lotus Evora is a 3.5 litre car. The manual model is priced at between RM450,000 and RM520,000 and the automatic at between RM490,000 and RM550,000. WHOA!
Lotus Cars Malaysia head Oh Kah Beng said Evora was equipped with creature comforts suitable for city driving while successfully maintaining a sports car ride and handling.
**interlude**
Lisa Surihani looks like a lovely girl, when matched with baju kurung plus hibiscus "bun" (baca:sanggul). Much more better than when she attended those awards function before.
SRi:Takziah buat pasangan Sean Ruffedge dan Nana atas kisah duka mereka.U ols yg dekat luar sana jangan nak ngengada buat spekulasi murahan Sehati Berdansa tu ada bahana perceraian ke hapa plaks -- khurafat tue.. Berdosa!!
