GM to possibly buy Proton - and therefore Lotus.

I found the idea of GM owning Lotus quite frightening at first, but it might not be such a bad idea. The fact that Saab is still alive shows that GM at least understands the value of a brand. I wouldn't really mind any rebadged Lotuses either. We've already got the Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220, and there's nothing wrong with those.

Here I was going to write something along the lines of "But if I see one single Meriva with a Lotus badge on it..." but I'm not entirely sure that would be all bad. I mean the Lotus Omega/Carlton is still one of the coolest cars on the planet. And even if I might run into trouble accepting the whole FWD thing, a Lotus Meriva somehow doesn't seem too unimaginable.

I have become everything I ever hated.
 
Narcolepsy said:
Although if history is any guide the GM execs will say "know what this brand needs - a full size SUV and a midsize SUV crossover - those are the bigest growing segments in the American market" - "and don't forget to send those blue prints by accounting".
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Lotus already proposed an SUV crossover all on their own
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GM and Lotus have worked together many, many times. The cars are always awesome.

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Lotus wouldn't be around today if it weren't for GM. In fact, the money Lotus used to develop the Europe and Exige came from building the Speedster/VX220 for GM.
 
Deanodriver said:
The thing is, GM barely has enough money to buy a sandwich, so how could they afford to buy Proton?
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That's true actually, the board of GM has to drink Dr. Pepper and eat bananas during their board meetings, opposed to the old arrangement with Coca-Cola with golden caps and crisps.
 
GM (or any large company) owning Lotus could be benificial, if they try and keep a hands off approach. Making a little extra cash available to Lotus for development and also making technologies available to help with build quality will help the end lotus product.

However, the Opel Speedster and Vauxhall VX220 were not massive hits, simply because if you want a small mid engined sports car, you buy the elise, because thats the one thats always been there, thats the car that has always won the praise. So using the company for badge engineering would probably not work.

As we have seen in the past thou, what does work is specials, Lotus Sumbeam, Lotus Carlton were succesful cars, so having lotus specials will help advertise both lotus (as a car tuner) and the car they have worked on.

At the end of the day only problem I can see is if GM owned them and kept the hands off approach it would be very benificial to lotus, more money to help develop new products (maybe a new Elan?), more quality, more technology, easier to sell cars in America etc etc....but I can't see what GM would get out of it on a scale that would matter to a global company...
 
Vitamin J said:
Pontiac_Fiero_GT.jpg
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What exactly did Lotus do with the fiero? The car was 2 years shy of production end when Lotus was bought out by GM in 86. I know the suspension was changed, but that was only to the design Pontiac had originally wanted... at least thats the version I heard.
 
thedguy said:
What exactly did Lotus do with the fiero? The car was 2 years shy of production end when Lotus was bought out by GM in 86. I know the suspension was changed, but that was only to the design Pontiac had originally wanted... at least thats the version I heard.
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Well it depends on who you ask. Some people say that it's GMs own design, and some people say it's a Lotus design. It is suspiciously close to Lotus chassis' of the same era, and GM and Lotus had a few partnerships in the 80's.
 
It seems that VW has beaten GM to the punch:

http://www.leftlanenews.com/2007/01/26/report-volkswagen-to-acquire-majority-stake-in-proton-lotus/

German automaker Volkswagen ? which already owns Audi, Bentley, Seat, Skoda, Lamborghini, and Bugatti ? has agreed to buy a majority stake in Malaysia's Proton, according to a report by XFN-Asia.

Perhaps most important to car enthusiasts is the involvement of Lotus, which is owned by Proton, and therefore would come under control of Volkswagen.

Today's report indicates VW would buy a 51 percent stake in the company, which it could conceivably expand in the future. An official announcement is expected on February 8th, the news agency said.

Earlier this month, it was reported General Motors might be considering a majority stake in the company. However, it appears VW may have managed to close a deal first.
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^^You think they'll build that mid-engined turbo diesel roadster now?
 
Great news i can not wait for VW to work their magic. Any car company that VW takes control of actually gets something done. Nobody not even Jeremy thought Bugatti would come back with such a dream. Lamborghini gets a mini lambo with the help of Audi and Audi gets a supercar. VW builds a phaeton and Bentley gets two new cars to invigorate its blood. Proton will get the Skoda Seat stuff, and VW will get Lotus to work on the scirocco or something even better.
 
Great, cant wait for the first AWD Elise with a 6spd automatic DSG.
 
It has yet to be finalized until Feb 3? VW has the upperhand in closing the deal as the majority shareholder in Proton - the Malaysian govt. would prefer to have VW to take the 51% instead of GM, so yeah.

Hopefully, VW will improve Proton but that is still a far-fetched vision.
 
Just wait, we'll get an Elise with the 4.2 litre V8, it will be tuned by Lotus, then they'll have a go at the TT making a TT Lotus.
 
Vitamin J said:
Lotus already proposed an SUV crossover all on their own
concept_Lotus_APX_frontangle_mfr_430.jpg



G]

Lotus wouldn't be around today if it weren't for GM. In fact, the money Lotus used to develop the Europe and Exige came from building the Speedster/VX220 for GM.
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That Lotus somehow looks alot like the current Proton lineup, look for the Proton Stria Neo or the Proton Gen-2, they have the same design basics.
 
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