LOTUS MAY BE SOLD. AGAIN.

Lotus could be sold or at least declared insolvent, according to a report from the UK. The British brand which has been owned by Malaysian mass market car maker Proton since 1996, doesn’t seem to be able to get its act together. It is run by a 41 year-old named Dany Bahar who worked for Ferrari before joining Lotus. He’s previously said Lotus can and will compete with the likes of Porsche and Ferrari.

Bahar still insists that Lotus has a bright future as a sports car maker, and all it needs is the right kind of investment. This is to help facilitate the launch of five new models over the next five years, including a new Esprit and Elan (both pictured above). These two cars would be pitched against such machinery as the Porsche 911 and Ferrari 458 Italia. Last year Ferrari sold over 7 000 cars worldwide, while Porsche moved 118 867 units. The Germans expect to increase this to about 240 000 by 2018.

Our automotive investment guru estimates that in order to make this dream come true, Lotus needs an injection of around R8.3 billion over the next five years. Bahar has reportedly asked for R6.3 billion. Proton was recently bought by a Malaysian automotive giant called DRB-Hicom, and the company says it is yet to decide on whether to grant the requested amount or simply just sell the loss-making Lotus.