The bulk of funds would come in the form of bank loans borrowed by Proton on behalf of its wholly-owned subsidiary, according to Proton Managing Director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin, who spoke to Malaysian reporters at the Lotus headquarters in Norfolk, England.
“Group Lotus by itself cannot raise that kind of money and that is why Proton has to come in as the entire five-year turnaround exercise has to benefit the whole group. We hope to sign an agreement for the loan within the next month as we are in talks with several banks including our own banker CIMB. We are confident we can turn around Group Lotus as we have five new Lotus models that will start production by 2012,” he told Malaysian journalists visiting the Group Lotus headquarters.
In order to reach the break-even point by 2014, Lotus estimates it has to sell around 8000 units of the five all-new models every year. The first to arrive of the bunch is the an all new Esprit, scheduled for launch some time next year. In order to build their new dream cars, Lotus has lured a number of key executives from rival manufacturers.
The Proton director also said there has been a lot more passion and urgency for the revival of Lotus brand to take place: “Everyone here is very committed, excited and dedicated to see Group Lotus achieves its turnaround plan. It is a doable plan. We have thought through this plan a hundred times and it is a challenge but realistic”
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