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Lotus Fancies Toyota

The little summer storm which started earlier this week at the hands of Dany Bahar, the company's chief executive, is slowly turning into a hurricane that is surely to draw in the big names of the automotive industry.

With Proton, the current owner of the British car and chassis builder, having more than a hard time designing cars (or helping Lotus do it) that will be in line with the stricter emissions and consumption regulations, a general feeling of unhappiness is beginning to manifest itself at the top levels of Lotus' leadership.

In a press conference earlier this week, Bahar began throwing the first stone at Proton, saying, more or less, that it shouldn't come as a surprise if sooner than later Lotus would ally itself with a big name of the industry. Bigger than Proton, that is.

Rumor in the industry is that the name of Lotus' target is Toyota, renowned for the green car it manufactures. Toyota is already working with Lotus on engines, so the stage for a future tie-up is already set.

Now that Lotus has a sales target, Bahar believes, it's more likely that Toyota will be the ones lending a hand, and not Proton. Lotus plans to sell 8,000 cars a year, most of which targeted directly at the more established names like Porsche and Ferrari.

Although Bahar has not yet made an official separation announcement, it's unlikely Proton will stay down and take the beating. Especially because Bahar is willing to give Toyota full control over Lotus.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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