The company’s new plan, which includes switching to a premium image that would allow the company to fight multiple new competitors, sounds interesting, but we have to see the financial moves behind it to make sure that it will be a success.
It seems that one of the pathways used by the British carmaker to finance its development will be to ask for funding from the British government. However, the story is more complex than that.
According to the Financial Times via Piston Heads, Lotus’s new CEO, Dany Bahar, has threatened that the production of the company’s new models will be moved abroad if the authorities don’t offer subsidies. It seems like Bahar has already negotiated with Magna-Steyr in Austria and Valmet in Finland for potential future car building contracts.
The exact financial details have not been made official yet, but it seems that the application will be submitted this year, with the Government having to offer a clear response by April.
The Internet has offered us media reports indicating that Lotus is asking the UK to grant it funds of GBP40 million (EUR 47 million or $ 62.4 million). The money would be used for a new development at the company’s Hethel site.
We’ll remind you that one of the figures who sits at the forefront of the global automotive industry, top GM executive Bob Lutz, gave Lotus a 60 percent chance of success for its new development pathway.
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