Lotus sale on the cards?

There are renewed rumours that Lotus Cars could be for sale after the South Norfolk MP, Richard Bacon, told parliament that the firm has appointed KPMG with a mandate to sell the business.

Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom recently took over the firm, but it is thought to be struggling to maintain the business's current level of loss, which stands at around £200 million.

A Chinese buyer is looking to be the most likely at the moment, with two companies featuring heavily in the rumours: Hawtai Motor Group and Youngman. The latter is already the official importer of Lotus cars to China and sells some of its own models that have also been engineered by Lotus.

Norfolk-based Lotus, which is owned by Proton, has not commented on the MPs statements but Mr Bacon's surmising does seem to be in contradiction to earlier statements from Proton's Malaysian owner, DRB-Hicom.

A statement from the firm explained that it is still supporting the Lotus Group “both financially and management-wise”.

It added: “As of today, DRB-Hicom has identified one of Proton's senior management personnel to take up a position in Lotus Group in an effort to strengthen its management.”

But in his speech to the Commons, Mr Bacon warned that Prime Minister David Cameron recently spoke to the head of Proton during a trip to Malaysia, hours after which the businessman was said to be “in China seeking a buyer for Group Lotus”.

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