Team Lotus has confirmed that Tony Fernandes through Team Lotus Enterprise has purchased the British sportscar company Caterham Cars.Fernandes' F1 team had previously rumoured that the team would be making "an incredibly exciting announcement about the future of our team", and documents show that Mr Anthony Francis Fernandes had been appointed as a director of Caterham Cars Group Limited since April 12.
The official Team Lotus statement is read as follows:
"The acquisition of Caterham Cars by Team Lotus Enterprise will not only signal the continued development of the legendary Seven, but will provide Caterham with the platform to apply its philosophy of 'adding lightness' to exciting new models for the 21st Century."
The significance of the acquisition is that Caterham was born out of Lotus, initially as a dealer of the iconic Lotus Seven, and then when it purchased the rights to continue manufacturing the Seven when Lotus decided to stop in 1973. Caterham's only car at present is the Caterham 7, a direct evolution of the Lotus.
As long as both Caterham and Lotus brand names own their existence to Colin Chapman, they share similar livery colors and racing legacy heritage which is very important for Fernandes F1 business.
In fact, the purchase gives Fernandes a way in to the automotive industry which had been made more difficult following the "Lotus" name dispute with Proton and Group Lotus, and also leaves an alternative solution for the naming of his F1 team if the verdict from the London High Court force him to relinquish the Team Lotus name without losing team's official livery colors and Chapman's racing legacy.
Tony Fernandes confirmed as well the Caterham deal at Duxford airfield but refused to define the exact plans for his companies although stating that some of the decisions about the brands' futures would rest on the outcome of the naming dispute with Group Lotus.
"My aim would be at some stage to have a common brand. I think that both have their aspirations. I think the way they come together will depend on the legal case and some of it will depend on how it looks and feels. But it's all to play for and to play with, which was the objective. As for the eventual shape and form of Caterham and the team, I don't know to be honest... There will be one [car manufacturer brand on the F1 car] and that is Caterham," Fernandes said, before clarifying that the Team Lotus brand is not a road car brand: "Team Lotus has nothing to do with Group Lotus and they've made it very clear about that. I think the world will slowly discover two brands - Team Lotus and Group Lotus. They will be like Manchester City and a Manchester United - they're as different as chalk and cheese. Over the years we will develop a Team Lotus brand and there is a Group Lotus brand so that's the way of the world. It wouldn't be the first [situation like that] and it won't be the last either.
...Exactly how we integrate Caterham into that and how we integrate Team Lotus into Caterham is beyond today, and to be honest I don't know 100% yet. We'll have to see how the judgement goes and a number of other things, but definitely there will be a marriage of some sort."
