Proton paid off Group Lotus £203.81 million debt.

In todays online edition of the EDGE

This year Abdul Harith expects Lotus to have a positive operating cashflow, with an aim to break even in FY16...
Lotus group currently has zero borrowing as all of its debts, which amounted to £203.81 million (RM 1.22 billion) was settled by Proton last year.
(This was on page 8).

The article refers to the Lotus SUV Project in Fujian province China.
 So Lotus is once again debt free. Proton did a similar thing when Mike Kimberley was CEO.

DRB Hicom, Proton's owner appear to be in for the long haul.

Hopefully, things will turnaround commercially for Group Lotus in the not to distant future.

Incidentally, the same article the investment in China is quoted as 10billion yuan (RM6.16 billion) over £1 billion at todays exchange rate.

I don't have any comment really, other than Group Lotus appear to have a really poor commercial history!

I wish them all the best.

Proton and new local competition. Perhaps they could consider an additional revenue stream?

Lotus, who I am hoping to interest in my proposal... Are owned by a Malaysian company DRB Hicom, who have many divisions, Defence, Post, Automotive etc...
Proton was started by Tun Mahathir, and was recently owned by the Government. It is now privately owned.
Up until now taxis in Malaysia were mostly Protons. Now that is about to change. Toyota products have now received official blessing.
Toyota Innova MPV officially unveiled as TEKS1M cab - (Paul Tan)

Tun Mahathir is now the Chairman of Proton and Lotus. I cannot speak on his behalf, but I suspect that he will not welcome the competition!

Protons Malaysia market share in the past 10 years has dropped considerably, this won't help.

In England, my local garage stopped selling Protons a couple of years ago.

Proton, have agreements in place with Honda and Suzuki to share platforms and technology, and their new vehicles will reflect that...

Lotus will be building their next new vehicle, an SUV in China. Here is a small portion of todays Malaysian Reserve article:
The market presence of Lotus cars in China was done via Goldstar Lotus Automobile Co Ltd, a JV company between the three parties. Proton, Lotus and Goldstar will own 40%, 10% and 50% respectively in the JV company, which will cost up to 10 billion yuan (RM6.15 billion).

I am not an insider... So I don't know for sure if this is being based on an existing platform, Proton Exora being the most obvious, or with the Lotus Toyota connection, they use their engines, possibly a Toyota platfom, or as Proton have agreement with Honda and Suzuki possibly something they currently use...

Building from scratch would only make sense if it were to be a global platform possibly, selling it back to one of their OEM partners. Car Makers do that, but I'm not sure that is going to happen. You would really need an agreement up front to do that. The Platform would then have to be designed around your needs and that of the sharing OEM.

I certainly wish them all the best!

It would be nice if they could leverage their brands, particularly Lotus in a more out of the box way. My proposal does that... However, it seems a lot of people think I'm out of my box proposing it!

Here's a video showing a couple of losers talking about something similar.

Alastair Campbell was Tony Blair's media man, and Brian Barwick was the CEO of the FA.
The College is now a physical entity, here is a promo Video.

Lastly, I saw this video on youtube: I attended an ASLI conference with Alex. He was the most photographed man there!

I know a couple of other drivers from my time in Malaysia who would love to driving in this!

 

Caterham. Funding a project... Even successful businessmen get this wrong.

Today, I see that Caterham F1 has been sold.

I'm not an F1 insider, and I don't know Tony Fernandes. I have worked for Lotus engineering as a contractor in Malaysia.
I have added a few links and quotes after my thoughts so you can see where I'm coming from.

Tony is a very successful businessman. I assume he (or a team of professionals) does a business plan before entering a new business. He has access to accountants, and industry professionals.

IMO, Tony entered F1 in the hope of using it to promote his other business interests. Air Asia is the Ryan Air of Asia, and Tony had shown an interest in becoming involved with Group Lotus (Cars, Engineering services, blah blah).

In 2010 F1 proposed a cost cap of £40million.

The cost cap never happened. Tony ended up buying Caterham cars, and renaming his team.

The cost for all this was high. The return was obviously (at least in F1 terms) disappointing.

So does this make Tony an incompetent? No, very obviously not. However, Caterham F1 obviously hasn't met his expectations.

I have annoyed many people with my Motorsport Uni plan. Would it cost a lot?  Would it make money... Yes... and I think so...

Do I have the track record of Tony?... Absolutely not.

However, this project has been my baby for many years. I refuse to give up on it. Given the resources, and I'm confident I can deliver.

My plan has some parallels with Tony's.

I would like to get involved with Group Lotus. I would like to get involved with Motorsport.

Instead of using it (Motorsport) as a promotional tool, I would like to use it to support an educational project.

I was told by many people in Group Lotus that they NEVER make money with 'Training'.

Maybe they could just become vendors.

Phoenix University in the USA, presently has about 1/3million students. It has a healthy revenue stream, and is run at a profit. (The polar opposite of Group Lotus)

The University would have to be ethically run and monitored in order to be approved and its clients able to access government grants. Failure to meet government criteria effectively kills the revenue stream.

Article about Phoenix University.

DRB-Hicom now own Lotus. They have an approved University. The are not scared of entering the 'Training' arena.

This project has the potential to be global. Governments world wide finance and support education.

I hope that the new Chairman and CEO of Group Lotus look at my proposal with fresh eyes.

It could be vehicle that drives Lotus and its partners to new commercially sustainable heights.

I'd like to be a success. I'd like this project to be a success. Given the funding and support, I'm sure that this project can be a real game changer.

DRB-Hicom should give this serious consideration. Nothing is guaranteed in this life (other than death), but I honestly believe this could be one of the best investments you could make.

Education is a core business for DRB Hicom.




The Telegraph (UK) made this statement.

Fernandes had originally been seeking around £350million, but it is thought that Formula One's slowest team was sold for around one-tenth of that price. Sources suggested that an offer also fell through after the Monaco Grand Prix, when the team were dealt a severe blow by Marussia's ninth place.

 Tony Fernandes

SKY SPORTS made this statement:

Back then, they were known as Team Lotus and if Fernandes was already starting to take a dim view of the sport, those feelings would have intensified when he became embroiled in a court battle for the right to use the Lotus name.  
Rather farcically, two teams bore the Norfolk marque's name in 2011 after Fernandes' plans to buy Lotus outright were thwarted when owners Proton instead appointed Dany Bahar, formerly a marketing boss at Red Bull and Ferrari, to take charge.

The Guardian wrote:

After four and a half years on the Formula One grid without a point to their name, and after spending more than £250m on the organisation, Fernandes has sold Caterham to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors.

In 2009 Formula1.com wrote:

Formula One racing’s governing body, the FIA, has revised its budget cap plans for 2010. Teams signing up for the optional cap must limit their spending to £40 million per year (£10 million higher than originally proposed) in exchange for greater technical freedom. This will not include driver salaries or, for 2010 only, engine costs.

Thirteen teams will be accepted for next year’s championship and all must apply by May 29, 2009, stating whether they wish to compete under the budget cap or not. New constructors will be eligible for a participation fee and assistance with travel expenses from commercial rights holder Formula One Management.

Datuk Lukman resigns from Proton

I see today that Datuk Lukman the deputy CEO of Proton has resigned. I met him briefly at ASLI auto conference in 2010.
He was polite, but not particularly personable. I wish him well.
I track the traffic on this blog.
Today, I noticed a global blue chip business media company with an office in Singapore had been looking at one of my posts.
Here is the link to the post.

Today Innocence lost in the ice cream forest is free to download.

It is available globally on Amazon. A free download generates about $2 USA for ROKPA a charity with global reach.

Should DRB Hicom/Proton/Lotus wish to consider me for an executive position, I would be delighted to consider their offer.



Linkedin Premium and my executive position search...

Yesterday, I was invited to have a free (month) upgrade job search Premium on LinkedIn.
You can see who has been looking at your profile, and can contact people directly through InMail.
I won't bother.

I have directly contacted people by attending two ASLI automotive conferences. The second one I presented and hosted several discussions with CEO's and executives from SepangF1 Proton and Perodua.

I would like to thank Kenanga Simon and her team at ASLI for being so helpful in making this happen.

Kenanga, recently left ASLI. I wish her well in her new career.

Networking is important. Nothing beats someone recognising you and saying something positive, or negative!

I have made it known to high level people that I want to make my proposal a reality. I'm not a multi millionaire, so I would be happy to work at a level that would give me the budget and freedom to execute the plan.

Additionally, I believe that my plan dovetails with DRB Hicom's global strategy. They have just bought the Lotus dealerships in China.

I have already made this clear on numerous occasions to Lotus/Proton and DRB Hicom. I can't imagine that having a premium LinkedIn account will make any difference.

It would be nice if the hiring team would look at my webpage and blog. Get some feedback, both positive and negative from people who know me, and make the right decision. Hire me. You won't regret it!

DRB Hicom Proton and Lotus whats the plan?

Plans. People love them!

What is Bernie Eccleston going to do in F1?

Joe Saward says he will open shop in Long Beach California.
http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/12526/

DRB Hicom have been saying they are working on a business plan for Lotus and Proton.

Not being an insider, I have no idea when this plan will be revealed!

I do know that being a company that has historically been linked with government contracts, DRB Hicom probably felt they would wait and see what happened in the Malaysian elections.

They are now over.

I have a proposal. I sincerely hope they intend to include me and the proposal in their future plan!

Lets move on this sooner rather than later.

Group Lotus owners are Malaysian. The elections are are over

Now that the Malaysian General elections are over I think that the Group Lotus owners DRB Hicom can start to concentrate on business for the next few years.
Selfishly, I hope they give consideration to my proposal.
Lets see what transpires in the near future.
DRB Hicom publicly claim they want to turn around Lotus. My proposal would dovetail nicely with that.
The proposed California campus is to the best of my knowledge still available. So getting the deeds to that would be a good first step.

DRB Hicom are manufacturing partners with Honda so maybe they could even extend that partnership further with an educational agreement.
In the coming week, I'll start emailing people.

 

No new Lotus cars till 2015. Sounds good to me.

Just been reading some recent DRB-Hicom news. Property development seems to be high on their agenda...
How about buying the ex Honda Test Centre in California and developing it for a Motorsport University.

Lotus, Proton and Westfield (Potenza) all participate in Motorsports. They are all owned by DRB-Hicom. Get feedback from them on their wants and needs. Talk to your educational partners, DRB-Hicom own their own University, as do Petronas.
Develop the site.
Sell it to the New Uni on a rent to buy basis. Part of the deal could be for the University to use Hardware (cars etc) sourced mainly from the DRB-Hicom stable.
This would enable DRB-Hicom to offer the University reasonable terms on its rent to buy agreement.
Most of the initial property development could be done by DRB-Hicom. Hand over the design to a local architect to ensure it complies with USA/Californian regulations and away we go.
According to the Paul Tan article 2015 is when we can expect new products from Lotus.

He (Mohd Kamil DRB-Hicom CEO) also divulged that we can expect replacements for the Exige and Evora by 2015 or 2016, with a newly-developed platform and engine at the heart of things. No confirmation about whether the platform will be a carry-over or evolution of that from the Paris cars.

Lets target September 2015 as the opening date for the project. DRB-Hicom develops its first overseas project with a customer in place.
Might I suggest this Builder as a possible Californian partner.
http://www.zetacommunities.com/projects.php
Lets keep this as eco friendly as practicable, and disability friendly!
I just saw this picture. Simple and efficient.
http://www.interestingengineering.com/

Makes sense to me! Every cloud has a silver lining.
Did I mention that I have a USA passport and am available for this?

Lotus Engineering Malaysia closed. I'll stay on track.

I am out of the loop in Group Lotus. Today I heard that Lotus Engineering Malaysia was closed when DRB-Hicom took over. The expats were let go. The Malaysian employees were redeployed.

Some have been there for years and have love interests in Malaysia, others will be working abroad somewhere. A few will be taking a rest and counting their money!

Oh well, life goes on.

Me, I am looking forward to the day that my proposal gets accepted. The expats in Group Lotus were not proactive in helping me get it off the ground, so for me nothing has changed. Without wishing to sound rude, it might be better. No-one saying we can't because...

Here in the UK we are being warned of flooding with travel advisories.

I am expecting Jimmy and Mila tomorrow morning. Jimmy works in Proton Malaysia. I was hoping to take them on a little road trip. Lets see what happens!

Back to my project. None of the people I contact about it are with Group Lotus.

I normally contact Genii or DRB-Hicom/Proton people.

Genii were kind enough to get me in touch with Sir Jackie Stewart.

DRB-Hicom and Proton people tend not to answer their emails!

I have presented at ASLI Asian Strategic Leadership Conference (Automotive)

So everyone knows!

Dr Mahathir Proton and Petronas adviser with me at ASLI 2010

Me with the ex CEO of Proton and the Big boss at SepangF1 circuit.

I gave an overview of the Motorsport University concept. I also introduced and moderated several sessions. Many thanks to ASLI for the opportunity. Particularly Kenanga the conference organiser.

The previous year Alex Yoong was my guest at the conference. Among other things, Alex works for Caterham now. He is something of a celebrity in Malaysia.

So corporate Malaysia knows of my plans.

Ideally, Group Lotus and Lotus F1 would partner, along with Caterham and Petronas.

Getting educational partners will not be difficult. They want to be paid, so funding needs to be provided. I know that is obvious.

Next year, I am hoping for great things.

 

 

Thanks Tilo. No endorsement for MUM. DRB-Hicom sign technology agreement.

I received a very nice letter from Sir Jackie Stewart.

 

 

Sir Jackie was heavily involved with Cranfield when I first made this proposal to Lotus as part of my 5 year plan for training.
He wished me luck. However, no endorsement was forthcoming.
You may or may not know that Sir Jackie is an Ambassador for the Lotus F1 team.
The Lotus F1 team is owned GENII and is seperate from Group Lotus/Proton/DRB-Hicom.

Many of the Malaysian papers ran stories on the Petronas DRB-Hicom signing ceremony.
DRB-Hicom/Proton bought the engine technology and intellectual rights to all Petronas developed powertrains.
This picture was run by the Malay Mail.

There are 3 people in this picture whom I have contacted about MUM.
The central figure, Dr Mahathir is adviser to both Petronas and Proton. I have met him personally, albeit only for a moment.

I wrote to him 2 days ago asking him to advise both Petronas and DRB-Hicom to support me in making MUM a reality.
Sadly, no reply as yet.

I'm looking forward to having my old Proton friend Jimmy and his wife visit me in the UK over Christmas. Then a quick trip to Leipzig to wish my Friend Tilo and his new Wife Curtney all the best at their Hochzeit.

Curtney and Tilo are on the left. The hostel Red Palm gave them an unofficial Hochzeit shortly after they got wed.
Very nice people.
I get to wear my shiny green turquoise suit. Turquoise, black and white are to be the theme colours.
Tilo, who once played in Leipzigs top punk band 50/50 (thats what his Mum told me...) is working on an acoustic piece for the occasion. I look forward to hearing it!
Currently, 50/50 have a record company. This I assume will be run from the lead singer's (Sash) home.
I'm only in Leipzig for two days. So I'm not sure if I'll get to see it. Good luck in the venture in any event.
I must say Tilo has been very helpful with my webpage, and any IT problems I have had, and continue to have!
Tilo and his Dad did the cover and graphics for my Charity book.

Tilo has a link to the book on his Media webpage SAMASAMA. All royalty payments go directly to charity. Tilo and his father worked totally for free on this project.
Many thanks to Tilo and Claus for all their help.

DRB-Hicom formulate the way forward. How about MUM?

Since I have been promoting my Motorsport University idea, I have annoyed many people!
So far unsuccessfully!
I have been in contact with many of the people in this picture.

 

 

 Lotus/Proton/DRB-Hicom have the resources to implement the Motorsport University project utilising ICAM

 

 

DRB Hicom signing an educational MOU with John Moores Liverpool University and DRB-Hicoms own University ICAM. 

Both Petronas and DRB-Hicom have private Universities. 

 
DRB-Hicom has enough production cars in it's stable Lotus/Westfield/Proton Satria to cover the car side.
DRB-Hicom and Petronas have Universities under their umbrella.
Buy the Californian campus. Use that to introduce the brands to America.
Malaysia has a potential campus in Johor. Lotus has plenty of space it can utilise in Norfolk.

From a sports point of view perhaps Norwich football club might want to get involved.

LA Galaxy might be open to this as well. Motorsport and football seem open to collabortions.

Chelsea and Sauber have recently joined forces.

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2012/11/13/chelsea-and-sauber/

Obviously, Caterham could do all this also, adding QPR to the mix.

Check out this video. CLICK HERE
 Not everyone views this kind of thing as nonsense.

 

 

 

Tengku Djan to race Westfields this weekend

Tengku Djan races a Westfield this weekend.
Prince of Drift webpage

DRB-Hicom (Proton) have an agreement with Westfields owners Potenza.
Djan is head of R3 the Proton motorsport arm.
I think these cars would be great for students. They are kits so you can actually build them.
Race them. Customise them etc.

I have annoyed Djan about MUM for years!

As Proton and Lotus are in terrible shape, perhaps it is time to look at all possible revenue streams.
MUM is a for profit proposal.

DRB-Hicom LotusF1 rumours

I read in Skiddmark that there is a rumour that DRB-Hicom are interested in buying LotusF1.
http://skiddmark.com/2012/10/genii-set-to-off-load-the-lotus-f1-team/

Taken from article:

Rumours emerged in the past few days that Gerard Lopez’s Genii Capital, owners of Lotus F1, may be in talks to sell the team.
It’s merely a rumour at the moment, but Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle confirmed it during a broadcast from the Indian GP this morning, suggesting that DRB-Hicom owned Proton might be in the running.

As I have set up my proposal around Lotus this of interest to me. I see synergies here between education and Motorsport.

If DRB-Hicom are thinking along the same lines as me... Good, very good!

 

I have just watched the SKY re-run of qualifying and during qualification 1 between 19 and 18 minutes Mark Brundle did talk about this strong rumour going around the paddock.

Things appear to be falling into place. Or maybe just wishful thinking on my part.

Thinking out aloud

In Malaysia Petronas are the year on year cash cow. They have been shareholders in Proton, are  in negotiations with Proton to use their E01e (Yamaha based) engine in their cars.
Petronas are sponsors of MercedesF1 and Yamaha MotoGP. They used to own Foggy Petronas.

Whether they want to be both owners and sponsors of an F1 team I don't know. They could afford it. They have a working relationship with Group Lotus through DRB-Hicom.

I just made this up... so its only conjecture! I'm not an insider.

Time will tell...

Petronas and Group Lotus educational partners.

I was browsing the web. I found an old Lotus Engineering article.
http://www.autoworld.com.my/v2/news/nb_details.asp?awReviewID=551&awCatID=RT.ATC.CAR.NW

The article was written in 2001. At this time the University of Petronas had an agreement with Lotus.

UTP and LotusIn a related developed Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) and Lotus have joined forces in an industrial partnership that will spearhead a new technology transfer relationship between the two organisations.

The partnership between UTP (one of the leading academic and technology institutions in the ASEAN region) and Lotus, will include the following:

- Joint research programmes such as Advanced combustion, Optical diagnostics and Active valvetrain;
- Industrial placements at Lotus for UTP students and staff;
- Technical papers, presentations and journal publications;
- Advanced engineering lecture programme by Lotus;

"By pooling resources from Lotus and UTP, we have a great opportunity to stretch the boundaries of research for the car of the future. I can see the scope within these two skilled teams to research into safer, more efficient and more advanced vehicles to take the car not just 5 years ahead but well into the next decade and beyond," said Mr Wood.

Mr Wood is in Malaysia as part of a team visiting local universities and presenting the ‘Lotus Engineering Roadshow’. The event was also presented at Proton’s premises in Shah Alam today and attended by Lord Sainsbury, the British Minister of Science & Technology, who also took the opportunity to visit the factory.

Picture copied from article: autoworld.com.my
Simon Wood on left, Lord Sainsbury and Tengku Mahaleel (Proton CEO at the time).



I visited UTP some years ago and met with it's CEO. I didn't know that there was official co-operation between Lotus and Petronas.

Petronas and DRB-Hicom both have private Universities. Petronas have a huge Motorsport budget.

They could make my vision a reality.  I hope they do!

Lotus. Ten Years and counting!

I have just checked my email account. Ten years ago this week I was working in Lotus. I had been laid off and was working my notice period.
My job title:Training & Resource Engineer
I had a job offer from EDAG to join them as (the whole) Vehicle Integration Manager on a Chrysler program.

Time flies!

Overall, I did not enjoy working at Lotus. So why am I so keen to get them to implement my MUM proposal?

Many would say its because I'm stupid! They are entitled to their opinion.

I would say its because I believe that it will be a huge success. Huge success and (Group) Lotus are not terms oft used in a single sentence!

Training as a business is not a core part of Group Lotus. My ideas, were a little different from the mainstream.

Recently, Proton were bought by DRB-Hicom. DRB-Hicom therefore own Group Lotus.

DRB-Hicom own a private University. Education is a core business for them.

I have written to them, asking to leverage their University know how with Proton and Group Lotus.

Together, they can set up institutions globally.

ICAM being the OEM and Proton and Lotus being tier one suppliers.

Perhaps DRB-Hicom are a little more education friendly than Group Lotus.

Lucky I'm patient!

A few unrelated thoughts.Nice guys come last!

I have been annoying the latest Management team at Group Lotus /DRB-Hicom / Proton with my proposal.

I sent them a link to my TV interview.
 http://motorsportuniversitymalaysia.com/index.php?id=35

and a link to the SKY report on a Sports UNIVERSITY
http://motorsportuniversitymalaysia.com/index.php?id=36

Nothing new there! Come on Guys! Be nice. Invest in this project.

I see Dany Bahar's company car is for sale. Dany is suing DRB-Hicom for over £6.7 million for wrongful dismissal.

Proton gave him a 4 year contract just before DRB-Hicom bought them. Syed Zainal the Man responsible is no longer with proton.

Dany's settlement would be about $10 USA million.

Just goes to show how much top notch leaders get.

I remember when attending ASLI Auto conference 2009, a mystery high level recruiter sidled up to me at Proton's test track, and nattered on about his Red Bull/Ferrari client. How people don't mind paying for success.

I always remember Kevin, my boss at Lotus saying 'John, remember nice guys always come last!'

Kevin has now gone on to marry his new teenage bride, and heads up a prestigeous engineering consultancy.

Friendships in the Auto industry don't tend to run deep.

Pretending to be nice is important though.

As to whether I am nice, that is for others to judge.

My time will come. Of that I'm sure.

Birthday blog. Wish me luck.

Well today is my 57th birthday. The sun is shining, I've had my jog and stretch, read the newspapers and will shortly go off and eat far too much.
Life is grand!
As you know the Olympics is taking place up the road. Sadly, I like most people have been watching it on TV.
Attending an event live is unique, but watching it on the box in comfort isn't bad.
I remember my dad taking me to see Cassius Clay, as he was then box Our 'Enery in London. The atmosphere, and memories stay with me today.
Yesterday, Usian Bolt won his 200 metres race. People are comparing him to Ali, bigger than the sport.
Some people are a bit special.

I'm still trying to convince DRB-Hicom, and Group Lotus I am.

Wish me luck.

Lotus plan must be successful. New Management will hopefully see what I can see.

Well, its birthday time for me in a week or so. Fifty seven years and counting! I'm older than Lotus car company.
I am happy and healthy, and looking forward to the future!
Group Lotus on the other hand are in turmoil.

I read in today's New Zealand Herald

Lotus position looks uncomfortable

The syndicate lent the money to Lotus on the basis of a back-to-back guarantee with Proton, which is said to have cash of around 255.2 million pounds.

Indeed, it is this guarantee that worries some insiders who are concerned Lotus could have a domino effect on DRB because of its debts.

"That is why Lotus is such a big problem for them," said one source. "They have to get it right."

My proposal MUM will clearly work. They need to make it part of the overall plan.

DRB-Hicom own a private University ICAM, and have links with British Universities.

IT IS PART OF THEIR CORE BUSINESS

If they are looking for synergies between DRB-Hicom/Proton and Lotus look no further!

I have dealt with a series of Managers and CEO's in Lotus. None impressed me. Conversely, I probably didn't impress them.

I hope this changes in the near future.

For the sake of DRB-Hicom, Proton and Group Lotus. I hope so.

Group Lotus need a miracle...Thursday is Proton Day.

I read an article today:
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/397054

No Lotus for Sarah

Posted on 4 June 2012 - 05:37am

COMMENT
by Tony Pereira

The accounts of Lotus Group International on March 31, 2011 show an accumulated loss of £94 million. The loss for the year that ended March 2011 widened from £8.7 million in 2010 to £21.3 million in 2011...

Considering that the group has been making losses consistently, it is difficult to make sense of these figures. More importantly, it is difficult to understand what could be Proton's plan to address these ongoing losses. If successive previous parent companies could not turn the company around, how are the new owners going to do so?

A well written article. Tony suggests a miracle is needed.

Thursday apparently is Proton Day (Today is Monday). Dr Mahathir, the Proton advisor is going to Shah Alam (Proton HQ)  to speak to the different Proton management groups.

I would very much like Tengku Djan Mahaleel, head of Proton Motorsport Engineering to voice his support for an  initiative using Motorsport and education as a way of leveraging Proton/Lotus and maybe Petronas in a joint educational enterprise. DRB-Hicom already have a University.

Proton, Lotus and Petronas spend money on Motorsport. They use it raise their profile.

I haven't seen any Petronas petrol stations in the UK and it's a rare day I see a Proton or a Lotus.

Do Petronas have shares in Mercedes? No.

The Motorsport educational initiative makes sense. As  a private enterprise it can be profitable.

Globally accessible education. Quality approved. Resources used wisely.

What's not to like?


DRB-Hicom has a core Educational business. Proton and Lotus are premium Technology suppliers.


See any synergy there?


Incidentally two Auto executives describe their company business thus:


 Alan Mulally
Ford Motor Company CEO 


 Ford is a technology company, not an automaker.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/1202_the_2012_power_list/viewall.html#ixzz1wqjf3UZo

Dieter Zetsche
Daimler AG Chairman 
Mercedes is a technology company? Zetsche was keynote speaker at the Consumer Electronics Show for the first time this year, also marking Mercedes' first appearance there. Zetsche follows in the footsteps of Audi's Rupert Stadler and Ford's Alan Mulally.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/features/consumer/1202_the_2012_power_list/viewall.html#ixzz1wqkmQ8Hs

Letter to Skiddmark

The Skiddmark writer Steve Davies is visiting Group Lotus this week.
He has asked people to send him questions.
I sent him this letter:
http://skiddmark.com/2012/05/lotus-what-happened-to-the-truth/

Contact Us

Got something to say, or a suggestion to make? Get in touch with us using the form below, or by sending

 us an email atsupport@skiddmark.com

Message Sent

Name: John Mansfield
Email: john.mansfield@motorsportuniversitymalaysia.com
Website: http://www.motorsportuniversitymalaysia.com

Message: Attention Steve Davies regarding Whatever happened to the truth..? article.

Steve, I sent a reply

in the comments portion. I am not sure if you got it.

I worked for Group Lotus in Malaysia. Whilst there

I made a proposal for a new training unit.

This involved Lotus working with Universities, UK and local.

They would hold classes at a circuit (Sepang... now Johor) and other circuits/race tracks.

I have presented at ASLI (Asian Strategic Leadership Institute) and contacted

several Lotus CEO's plus others

. Recently, I contacted UKti and shared the same presentation with the DRB-Hicom MD.

I notice that the Business and Innovation dept and someone in the

Houses of Parliament have been following my blog.

Vince Cable recently visited Group Lotus and spoke to the DRB-Hicom MD.

Did they discuss the synergy between UK education suppliers,

ICAM the DRB-Hicom University and Lotus? This proposal does not involve

putting 4 wheels and a drive train on a car

and is therefore a little bit out of the box.

However, I feel that being involved in a private education proposal

as a tier one supplier of Knowledge and hardware is not too out there.

There is no reason it can not be profitable.

And just to keep the marketing people happy, they could print tee shirts.

Students globally would be introduced to the brand etc.

Thanks for listening to me.

Please ask about this when your in Lotus next week.

John Mansfield

www.motorsportuniversitymalaysia.com

www.motorsportuniversitymalaysia.blogspot.com