Proton Withdraws Lotus Brand Licensing & Sponsorship Of Lotus Racing F1 Team

Proton, the owner of Group Lotus, has announced its intentions to revoke the Lotus brand licensing and withdraw sponsorship of Tony Fernandes' Lotus Racing F1 team for the 2011 F1 season. The shocking move comes in retaliation to Fernandes' decision to change the current Lotus Racing name to Team Lotus starting next season.

Fernandes' Tune Group Sdn Bhd acquired the rights to the name Team Lotus via the purchase of Team Lotus Ventures Ltd from David Hunt, who supposedly bought the assets, name included, of Team Lotus in 1994. Until then, Group Lotus, the car manufacturer, and Team Lotus, the operator of the F1 team, had the same owners and directors.

This is where the dispute lies. Proton believes that Hunt's attempt to buy the Team Lotus name had been ineffective, adding that Fernandes had good knowledge of that when he bought Team Lotus Ventures Ltd. Proton insists Group Lotus remains the owner of all rights concerning the Lotus brand which extends to Team Lotus. “There is and always has been only one Lotus, the Lotus started by Colin Chapman. From the beginning Lotus made road cars and raced racing cars”, Proton said.

Judging as “flagrant and persistent breaches of the license” by Fernandes' 1 Malaysia Racing Team, which have proved damaging to the Lotus brand, Group Lotus, with Proton's agreement, has decided to terminate the rights of 1 Malaysia Racing Team—along with Fernandes' other companies including Tune Group Sdn Bhd and Team Lotus Ventures Ltd—to continue using the Lotus brand name from the next season onwards.

Chairman of Proton and Group Lotus, Dato Sri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, sounded a warning for Fernandes against going ahead with plans to use the Team Lotus name in the 2011 F1 season: “We believe the Lotus brand to be one of the most valuable brands in Formula 1 today. We are the owners of this brand, and will take all necessary steps to protect it”.