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iceburns288
02-13-2005, 01:04 PM
Lotus Boss Buys Caterham


The Nearn family sold Caterham Cars for a rumoured £4-5million. The shock announcement was made more intriguing by the news that the purchaser was Ansar Ali, who until just days before the news broke was working as general manager of Lotus Cars. Backed by private equity company Corvin, Ali has become MD of Caterham Cars, but out-going boss Simon Nearn will remain as a consultant.

When we caught up with Ali just days after the deal was made public, he was quick to stress that his financiers have the right motives, and a long-term plan.

'Corvin aren't venture capitalists in the traditional sense. They're not looking to make a fast buck. Their expertise is in acquiring manufacturing businesses and putting management teams in place that can move things forward.

'We've got no ambitions to try and turn Caterham into a 5000-units-per-year company


. We want to enhance the Caterham customer experience, and we're already working on ideas.'

It is thought that, as there are only a handful of staff building Caterhams at present, one possibility is to make the process more bespoke, with customers seeing 'their' car in build and one man putting his name to each finished product. 'It's a change of management, not a change in direction or philosophy. My priority, therefore, is to ensure the CSR comes to market in road and race trim as soon as possible,' says Ali.

From Evo Magazine...

cycosis
02-14-2005, 11:13 AM
hmm, should be interesting what they come up with. i like both companies so i think they'll feed off eachother well