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Renault considers fielding its own F1 team again

Renault has a long history in Formula One, but while it successfully ran its own team until 2010, these days it participates only as an engine supplier – and just to the two Red Bull teams. That could be changing in the near future, though, as the latest reports indicate that the French automaker is considering fielding its own team once again. According to Autosport, the company has ruled out starting its own team again from scratch, but it is weighing the possibility of buying an existing team. The last time it competed was when it took over the championship-winning Benetton team in 2002, building it back up to win back-to-back world titles in 2005 and 2006. It subsequently dropped in form until Renault sold the team in 2011 to Genii Capital, which has run it under the Lotus banner ever since. The Lotus team continued using Renault engines with limited success until this season when it switched to Mercedes. With Caterham now gone from the grid, that leaves Renault with only one customer: Red Bull, which runs both the Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso teams under Renault power. It's a situation in which the French company apparently doesn't particularly revel, leading it to consider buying a team again and running it in-house. Considering the difficulty the Lotus team it once owned has encountered lately, reacquiring its old operation could prove the most logical step for Renault, but of course that doesn't mean that's what it will ultimately do. It could continue strengthening ties with Red Bull until it acquires a large portion of it (or Toro Rosso) – something which Audi is said to be eying as well. Or it could look to another team altogether. Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Williams may not be up for sale, but we could easily see Renault taking over cash-strapped Force India or Sauber, or even pouring its resources into getting Caterham or Manor/Marussia back up to speed and whipping it into winning form. News Source: AutosportImage Credit: Franck Robichon/AP/Pool Motorsports Lotus Renault F1

Porsche 911 Turbos, and the new Lotus Emira | Autoblog Podcast #686

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. The two talk about their experiences in the 911 Turbo and Turbo S Cabriolet, then pivot to talking about the BMW M3 Competition on the Indiana Nurburgring. They follow that up by discussing driver assistance systems, given recent experience in the 2021 Cadillac Escalade with Super Cruise and Hyundai's Highway Drive Assist. After that, they get into some news, talking about the new Lotus Emira and Genesis G80 Sport. Finally, they wrap up with a rather interesting two-for-one "Spend my Money" edition where they help two listeners with different car buying conundrums. Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com. Autoblog Podcast #686 Get The Podcast Apple Podcasts – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes Spotify – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast on Spotify RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown What we're driving: 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo 2021 BMW M3 on Indiana Nurburgring 2021 Cadillac Escalade with Super Cruise Long-term Hyundai Palisade update News: Lotus Emira Genesis G80 Sport Spend My Money, Double Edition Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on Apple Podcasts Autoblog is now live on your smart speakers and voice assistants with the audio Autoblog Daily Digest. Say “Hey Google, play the news from Autoblog” or "Alexa, open Autoblog" to get your favorite car website in audio form every day. A narrator will take you through the biggest stories or break down one of our comprehensive test drives. Related Video: Podcasts BMW Cadillac Genesis Hyundai Lotus Porsche Technology Convertible Coupe Crossover SUV Luxury Performance Sedan

China's Geely buying majority stake in Lotus

Geely, the Hong Kong car company that owns Volvo, is acquiring control of British car company Lotus. Geely is purchasing a 51-percent stake in Lotus from struggling Malaysian car company Proton, and a 49.9 percent stake in Proton itself. Etika Automotive will gain the other 49 percent of Lotus. France's PSA Group and Japan's Suzuki had apparently also been interested in acquiring Proton. Geely says it plans to revive both Proton and Lotus. "The agreement lays the foundation for a wider framework for both Geely Holding, Proton and Lotus to explore joint synergies in areas such as research and development, manufacturing and market presence," Geely said in a news release. Those joint synergies will be highlighted by the lightweight chassis technology Lotus is known for, which could help Geely improve fuel efficiency. Geely CFO Daniel Donghui Li said the company aims to "unleash the full potential of Lotus Cars" by expanding and accelerating new products and technologies. Proton was nationally held but was privatized in 2007 to Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom, which is owned by tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. It was supposed to be the flagship for Malaysia's economic development.Though it owns two factories, Proton mainly rebadges foreign-made cars and sells them in Malaysia. What it has, what Geely presumably wants, is a distribution network in Southeast Asia to pit Chinese cars against Japanese automotive dominance in the region. Retaining a 50.1-percent stake in Proton is seen as a face-saving move. "Proton will always remain a national car and a source of pride, as Proton will still have a majority hold of 50.1 percent," Malaysian finance official Johari Abdul Ghani said. "Our very own much-loved brand now has a real chance in making a comeback, a huge one I hope." Related Video: