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Renault bailing out Lotus F1 Team to pay $4M tax bill

The road ahead looks to be clear for Renault to reacquire the Formula One team that once bore its name. The latest reports have it that the French automaker is prepared to pay a multi-million-dollar tax bill to the British government to keep the Lotus team from entering bankruptcy proceedings. According to the report from Autosport, the Lotus F1 Team owes a massive GBP2.7 million – equivalent to over $4 million at current exchange rates – to the Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs authority for income tax and national insurance (Brit-speak for social security). The team was supposed to have withheld and submitted the funds on behalf of its 400 employees dating back to June, but since it has yet to pay up, it's being taken to court by the UK government. Apparently unable to foot the bill, the cash-strapped team looked poised to enter bankruptcy just as the Caterham and Manor/Marussia teams did last year. But Renault is now poised to step in to the team's rescue. Those with a longer memory for F1 history will point out that the Lotus team – which has little to do with the sports car manufacturer of the same name – dates back to 1981, and has changed title and ownership several times over the years. What was founded as Toleman was then taken over by Benetton. Renault acquired the team in 2000, but sold it to its current owners Genii Capital in 2009. The team based in Enstone, UK, won back-to-back world championships with Michael Schumacher in 1994-95 and again with Fernando Alonso in 2005-06, but has struggled both competitively and financially over recent years. Consigned to an engine-supply role since divesting itself of majority interest in the Lotus team, Renault has been rumored to be preparing to reacquire the outfit from Genii – and in all likelihood switch it back from Mercedes power to its own. Paying the outstanding tax bill will likely emerge as the first step in that reacquisition. Once it takes over full ownership again, Renault is expected to rebrand the team in its own image, and will then have to decide on driver and other personnel contracts for next season. Related Video:

Lotus rolls out new and improved Evora 400

Having canceled its overly ambitious plans, Lotus is going to have to get by on its existing lineup for a while longer. But if this is what "getting by" looks like, count us in. What you see here is the Lotus Evora 400, the latest evolution of Hethel's 2+2 sports car and the fastest, most powerful production model the legendary British automaker has ever offered. Lighter and more potent than previous versions of the Evora, the new 400 packs a revised 3.5-liter supercharged V6 with – you guessed it – 400 horsepower, or 55 more than the Evora S, and backed up by 302 pound-feet of torque. In pursuit of its founder Colin Chapman's enduring ethos of "adding lightness," Lotus has found nearly 50 pounds of excess weight to trim from an already lean machine. While they were at it, the engineers also tweaked the electronics, re-adjusted the suspension, fitted a revised aero kit for increased downforce, bolted in a new limited slip differential, retuned the gearbox and mounted new brakes. The styling has also been revised inside and out, with new doors allowing for easier ingress and egress as well as more interior space. The result of all these improvements – aside from making the Evora look cooler – is a 0-60 time now quoted at 4.1 seconds, a top speed quoted at 186 miles per hour and a lap time of the Lotus test track a full (and very impressive) six seconds faster than its predecessor. Lotus is increasing its workforce by 50 percent in order to increase output at its UK factory from 45 cars per week to 70 in the coming months, and will distribute the new Evora 400 through an expanding dealer network that's set to grow from 168 locations worldwide at present to around 200 by year's end. THE ALL NEW LOTUS EVORA 400 - All new supercar from Lotus - Fastest and most powerful production Lotus ever - Lighter and more efficient than before The new Lotus Evora 400 is the latest pure and focused supercar from Lotus, combining high performance with the legendary Lotus benchmark handling. It is faster and dynamically more capable than the previous Lotus Evora leading to greater agility and a more involving drive. Maximum speed is 186 mph (300 km/h) and acceleration 0-60 mph is just 4.1 seconds (0-100 km/h in 4.2 seconds). This enables the new Lotus Evora 400 to lap the challenging test track at the Lotus Headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk, a scintillating SIX seconds faster than the previous model.

UK car output falls 14% in March, may get worse with no-deal Brexit

LONDON — British car output fell for the 10th month in a row in March, hit by a slowdown in key foreign markets, and the sector stands to suffer a lot more if the country leaves the European Union without a deal, an industry body said on Tuesday. Output tumbled by an annual 14.4 percent to 126,195 cars in March, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said. Exports, which account for nearly four out of every five cars made in Britain, were down by 13.4 percent. The SMMT said analysis it had commissioned predicted output would fall this year to 1.36 million units from 1.52 million in 2018, assuming London can secure a transition deal with the EU. If Britain has to rely instead on World Trade Organization rules for its trade with the bloc, which include import tariffs, output is forecast to fall by around 30 percent to 1.07 million units in 2021, returning to mid-1980s levels, the SMMT said. The forecasts were produced for SMMT by AutoAnalysis, a consultancy. Prime Minister Theresa May has secured a delay to the Brexit deadline until Oct. 31, giving her more time to try to break an impasse in parliament over the terms of Britain's departure from the EU. Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt traveled to Japan earlier this month to try to persuade the Japanese government and Toyota, which has a big presence in Britain, that London was determined to avoid a no-deal Brexit. "Just a few years ago, industry was on track to produce 2 million cars by 2020 — a target now impossible with Britain's reputation as stable and attractive business environment undermined," SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said. "All parties must find a compromise urgently so we can set about repairing the damage and diverting energy and investment to the technological challenges that will define the future of the global industry." (Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)