2011 Lotus Exige Matte Black Final Edition 23/25 No Reserve on 2040-cars

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Lotus signs joint venture agreement with China's Goldstar

Lotus and China's Goldstar Heavy Industrial Company are forming a joint venture that will bring the historic British sports-car maker into the country. "The collaboration seeks to accelerate the development of Lotus cars in the premium sports segment in China," according to the announcement. The JV will include research projects on efficient and advanced technology, and ultimately lead to sales of cars there, Lotus said. China's auto market is no longer experiencing the double-digit growth of the past, but it still continues to expand. Meanwhile, Lotus saw sales jump 55 percent in the last fiscal year and it opened 36 new dealers, according to CEO Jean-Marc Gales. The joint venture announcement also hints at the possibility of Chinese-made models, but it shouldn't dilute the brand. Lotus is clear that core vehicles like the Evora, Exige and Elise would remain exclusively in production at the headquarters in Hethel, England. Just a couple years ago, Lotus appeared to be on its deathbed after losing a quarter of its workforce, but since that setback the company has started to crawl back. PROTON, LOTUS GROUP AND GOLDSTAR SIGNED JV AGREEMENT KUALA LUMPUR – PROTON Holdings Berhad ("PROTON") the ultimate holding company of Lotus Group, announced that it has signed a Joint Venture ("JV") Agreement with Lotus Group International Limited, United Kingdom ("Lotus Group") and Goldstar Heavy Industrial Co. Ltd. ("Goldstar") for a possible business expansion of Lotus cars in the People's Republic of China. The collaboration seeks to accelerate the development of Lotus cars in the premium sports segment in China, leveraging on the incentives offered by the Fujian Provincial Government. Both PROTON and Lotus Group are subsidiaries of DRB-HICOM Berhad. Signing on behalf of PROTON was the Honourable Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Chairman of PROTON and former Prime Minister of Malaysia and witnessed by Dato' Abdul Harith Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of PROTON. Signing on behalf of Lotus Group International Limited, United Kingdom was Jean-Marc Gales, Chief Executive Officer and witnessed by Mr Rohime Shafie, Director of Lotus Group and Chief Financial Officer of PROTON; and signing on behalf of Goldstar was Mr Zheng Qianghui, Chairman of Goldstar and witnessed by Mr Zhai Wenliang, President of Goldstar.

Lotus slated to stop selling Evora in US

It's been three years now since Lotus stopped selling the Elise and Exige in North America, leaving the Evora as its only model available Stateside. But according to the latest from Car and Driver, even that model is on its way out.
The problem reportedly comes down to air bags. Lotus was granted a temporary exemption from fitting the latest-generation smart airbags to the Evora, but that exemption is set to expire at the end of the year. And once it does, Lotus apparently has no intention of developing and fitting the proper equipment to allow it to continue selling the Evora in the United States.
Once the Evora is gone from our market, Lotus will be reduced to selling only track-bound versions of the Elise and Exige in the US, so the prospect of actually buying a new Lotus and driving off the dealer lot will vanish into thin air.

Miami real estate investor selling world's largest collection of Bond cars

In 2011 Miami real estate investor Michael Dezer bought dozens of cars used in the James Bond films from the Bond Museum in Keswick, England. Since then, he's added to the trove which now stands at 59 cars, as well as motorcycles, boats, jetskis, tanks and thousands of photos, posters and memorabilia. It is the largest collection of 007 cars in the world, and Dezer has put it up for sale for 20 million pounds ($33.25M US) - the caveat is that you have to buy the entire collection. But what a collection it is. Among the six Aston Martins are the DB5 from Goldeneye, the Vanquish from Die Another Day and both V8s from The Living Daylights. There is also the Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me - not the Esprit submarine that Elon Musk bought last year at auction, but the pre-dive roadgoing car. The new owner of the collection will keep things up to date with the Audi A5 and the Land Rover Defender 110 from the opening scene of Skyfall, and properly varied with the dragon tank from Dr. No, the Fairey Huntress yacht in From Russia with Love, and the chopped-in-half Renault 11 from A View to a Kill. An agency in the UK is handling the sale. We will now leave you to handle the money transfer from your people in Liechtenstein. News Source: London Express via Driven Auto News Celebrities TV/Movies Aston Martin Lotus lotus esprit