Lotus threatens to leave UK

I'll believe it when I see it.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/motors/3160797/Car-firm-Lotus-in-vow-to-quit-UK.html

an unreliable tabloid said: LUXURY car firm Lotus is considering moving car production abroad - threatening 1,200 new British jobs. The Norfolk-based firm has asked the Government for a £40million loan to upgrade its factory to build five new models. Bosses forecast the expansion of the plant at Hethel, near Norwich, would mean taking on 1,200 more workers within the next 18 months. But they say the loan has been refused and they are now considering switching to Central Europe - taking the jobs AWAY from Britain. The bombshell came as Lotus - owned by Malaysian company Proton - unveiled its latest Esprit, Elite, Elise, Elan and Eterne models at the Paris International Motor Show. Celebs including actor Micky Rourke and Naomi Campbell were among hundreds of guests at the unveiling. Lotus boss Dany Bahar said he was disappointed at the Government not supporting the loan request and that it was "more advantageous" to relocate. He said: "Lotus cars are British cars and we want to build them in Norfolk. But if we build abroad the jobs will go abroad." The Department for Business Innovation confirmed it had been in talks with Lotus over a loan request. Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/motors/3160797/Car-firm-Lotus-in-vow-to-quit-UK.html#ixzz12lJxpnds

I dont see why the tax payers should front for this loan....

My guess is that this is the same as Enzo threatening to sell to Ford....he didn't intend to do so, and lotus doesn't intend to leave. I expect that it is a bid to garner public support......

Lotus isn't Lotus anymore so it wouldn't surprise me at all that they go where the gettin's good.

The newer more bloated Lotuses (Loti?) is proof of this.

TVR (or what's left of it) could be following suit:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/17/tvr-could-return-in-2012-with-corvette-powered-md-1/

Bad news for British sports car fans recently.

I figured TVR coming back would be good news for British sports car fans, regardless of where they're built. And in reality, Lotus hasn't been a British company in 25 years. GM owned them from 1986 to 1993, when it was sold to a Luxemburg holding company owned by an Italian who also owned Bugatti, and then it was sold to Proton in 1996. If the Brits wanted Lotus to stay in their country, they should have bought it. Besides, why couldn't the Brits be proud of a foreign made Lotus? McLaren has pretty much no presence in New Zealand, but Kiwi's are still very proud of that company.

Lotus is not the only company considering leaving Britain.

From here: "www.thefirstpost.co.uk/67714,business,one-in-five-firms-consider-leaving-uk-because-of-tax": "Britain's uncompetitive corporate tax regime is driving larger companies to consider relocating abroad, according to a survey commissioned by HM Revenue & Customs. Twenty per cent of big businesses considered moving while 64 per cent felt the burden of red-tape had increased over the past 12 months."

From here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/3965307/Japanese-companies-leaving-London-for-Germany.html : "Japanese companies have started to move their European headquarters from London to Germany to escape Britain's high costs, poor transport infrastructure and rising crime rates."

From here: http://topnews.us/content/222213-zurich-leaving-uk-lighter-tax-regime : "It has been reported that the major insurance Company, Zurich is planning to shift to Ireland on order to reduce its tax bills...The Companies are already afraid of the British’s Government plans to increase the income tax to 50%. RSA and Willis, Britain’s leading insurance Companies have already shifted their Head offices to other places in the wake of increasing taxes."

Companies are not charities. If they can increase their profits or their chance of survival by moving to another country, then they should do that. Instead of being pissed about British companies leaving that country, maybe people should be railing against the British government for having created an atmosphere that is driving these companies away.

Bob

again... why should the taxpayer front for their loan application?

Its not like this is the USA where a company is leaving because of over-intrusive regulation.

no, this company is saying "the government won't give us a loan, so we're leaving."

....wtf?

madmallard wrote: again... why should the taxpayer front for their loan application? Its not like this is the USA where a company is leaving because of over-intrusive regulation. no, this company is saying "the government won't give us a loan, so we're leaving." ....wtf?

The "government loan" thing is a bit dodgy. But considering the corporate tax structure in England, maybe Lotus asked for the consideration because they actually WANTED to stay there, keep an experienced work force and then hire more people. Without the loan, Lotus now sees other countries (with far more favorable tax rates) as a reasonable choice. Why invest/spend your own money in England when the ROI is much higher elsewhere?

As for qualified workers, they'll either re-locate (if asked) or be replaced. Seems like a bit of compromise would likely produce a win/win result, but if Lotus leaves the "win" is definitely one-sided.

Pretty much every car maker with factories in the U.K. has tried this bluff over the years. I think the government got burned so badly trying to bail out BL they have decided that "if you must go....then go".

Reminds me professional sports teams who ask the city for a new stadium and threaten to leave if they don't get it. The local minor league baseball club is going that route now. The worst part is when local governments give in to the blackmail and try to sell it as an "investment".

Schmidlap wrote: Companies are not charities.

Agreed. They exist to make a profit, and MUST do so in order to survive. If they cannot do so, they go out of business and people loose the jobs that were provided by the company.

Schmidlap wrote: If they can increase their profits or their chance of survival by moving to another country, then they should do that.

I'd separate the two....If it is a matter of survival, perhaps moving elsewhere is justified. (The jobs would be lost anyway if the company went out of business.) It is possible, howver, for moving to another country to be a VERY BAD THING (tm); if the people who used to buy your product no longer have jobs, you will erode your customer base and harm a lot of people at the same time. I think part of our current economic problems are because of the reduction in the number of manufacturing jobs in this country. Some of that reduction has been caused by companies that moved jobs overseas to increase their profits.

[My opinion will undoubtedly offend someone. That could cause this thread to deteriorate into partisan political bickering. Let's avoid that....if you want to yell at me about how wrong I am, do it in a PM. I'll even let you have the last word....it will be easy to do, since I don't feel like debating.]

"As for qualified workers, they'll either re-locate (if asked) or be replaced. Seems like a bit of compromise would likely produce a win/win result, but if Lotus leaves the "win" is definitely one-sided. " Who in their right mind wouldn't leave Britain for Malaysia?