Team Lotus welcomes Caterham and General Electric
In his brand portfolio, Tony Fernandes has made a decision: Exit the energy drink brand EQ8, make way for the car manufacturer Caterham. However, the businessman's team is receiving external support as General Electric will make its appearance on the T128 cars at the next Silverstone Grand Prix.
These changes were made public during the straight-line testing organized by the team with Karun Chandhok as the test driver.
The arrival of Caterham on the radiators of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen’s cars is anything but a surprise since Tony Fernandes acquired it last April. Since then, he has already led the official name change of his GP2 team, now called Caterham Team Air Asia. Even though his victory in the lawsuit against Lotus Cars does not oblige him to change the name, such a partial change (with, for example, a juxtaposition of the names Team Lotus and Caterham) might happen in the off-season to strengthen communication around the very small British manufacturer.
This is a monumental opportunity for Caterham Cars. We are a niche manufacturer in the sports car market, and yet, we are now one of the key partners in a Formula One team with a very promising future. The acquisition of Caterham marked the beginning of a very exciting new era for the company in terms of developing the legendary Seven. But from the perspective of global brand visibility for Caterham, there is hardly anything better than Formula One. Caterham has a long and prestigious history in motorsports, but now, we will be able to be exposed to a truly global audience and stand alongside major manufacturers like Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes-Benz, says Ansar Ali, the CEO of Caterham.
Regarding the arrival of General Electric, it is particularly linked to the existing relations between Tony Fernandes’ airline and the aircraft engine manufacturer, as stated by the CEO of the American conglomerate: “We are delighted to sponsor Team Lotus and to continue our relationship with Tony Fernandes. We have worked with Tony for years and we know his commitment to aviation. The global appeal and popularity of Formula 1 offers a unique opportunity for GE and we expect more great things from Tony as we become part of his team.”
This announcement was made in the context of Air Asia’s massive order of 200 Airbus A320 NEO aircraft, powered by the CFM joint venture, owned by General Electric along with the French company Safran. Given the relatively modest space occupied on single-seaters (on the side of the air intake located above the pilots’ heads), the agreement could be a small compensation for the deal that allows CFM to completely make up for its delay against its competitor, Pratt & Whitney.
This is also an external sign of the collaboration established between the two structures, as described by Tony Fernandes: « We are already exploring a number of initiatives that will bring the relationship between GE and Team Lotus to life across GE’s spectrum of interests: from the future electrification of cars, materials science, design processes, and engineering skills to showcasing GE’s world-class e-infrastructure capabilities to businesses around the world and government communities, both in and out of motorsport markets. »
With the participation of RacingBusiness.fr
