Norfolk based sports car maker Lotus is potentially at risk of being sold after the group’s parent company, Proton, lost its controlling share after a buy-out from Asian company DRB-Hicom.

The confusing tangle of companies who bought separate elements of the Lotus brand after it initially folded back in 1996, has left many people confused. But essentially the Lotus racing (Lotus Renault GP F1 team 2011) and classic racing divisions, alongside the motorsport expertise and chassis and R&D departments, were separated from Lotus Cars, who build the road going Elise, Exige and Evora models.

This element of the company was bought by Malaysian car producers Proton, whose cash injection reignited car production and even facilitated the introduction of an entirely new model, the Evora in 2009. Lotus also caused quite a stir in the motoring press when they unveiled six new prototypes at the Paris motorshow in 2010, which displayed modern takes on the Elite, the Elan, the Esprit an all new saloon called the Eterne and even a tiny city car.

However, the news this week of Proton’s controlling share sale and Lotus’ 16 years of financial losses, doesn’t bode well for the future. MD of DRB-Hicom commented, “we will need time to look into Lotus,” while market insiders are already predicting that Shanghai Autos, owners of MG, are interested in Lotus. However, Lotus themselves are attempting to play down any potentially damaging rumours simply stating, “As far as we are aware, the situation changes nothing for Lotus.”