Caterham Group formed ahead of 2012 F1 season

Ahead of Team Lotus being renamed Caterham F1 Team next year, company chairman announced at the weekend’s Brazillian Grand Prix that the Caterham Group would be formed.

Four branches of the group will be overseen by the Caterham Group masthead - Caterham Cars, Caterham F1 Team, Caterham Technology & Innovation (CTI) and Caterham Composites, with further expansion possible in the future.

“We have been talking for some time now about our plans for Caterham in all its guises, from the road car company to Formula 1 and GP2, and in the technology, design and innovation fields. Now, with the announcement about the rebranding in Formula One to Caterham F1 Team for 2012 and beyond, we are in a position to give a much more in-depth explanation of how the Caterham Group is taking shape,” said Tony Fernandes, Caterham Group chairman.

“With those four arms in place, and more to be announced in due course, we have a dynamic group of businesses already working together that gives a clear vision of what our long-term strategy is in their respective fields, and as one entity under Caterham Group,” Fernandes said.

“This range of business interests provides us a very strong foothold in a number of growth sectors, staffed with teams of people with a strong mix of experience, youth, creativity and passion. In short, we have all the right ingredients in place to do some incredibly exciting things in markets that are ripe for innovation and new ideas.”

Under the Caterham F1 Team banner will be another section of the business – Caterham Racing – which will look after Caterham’s GP2 team. But that’s not all. Other forms of motorsport will be included, such as karting, Caterham Seven racing, GP3 and others.

Caterham Cars will also be expanding into markets such as China and India, but also with new road cars to begin production in 2014. These will undoubtably benefit from Caterham Composite’s technologies, as will the F1 branch and other race teams.

For those who though that Caterham was just another Lotus Seven builder, think again. The future looks quite bright for the growing company.