Caterham is up for Grabs (UPDATE: it's Actually Not)

The last few months have been tense for Caterham, and it seems that the future is even more uncertain. Tony Fernandes just put the Caterham Group up for sale.

The whole Caterham Group is to be sold, which includes the Formula 1 team and Caterham cars (who build the road-going vehicles, from the entry-level 160 to the completely mad 620R). Also included in the offer are Caterham Composite, which makes various materials for the cars and the Formula 1 vehicles, and Caterham Technology and Innovation, the R&D branch of the group.

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The price for this slice of British engineering? A cool $589 million US… And that is just to buy the group. After that, another few million will probably be necessary to restart the whole business.

Fernandes, CEO of Caterham, didn’t comment on the sale, so it is a little hard to speculate on the reasons for such a drastic move. However, the cancellation of a partnership with Renault and various delays in the production of the AeroSeven, branded as the future of the manufacturer, may indicate that Caterham is not be doing so well on the financial front. Even worse, the Formula 1 team is not performing very well this season.

Let’s hope the British manufacturer will stay open; we would mourn the loss of the Seven!

UPDATE :

It would seems that our sources were wrong. Tony Fernandes, CEO of Caterham, just announced to the medias that the Caterham Group was not for sale.