Lotus is owned by Proton . The new team was unrelated to the previous incarnation of Team Lotus when it was first founded , although it was funded by a Malaysian Consortium including Proton ( the owner of Lotus Cars ) . After a dispute between the two parties ( Lotus Racing and Proton ) , Group Lotus , with agreement from their parent company Proton , terminated the licence for future seasons as a result of what it called `` flagrant and persistent breaches of the licence by the team '' .