Former Caterham Cars CEO Ansar Ali launches Zenos Cars

You’ve probably been wondering what happened to Caterham Car’s former CEO and COO, Ansar Ali and Mark Edwards. Well, yesterday they announced details of their new venture, Zenos Cars.

Back in July, we met with Edwards and spoke about the investment opportunities in the new company, which both he and Ali had bootstrapped with their own money. Well yesterday, at a ceremony at Millbrook, the company received a government grant to support development of their innovative new chassis architecture, and can work towards an official launch of their first car by the end of this year.

Commentary

• From Norfolk to Kuala Lumpur..

  This is a well-rehearsed performance from Zenos, and while there will be striking similarities to Caterham’s vision of the future, we are also presented with an intriguing contrast in styles.

  When I sat-down with Mark Edwards earlier this summer, it was evident that he and Ansar Ali understood their market well; demand and constraints grow evenly together, but no amount of clever marketing will ever deliver on an over-priced product. The E10 should represent everything that owners of lightweight sports cars can ask for; a responsive chassis, a lively Ford powertrain and adaptable suspension. Most of all, it will be affordable to even modest budgets; easy to maintain and easy to upgrade.

  Over in Monza and Norfolk, Dartford and Kuala Lumpur, I can imagine the marketing teams busily preparing Tony Fernandes’ presentation of his rival to the Zenos E10 – set to be unveiled at this month’s Singapore Grand Prix. And I’m sure the glossy, sleek images of the new Caterham will be closely-aligned to the E10 and the spirit of the men who once kept the marque faithful.

  Caterham, of course, have the hard cash and branding that the team at Zenos could only once dream of. But Ali and Edwards have walked this path before. They bear the scars of toil from their time at Lotus and again from Caterham’s post-Nearn era. So if anyone can make this industry exciting again, perhaps they can.