Caterham has landed a major new sponsorship from EADS, the aerospace group that owns the aircraft maker Airbus. Last year the company generated €49.1 billion in revenues. The deal, believed to be worth as much as $10 million a year for several years, is likely a B2B deal related to Airbus orders by Caterham boss Tony Fernandes, who is running the booming AirAsia firm in the Far East. AirAsia recently announced that it was buying budget airline Batavia Air in Indonesia for $80 million in cash.
“I am absolutely delighted that EADS has joined our team and I want to welcome them into our F1 family as Official Partner,” Fernandes said. “EADS joins not only our F1 team but the whole Caterham Group as we evolve from an F1 team into the wider automotive and specialist consultancy service that the various arms of Caterham Group represent. The partnership with EADS and Caterham F1 Team is the first of a number of exciting announcements we will be making about projects that various arms of the Caterham Group are working with EADS on. Right now Caterham Composites and Caterham Technology and Innovation are involved in programs that utilise the specialist skills that both companies have in composite design and manufacturing, including a revolutionary lightweight aircraft seat and an in-flight entertainment system that will showcase the benefits composite materials provide on a global scale. This is a very exciting announcement and one that shows that world leading companies like EADS see the value that can be created from a partnership with Caterham Group and its various arms.”
joeblogsf1 
Caterham are seem to be becoming the ‘new’ Lotus, and long may it continue. I just hope they can start getting some points.
You’re right, they are the new Lotus, they were the new Lotus, and god please… they can become Lotus again one day!?
Joe… surely a big sponsor will at some point make Enstone ditch the Lotus name? Group Lotus are surely going to be for sale in the bargain bin of car companies soon?
Would TF want to (again) buy the Team Lotus name and merge Group Lotus into Caterham all under the Lotus name?
Joe, I don’t expect a response but… to make it easy for you, how about you pick one of my three easy options? 🙂
‘no, too much water under the bridge’, ‘pure fantasy’ or ‘maybe – who knows!?’
Wouldn’t this indirectly be bringing Matra back into racing since EADS is the end result of multiple mergers involving Matra?
EADS is also in defence and into new part production or prototyping using ALM Additive Layer Manufacturing, in fact this is printing an item building it up layer by layer. It will I guess replace Stereo Lithogrphy (or STL) . Being in defence as well as building/assembling the Airbus, Typhoon and various missiles and radar means that they have a lot of money to throw about. My favourite for the future is smart surfaces which will probably be used on aircraft before F1.
Unless of course Starlite becomes available.
Is the deal just for money or for future tech or use of facilities as well?
Having worked on some aircraft related projects some15 years ago and only now seeing them hit production in the last year or so, I’d say it’s MUCH more likely to see developments come through in F1 first. And that’ll be the whole point of the deal, instant ‘real world’ testing.
I’m just back from the SIGGRAPH conference where many of the worlds best 3D printing companies were showing off their wares. There’s no consensus on the best technique yet but be sure that all F1 teams are using some form of 3D printing right now! Expect F1 cars to become much more organic looking in the very near future. There will always be straight lines near the road surface but the further up the car you get they’ll soon start to look more like Geiger than Newy to such a degree you cannot imagine.
I am delighted to learn this!!
That is great news for Caterham! While I’m a lifelong McLaren fan, it is so great to learn of these successes by what one might classify as a “small” team.
It bodes well for the longevity of the team. And many kudos tor Fernandez and crew!!
Uss!!
Has all the signs of a reverse takeover if you ask me…
Aren’t they a sponsor of force india or has that deal come to a end?
Was it Mike Gascgoyne who has moved to Caterham Composite? looks like he may become a very rich man
This would be an interesting venue to continue the competition with Boeing?
Could well lead to interesting tech exchanges in CFD, amongst other things.
Light composite aircraft seats are a brilliant idea which will translate into major fuel savings for airlines over an aircrafts lifespan. Smart guys, major market – nice to see the technology being applied in such a practical sense.
Thanks Paul!
Can’t wait to pick it up. Will report on my ski legs tomorrow.
Steve
Sent from my iPad
light weight cabin seats are long overdue ! My back still hurts from loading ship sets of quint seats through over wing E exit door of DC10 . Plus business class doubles made out of mild steel!!! LOL.
I’ve thought for a while that Caterham ought to start positioning themselves in the vanguard of the emerging electric sportscar industry, cos I have a feeling that in 10-15 years it’ll be battery-powered lightweight fun runabouts that will grab the lion’s share of the sports car market.
Sure, Teslas, Fiskers etc will gradually encroach on the current Ferrari / Porsche / Aston / Lamborghini market share, but the firm that can produce a nippy, pretty, long-ranged, practical and reasonably priced 2-door model in the mould of the MX-5, Elise, MGB etc will truly rule the world.
Caterham should start planning for it now I reckon…