Embroiled in a naming rights row with Tony Fernandes' outfit, Proton-owned Lotus Group, which has bought into the Renault F1 team, is considering producing its own engines.

The Malaysian company, which is making a major assault on motorsport in the years ahead, including building a powerplant for Indycar for 2012, is considering such a move as Renault's future in the sport remains in doubt.

The French manufacturer, which supplies engines to the Red Bull team also, has a three-year contract to supply the Lotus Renault GP team with powerplants. However, having sold its remaining stake in the F1 team, and with an eye on the new (green) engine formula due to be introduced in 2013, Lotus Group, which plans to build its own units for its road cars, is considering developing its own major race engine programme.

"We have plans underway to think about our own engine family in our road car programmes for the future," Lotus Group CEO Dany Bahar told a meeting at the Royal Automobile Club in London, according to Reuters. "The fact that we have announced that we will be developing an engine for Indycar for 2012 shows already that we are heavily interested in becoming an engine manufacturer with our own brand."

Currently, Lotus road cars use Toyota engines however, the move to produce its own units is part of a highly ambitious programme planned by the Malaysian manufacturer which would like to become "the British Porsche".

"We have the capacity," Bahar continued, "we design engines for other OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) so there is no reason why we should not be able to build and design engines for ourselves.

"I believe on the road car side, the engine is the heart of any sportscar and it is not far away from thinking for us that it would be the right decision to build our own engine for future sportscars. "This is the first step, having a complete own product - a sportscar with an own engine - and then the rest is a logical consequence."

Referring to the ongoing naming rights row, Bahar admitted that he hopes to see the issue resolved out of court, though admitting frustration at Tony Fernandes' "ridiculous and absurd" demands.

"If the price would have been right, if some conditions would have been more realistic I believe this would have been the right approach," he said. "We were not afraid of partnering with Mr Fernandes."

Like many race fans, he also believes the Team Lotus name should be dropped since historically and emotionally it should only ever be used in terms of Colin Chapman's legendary outfit.

"We don't want other people to call their car a Lotus because the Lotus car is our brand," he said. "We are not claiming to be Team Lotus or to become Team Lotus. Team Lotus is something that should rest in peace. They had a glorious past and incredible success. We do not want to become a second Team Lotus, we will never be one. We are a car company trying to come up with a new Formula One programme."