In 1986, the company was bought by General Motors. On 27 August 1993, GM sold the company to Bugatti Automobili SpA owned by businessman Romano Artioli. In 1996, a majority share in Lotus was sold to Proton, a Malaysian car company. On 24 May 2017, Chinese multinational Geely announced that was taking a 51% controlling stake in Lotus. The remaining 49% was acquired by Etika Automotive.