The new bosses of Lotus have made it clear that the car-maker will vigorously oppose a �6.7m claim made by its former chief executive Dany Bahar.

The Swiss national, who was brought in to turn round the loss-making luxury car company in 2009, was sacked from his post in June just months after the sale of parent company Proton to Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom.

Last week Mr Bahar served Lotus and DRB-Hicom with a �6.7m High Court claim, saying he was wrongfully dismissed.

The High Court claim said that under the early termination terms in his contract, he was owed �6,737,240.

Mr Bahar has also asked for damages and costs.

His dismissal paved the way for DRB-Hicom to parachute in its head of vehicle manufacturing projects, Aslam Farikullah, as Group Lotus chief operating officer.

In a statement on Saturday, Mr Farikullah said: 'Dany Bahar was dismissed after a comprehensive investigation into his stewardship of Lotus.

'Lotus will vigorously oppose any claim made by Mr Bahar and believes it has acted properly at all times,' he added.

The claim form was filed on Mr Bahar's behalf through his London-based solicitor Edwards Wildman Palmer UK.

It has also asked for a declaration that he will be entitled to either a payment equivalent of 5pc of the 'enterprise value' or the allotment of shares of equivalent value on the sale or listing on any stock exchange of Lotus Group International Ltd or any group companies.