Lotus CEO Mike Kimberley has announced his retirement as the head of the U.K. based sports car maker due to medical reasons. The 70-year-0ld Kimberley has been suffering from severe back pain, underwent surgery in 2008 and has now been advised by his doctors to resign his position.

“Sadly, it is on doctor’s orders that I am stepping down but I will leave confident that Lotus is in great shape with a strong management team fully supported by our shareholder in Malaysia,” Kimberley said in a statement. “It’ll be very hard to leave knowing that there are such exciting times ahead but I’ll take with me many very happy memories. I want to extend my thanks to the company’s shareholder for their unfailing support, my management team and the wonderful staff both at Hethel and at our various operational locations throughout the world. Most of all I want to thank our Lotus customers and loyal fans worldwide for their support over the years.”

Kimberley started his career with Jaguar in 1953 and has since worked in the automotive industry for 56 years. He joined Lotus in 1969, leaving in 1992 to pursue other opportunities with companies like General Motors and Lamborghini, before returning to Lotus in 2006.

Since then Kimberley has over seen the production of the Evora, as well as the expansion of Lotus Engineering, a world renowned high-tech engineering firm.

Kimberley will officially retire on tomorrow, July 17th.

Official release after the jump:

In press release issued by Lotus Cars, the British exotic car maker takes issue with recent reports that a new Formula 1 team for 2010 will run under the banner of Team Lotus. The new team, however, says that’s not the case.

U.K.-based Litespeed Racing has already secured a sport on the 2010 F1 lineup and decided to run under the Team Lotus name, with the permission of the name’s rights-holder David Hunt.

When Lotus Cars Limited heard of this, it issued a release which clearly stated that, “Group Lotus plc will take all necessary steps to protect its name, reputation and brand image,” a thinly veiled threat that the automaker will seek legal action if Litespeed continues with its plans.

That all seems straightforward enough, except this morning a report in AutoSport suggests information to the contrary. An unnamed source inside the newly formed Team Lotus said, “We’ve kept Lotus fully informed of our intentions and are well aware of the need to protect its brand image. We look forward to having closer ties with it in the future.”

Is this all just a big misunderstanding, or is it possible that Lotus Cars has been made aware of Team Lotus’s plans and is not amused?

[Source: WorldCarFans and Autosport]