Lotus announces major recruitment drive as investment from DRB-Hicom delivers growth

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Glad to see some news on Lotus. It has been a bit quiet this first half of the year. Looks like they’re taking the sensible and gradual approach rather than the daft Bahar full scale ASSault.

Please keep posted on developments at Lotus. Your site has had incredible insights in previous articles/posts on the state of Lotus. Were you a consultant for them previously?

Thanks Chris, I was called in to help Dany and his team when things began to go a bit squiffy, but by then it was too late, thereafter I’ve kept a eye on things from afar because like most enthusiasts (and as a former owner) I’d like to see the company prosper..

Interesting. I think the production rate is 45 units per week, 90% export. It seems good considering the Elise/Exige are not sold to the US.
They should invest in making the Exige US compliant (if the business case makes sense of course).
Here in the UK, and I think it is similar in many countries, their cars seem a bit pricey. They can’t avoid the comparison with Porsche, even if their value proposition is different.

As a COO, I’d ask Donato Coco to focus on revamping the interior of their 3 models (including having a proper in-car multimedia) and design a common interior across the range (like Porsche). The inspiration of a Mc Laren 12C interior (of course without the carbon / expensive bits) would be a big step forward for Lotus and their cars would not appear that expensive then.

The next stage for Lotus is to decide or not to go towards volume model (like Porsche did). For instance, their 2+2 front engine proposition (“Elite”) in the Bahar plan was a good shot I think.

Farikullah will be out by the end of the year (note since Bahar left Farikullah has only been given the title of COO so as to signal this is temporary. He was put in place since he was the only DRB-Hicom employee who had residency in the UK).

DRB-Hicom has put a strangle hold on Lotus is in the words of Dato Lukman, “Malysianising” Lotus. Whatever that means.

Of course Lotus has to hire new employees, since many have quit.

No new models on the way, just new variants on the current models. Hard to entice dealers let alone buyers (the Evora is priced in most markets a bit too high).

Quite right about Farikullah, although on reflection, he looks to have done a good job in protecting the assets that he could (post-Bahar). He’s not a CEO and that means Lotus lacks someone who can drive new strategies, build market relationships and inspire people to build new products.

Given how desperately close they came to oblivion (I saw the accounts), I’m counting each small step at a time (attendance at Goodwood FoS, new variants, new dealers in Germany & Malaysia) – it’s not enough to turn a struggling company around, but it does halt the decline and provide some extra time to drive it in the right direction.

In my last exchange with DRB they asked to be given time, which we’ve done, we’re now waiting to see what’s next and the most urgent appointment they ‘should’ make is to appoint a truly credible CEO with the mandate (and budget) to build a future for Lotus.