Lotus and its troubles
Lotus Elan owner and MSN Cars contributor Peter Burgess offers his insight into the remarkable happenings over at Lotus...
I was away in Belgium at the end of last week when I heard the news. Dany B had been sacked. It was particularly poignant because I was on a classic rally in my 41 year old Elan.
I have owned a variety of Lotus on and off for decades, and I wasn’t alone at being perplexed when the new management team parachuted in just a few short years ago.
Dany Bahar, previously a senior vice president at Ferrari, brought in heavyweights mostly with a Ferrari background: Donato Coco, the designer behind the 458 Italia and California, Gino Rosato and Claudio Berro, plus Wolf Zimmerman from AMG.
Heaven knows how much all this cost the company, although last week’s announcement implies that someone actually was getting a handle on Lotus expenses. It’s hard to imagine these guys being tempted to wind-swept East Anglia without a solid financial incentive.
I’d love to know how Mark James’ salary compares with the more ‘exotic’ directors. Mark is the only member of the management team with a history of the marque – he’s been with the company 27 years. He clearly works for his love of Lotus, rather than a flamboyant jet set lifestyle.
Which brings me to my told-you-so moment. In my opinion this was never going to work. When the big management changes happened largely at the back end of 2009, I said as much to anyone who’d listen. In five years we’ll look back at this episode in Lotus history with a sad chuckle.
The 2010 Paris show revelations sealed it. Not because launching five new cars at one time seemed absurd. I didn’t think it was, and from an engineering standpoint they still make a strong case for themselves.
From a PR perspective it was a more flaky idea. As every major manufacturer knows, it makes far more sense to drip feed new models into successive motor shows to keep the interest running high.
And God knows where the money was going to come from. It’s almost like there was no one in that high echelon team, with their superstar CVs, who realised what it costs to develop a new car. Not just in theory, but getting it designed, engineered, past all the million statutory regulations and then building it to the standard that buyers expect.
Just look at how hard McLaren have found it. And what about the Lotus Evora, which most journalists are far more polite about than merit actually demands?
I don’t pretend to have any answers. I do have a love of Lotus and to be honest it has always been a company built around brilliant engineers and less brilliant strategists.
The new Exige S is simply awesome, and the 2012 Elise S is a lovely car too. But both are still based on the 1997 Elise. Lotus needs something modern, stylish and classy. Sadly, the Evora isn’t it. There may still be some good ideas to come out of Bahar’s plans. Let’s hope to.
Peter
---
Great moments in Lotus Cars history
Lotus at Paris Motor Show 2010
It's not just the Evora that no-one dares to criticise, Colin Chapman himself is regarded with a god-like status because of his F1 achievements. Truth is he never cared about his roadcars and treated his customers with contempt, then fired any director who disagreed with him. If he had been a good businessman, Lotus would now be on a par with Ferarri.
I say this as a long time Lotus owner who has just finished rebuilding an Excel which included making the panels fit with less than a 12mm gap. Lotus cars have always been 'almost' cars with poor quality due to lack of funds due to poor business plans. The new Elise and Exige variants are great sporting cars but the Evora shows that Lotus have not understood the requirements of the higher level market where buyers buy the name and the performance figures but are mostly unable to use their cars properly.
It's not just the Evora that no-one dares to criticise, Colin Chapman himself is regarded with a god-like status because of his F1 achievements. Truth is he never cared about his roadcars and treated his customers with contempt, then fired any director who disagreed with him. If he had been a good businessman, Lotus would now be on a par with Ferarri.
I say this as a long time Lotus owner who has just finished rebuilding an Excel which included making the panels fit with less than a 12mm gap. Lotus cars have always been 'almost' cars with poor quality due to lack of funds due to poor business plans. The new Elise and Exige variants are great sporting cars but the Evora shows that Lotus have not understood the requirements of the higher level market where buyers buy the name and the performance figures but are mostly unable to use their cars properly.
Stagnate and fade away, or reinvent. Good business dragons all say the same. On this note, I often wonder if the more expensive range of `family` vehicles are becoming stale, across all makes.
As an ex mechanic, we all used to say " if it`s not broke, don`t try and fix it ". But, buyers are fickle. Boredom sets in and they will choose something `different` that works, without recalls and high maintenance costs.
Richard AucockSo committed to car journalism he is Guild Chairman of the Guild of Motoring Writers. He has been writing about cars since he was 15 and is living the dream.
CJ HubbardCJ is thoroughly enjoying fulfilling the ambition he's always had to become a motoring writer. Don't ask him about working in retail, though, or he may start to twitch...
Ian DicksonIan is the senior editor on MSN Cars, a job that involves planning, writing and editing content and generally keeping the site ticking over day-to-day.
