Here’s a bit of good news to end the week. Group Lotus has announced that it will create more than 100 new jobs at its Hethel base following a £100 million investment by new owners DRB-Hicom.
The move comes on the back of increased demand for Lotus cars, including the recently launched Exige S Roadster. Around 90% of all Lotus cars are now exported, while its engineering consultancy services are said to be in high demand.
Lotus COO, Aslam Farikullah, has presided over the first steps toward a brighter future for Lotus.Aslam Farikullah, Chief Operating Officer at Lotus, said: “It’s been a period of substantial change at Lotus and we are now in a strong position to expand our work on future products and to increase production in our manufacturing facilities.”
“We want Lotus to be at the forefront of the global automotive industry and for us to remain competitive, we will introduce more exciting products – there has never been a better time to be part of the future of Lotus.”
It’s the most promising sign since DRB-Hicom completed its acquisition of Lotus last April, at which time production had declined to just 10 cars per month.
Since then, production delays have been addressed, quality has been raised and new models have been delivered to customers.
Back in August 2012, Farikullah spoke about his plans and asked for patience as he worked towards putting the company on a solid footing.
SEE ALSO: Lotus Chief speaks out on his plans for the company as the first Exige S is produced.
“Our emphasis now is on the finer details of what we do. I believe that the ability of our engineers and workforce makes them among the best in the world. We will leverage on this key strength as we revitalise and strengthen the Lotus brand,” said Farikullah.
In addition to these new jobs, Lotus will also increase the intake to its revamped graduate programme – both the engineering specialists and graduates will work on the development of new products within Lotus Engineering.
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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.