Lotus CEO Bahar Eyes Possible Sale or Spinoff From Malaysian Parent Proton
May 30, 2011
- Dany Bahar says Lotus needs to tie up with a larger global automaker, such as Toyota, in order to share the cost of meeting future regulations.
- Behar is repositioning the tiny British sports car specialist as a premium competitor to Porsche and launching a major expansion of the company's product portfolio.
- He envisions annual sales for Lotus of 6,000-8,000 cars by mid-decade, with about one-third going to the U.S. market.
HETHEL, England — When he quit a top marketing job at Ferrari in fall 2009 to become chief executive of Lotus Cars, 37-year-old Dany Bahar already had considerable knowledge of motorsports and brand-building — but little experience in running a car company, even one as small as Lotus.
Now 39, with 20 months under his belt at the helm of the tiny British sports car specialist, Bahar has embarked on an ambitious program to greatly expand the Lotus product portfolio, reposition the brand as a premium competitor to Porsche and boost annual sales volume to 6,000-8,000 cars by mid-decade, with about one-third of those going to the U.S. market.
He also thinks the time may be right to separate from Malaysian parent Proton, which has owned Lotus since 1996.
At a private roundtable with journalists last week, Bahar said he believes a company the size of Lotus cannot develop cars that meet emissions and crash regulations on its own — it has to be linked to a larger global automaker, such as Toyota, through either an alliance or even a sale. Alternatively, the company could be spun off, floated and publicly traded.
In the meantime, Bahar is positioning Lotus as what he calls a premium sports-car maker rather than a luxury one like Ferrari. Porsche's positioning and model range (except for SUVs) is the target, in pricing terms, models and quality, if not volume. That said, Bahar's mid-decade sales target for Lotus of 8,000 cars could rise in the longer term.
How will it hit those numbers? Bahar and his team have crafted an aggressive new-model development program that continues to evolve in terms of scope and timing. As it currently stands, the plan calls for the launch of six new or redesigned cars over the next five years, from a tiny city car to a luxury sedan.
The new range of cars will use an all-new aluminum tub that is around 220 pounds lighter than the 520-pound tub in the current Evora. Bahar says this is even lighter than the tub Lambo has recently introduced, and cites this as evidence that it's feasible. As previously reported, all the new cars will use aluminum skins, developed by the Lotus Lightweight Structures division.
At least 50 percent of the component content of the new range will be shared, much of it hidden, of course. In the case of the front-engine Elite and Eterne, the figure is over 75 percent.
This commonality allows the company to sell relatively low numbers of each — around 1,000-1,500 units — while making a profit. On the manufacturing side, Lotus is making another attempt at securing a loan for the construction of a new factory at its Hethel site, which could build the front-engine Elite and Eterne. If the attempt succeeds, it will add 600-1,000 jobs. Otherwise, the work goes to Magna-Steyr in Austria.
Lotus is now doing proper new-model development work for owner Proton; previously, it had only done small programs. Among the new models it is developing is a new global city car — a version of the Lotus city car concept seen at the Paris auto show last fall.
Lotus also continues to provide Toyota with dynamic development of new models. If the British company's attempt to derive an inline four-cylinder engine from the V8/V6 modular engine family now under development fails, the company will source an engine from Toyota, as it does currently. But it will be a next-gen four-cylinder.
Inside Line says: Bahar also disclosed that more Evora models are on the way, too; expect an Evora convertible at some point. — Richard Bremner, Correspondent
Bron : http://www.insideline.com/lotus/lotus-c ... roton.html
Eentje om volledig te lezen ......
Wat al een tijdje in de 'wandelgangen' wordt gezegd ; Lotus samen met Toyota .........
zeggen dat je naar een ander wil gaan.