Just because the CEO is from UK or is passionate about building cars in Hethel doesn’t guarantee success, and neither does if someone is from China....
Agreed.
Many old timers and enthusiasts like to propagate the myth that Lotus must remain in Hethel as it is their spiritual HQ. It has been decades since Chapman passed and a series of English managers that were groomed internally have failed at resurrecting the Brand. Heck, Colin ran the company on the financial edge of disaster. How can anyone expect someone who was trained internally to change the financial course of the Company?
The English are great at design and engineering. They generally fail at execution. Why are there no English road car companies that compete internationally that are also owned by English? Their manufacturing expertise is lagging the top tier auto brands. Every model Lotus launched, into the US, was delayed in the last 20+ years. Why? Government subsidies will not save companies who lag with global manufacturing standards/practices.
I've have had a front row seat to this industry since 1985 when I went to work for Pontiac Fiero Assembly as an engineering intern. Small volume production is quite hard to do without the financial support of bread and butter cars to subsidize the sportscars - specially at these volumes. Lotus would benefit if they built small Crossovers at the Volvo factory in SC. Platform sharing is working wonders for VAG.
I vote for leaving Design and Engineering in Hethel and move production to China/US or to other Geely locations - like the SC factory. Let the engineers at the factories take the work from Hethel and produce the product efficiently to a quality standard that the world demands. I think a Hethel-based, Chief Engineer who overseas the vehicle line and will negotiate/manage production with the Heads of those factories would be a better move.
I am a car guy first, where a car is produced is not important to me as I recognize that this industry is global. Global requirements/demands in 2025 are very different from even 20 years ago! Nationalist pride is a misplaced red herring in todays automotive world. Porsche have been producing some of their cars outside of Germany for years - to their absolute benefit.
The earlier comment about Saleen producing cars may sound plausible from the outside. I engineered a shifter for Saleen's 'new' S1 so have an inside view of that company. Ford move production on the current FordGT for a reason. Saleen is simply too small to produce cars that must meet global requirements.
This industry grinds up people and companies for the ultimate benefit of the consumer. The selection of sportscars is better now than ever before. Lotus, sadly, may not survive as consumer demand for quality/performance is exceeding the company's current abilities. Does Geely have the financial patience? This is the Golden Era of sportscars but the pendulum is starting to swing in the other direction. The companies that don't have the financial means to adjust will face the meat grinder!
, maybe the car was heat soaked by then or maybe something was wrong. It's a little strange because on my car map 1 is pretty subtle but map 2 is wild.
