Matt Windle leaves Lotus

I know this was covered as an update to the thread titled “Matt Windle Promoted,” but easy to miss there, and seems significant enough to deserve its own thread.

Exclusive: Lotus to name new Europe head following shock departure of boss after just few months in post | Autocar

Company's Chinese HQ takes a tighter rein as Europe boss Matt Windle steps down after four months

www.autocar.co.uk

 

[Nick in Sydney]

Porsche had communication and newsletter that went out to dealers saying that the current strategy is indeed failing and the EVs aren't moving. I really would never trust the word of a dealer unless they were a personal friend first.

I think that was more focused on the Taycan, which isn't selling at all. The EV Macan seems to be selling fairly well. The clear lesson is that EVs only sell in volume at low-mid price points.

 

[John_Matrix]

We don’t know whose fault the paint issue was for the Emira. But the fact they are having to pay dealers to retrofit doors with a revised design, because of a ‘design fault’ must have cost a small fortune. The external body shops dealers are contracting this work out to likely results in a conservative £1500. Add in the cost of new doors and the dealers time stripping and replacing the door mechanism, speakers etc and this endeavour is likely well north of £3k per car, for a pair of doors. It seems increasingly likely that all the doors for 22/23 and some 24 cars are affected the difference being whether they are garaged and used as sunny day cars or if they are parked outside and dailied.
Someone made a serious error here and it must be eating into the per unit profit margin. Given the depth of engineering talent- shouldn’t that door design with intrinsic fault, have been identified pre-production?
Who made the decision to let the press have pre production cars to test, resulting in less than stellar early reviews?
Why are proven systems like steering racks failing in these cars? The part at fault or the attention to detail of those assembling at the factory?
The Emira is the best looking car I’ve ever owned. The interior is high quality and I love the way it drives. As the car gets close to exiting warranty I need to consider what comes next. Failure to offer extended warranty on a £100k car suggests lack of confidence in your own product. It’s just not good enough. At Porsche prices there should be an extendable Porsche type warranty product backed by the marque. The pre warranty inspections would be work for the unhappy dealer network as well.
Why have so many things been allowed to go wrong? Who is actually culpable?
Will Geely hold the line or is Hethel getting closed? The uncertainty around that alone must put many off buying new.
If love to see a brand resurgence. As it stands the worlds oldest Lotus dealer doesn’t even sell new product anymore.

 

[John_Matrix]

I’d add the electric saloon and suv seem spectacularly unpopular. They don’t align with Lotus values and most people who have their own money to spend would look at other brands. I’ve barely seen any on the road. They make the Emira look commonplace.
The idea for those rests entirely with Geely.

 

[Biggles of Norwich]

We don’t know whose fault the paint issue was for the Emira. But the fact they are having to pay dealers to retrofit doors with a revised design, because of a ‘design fault’ must have cost a small fortune. The external body shops dealers are contracting this work out to likely results in a conservative £1500. Add in the cost of new doors and the dealers time stripping and replacing the door mechanism, speakers etc and this endeavour is likely well north of £3k per car, for a pair of doors. It seems increasingly likely that all the doors for 22/23 and some 24 cars are affected the difference being whether they are garaged and used as sunny day cars or if they are parked outside and dailied.
Someone made a serious error here and it must be eating into the per unit profit margin. Given the depth of engineering talent- shouldn’t that door design with intrinsic fault, have been identified pre-production?
Who made the decision to let the press have pre production cars to test, resulting in less than stellar early reviews?
Why are proven systems like steering racks failing in these cars? The part at fault or the attention to detail of those assembling at the factory?
The Emira is the best looking car I’ve ever owned. The interior is high quality and I love the way it drives. As the car gets close to exiting warranty I need to consider what comes next. Failure to offer extended warranty on a £100k car suggests lack of confidence in your own product. It’s just not good enough. At Porsche prices there should be an extendable Porsche type warranty product backed by the marque. The pre warranty inspections would be work for the unhappy dealer network as well.
Why have so many things been allowed to go wrong? Who is actually culpable?
Will Geely hold the line or is Hethel getting closed? The uncertainty around that alone must put many off buying new.
If love to see a brand resurgence. As it stands the worlds oldest Lotus dealer doesn’t even sell new product anymore.

New doors are over £5K for a pair fitted & painted, with rear wings faded in.

 

[frazzer]

I’d add the electric saloon and suv seem spectacularly unpopular. They don’t align with Lotus values and most people who have their own money to spend would look at other brands. I’ve barely seen any on the road. They make the Emira look commonplace.
The idea for those rests entirely with Geely.

Surprisingly, in the UK, I've seen more on the road than I've seen Emiras or any other Lotus.

 

[geoffbland]

Surprisingly, in the UK, I've seen more on the road than I've seen Emiras or any other Lotus.

Same, I see quite a few Eletres round me - I tried flashing my "fellow Lotus drivers" but just get confused or annoyed looks from them.

 

[John_Matrix]

The only time I see an electric Lotus is close to a dealer. I assume a demo. Seen more on the SUV. Have seen zero Emeya.

 

[Biggles of Norwich]

Surprisingly, in the UK, I've seen more on the road than I've seen Emiras or any other Lotus.

That may depend on where you live. I'm near the factory at Hethel, and see more Emiras than Eletres. Only two sightings of the Evija!

 

[SimonT]

We don’t know whose fault the paint issue was for the Emira. But the fact they are having to pay dealers to retrofit doors with a revised design, because of a ‘design fault’ must have cost a small fortune. The external body shops dealers are contracting this work out to likely results in a conservative £1500. Add in the cost of new doors and the dealers time stripping and replacing the door mechanism, speakers etc and this endeavour is likely well north of £3k per car, for a pair of doors. It seems increasingly likely that all the doors for 22/23 and some 24 cars are affected the difference being whether they are garaged and used as sunny day cars or if they are parked outside and dailied.
Someone made a serious error here and it must be eating into the per unit profit margin. Given the depth of engineering talent- shouldn’t that door design with intrinsic fault, have been identified pre-production?
Who made the decision to let the press have pre production cars to test, resulting in less than stellar early reviews?
Why are proven systems like steering racks failing in these cars? The part at fault or the attention to detail of those assembling at the factory?
The Emira is the best looking car I’ve ever owned. The interior is high quality and I love the way it drives. As the car gets close to exiting warranty I need to consider what comes next. Failure to offer extended warranty on a £100k car suggests lack of confidence in your own product. It’s just not good enough. At Porsche prices there should be an extendable Porsche type warranty product backed by the marque. The pre warranty inspections would be work for the unhappy dealer network as well.
Why have so many things been allowed to go wrong? Who is actually culpable?
Will Geely hold the line or is Hethel getting closed? The uncertainty around that alone must put many off buying new.
If love to see a brand resurgence. As it stands the worlds oldest Lotus dealer doesn’t even sell new product anymore.

Doors done at dealership paintshops are in the region of £5/6k, special price for warranty work, add another 20/30% if paying out of warranty. This from the dealers paintshop manager. He also stated the are replacing replaced doors and gave done a couple of '25 cars.

Lotus are currently working on a warranty for out of warranty cars, they have helped provide a warranty for dealers for used cars that they will sell out of warranty.

 

[me73]

We don’t know whose fault the paint issue was for the Emira. But the fact they are having to pay dealers to retrofit doors with a revised design, because of a ‘design fault’ must have cost a small fortune. The external body shops dealers are contracting this work out to likely results in a conservative £1500. Add in the cost of new doors and the dealers time stripping and replacing the door mechanism, speakers etc and this endeavour is likely well north of £3k per car, for a pair of doors. It seems increasingly likely that all the doors for 22/23 and some 24 cars are affected the difference being whether they are garaged and used as sunny day cars or if they are parked outside and dailied.
Someone made a serious error here and it must be eating into the per unit profit margin. Given the depth of engineering talent- shouldn’t that door design with intrinsic fault, have been identified pre-production?
Who made the decision to let the press have pre production cars to test, resulting in less than stellar early reviews?
Why are proven systems like steering racks failing in these cars? The part at fault or the attention to detail of those assembling at the factory?
The Emira is the best looking car I’ve ever owned. The interior is high quality and I love the way it drives. As the car gets close to exiting warranty I need to consider what comes next. Failure to offer extended warranty on a £100k car suggests lack of confidence in your own product. It’s just not good enough. At Porsche prices there should be an extendable Porsche type warranty product backed by the marque. The pre warranty inspections would be work for the unhappy dealer network as well.
Why have so many things been allowed to go wrong? Who is actually culpable?
Will Geely hold the line or is Hethel getting closed? The uncertainty around that alone must put many off buying new.
If love to see a brand resurgence. As it stands the worlds oldest Lotus dealer doesn’t even sell new product anymore.

Extended warranty is a HUGE profit maker for manufacturers. I expect that there's a problem in Lotus' ability to offer it rather than a lack of confidence in the product.

 

[SimonT]

Extended warranty is a HUGE profit maker for manufacturers. I expect that there's a problem in Lotus' ability to offer it rather than a lack of confidence in the product.

3rd party, Car Care Plan, is the one offered by Lotus Dealers in conjunction with Lotus.

 

[shinoo]

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!

 

[John_Matrix]

Where the cars are made matters to me. I suspect it matters to others as well.

 

[Tomwa]

Where the cars are made matters to me. I suspect it matters to others as well.

I have argued on this side, that people will care, and certainly I think some folks will.

People do pay attention to where BMW M models are built compared to others. People pay attention to where Mercedes GLE is built vs G Class.

But, I don't think enough people care that will make a difference. Some will, but even those who care where a car is built should be open to new data. Lotus cars built in Hethel aren't defect free by any means, one might hesitate and be concerned about moving away from UK manufacturing but if the new cars built in SC, or Czechia, or wherever are better? Better QC, less defects, higher quality?

If you still 'prefer' cars built in Hethel at that point its all copium and a fantasy you are telling yourself.

 

[dgrace]

She’s also better looking than Matt……

Is she taller?

 

[Nick in Sydney]

Mao Jingbo seems to have a good track record at MB, Lincoln, and Lotus China.

I bet that Mao will turn out to be a short-term "acting GM", while they recruit a suitable replacement. After all, how the hell is she going to run Hethel, Coventry and Germany from China?! Is she going to relocate to Norfolk . . . I doubt it!

 

[virtualmacho]

There is so much we don't know about the new management... Would be nice if she relocates to Norfolk with helmet and gloves, sets a course record around Hethel, and does a tear-down / rebuild of a V6 transmission.

 

[shinoo]

Where the cars are made matters to me. I suspect it matters to others as well.

Yes, and it matters to a few other purists. Sadly there are not enough of us to financially make the business case for Lotus - sustainable.

Do you remember seeing e30 M3s and NSXs sitting unsold on Dealer lots back in the 90s? I do. These realities cause auto companies to look for other ideas to save on the cost of production like platform sharing, out-sourced production, etc.

The new FordGT and Mustang GTD are produced in Canada - not by Ford but by MultiMatic. In fact MM, have done much of the engineering and manufacturing development for both cars. Of course many Americans consider Canada our 51st state... Our friends in the Great White North are doing a nice job with these cars, yet, as a nation, have no real car brands of their own or accomplished racing pedigree.

China and India are huge economies with middle class equal to the size of US population. This is the place to start producing 'affordable' sportscars if you want to see them in the future. Unless of course folks are willing to pay $200k for an Emira produced in Hethel by English management who lag at adopting world-class manufacturing practices.

I want Lotus to succeed. I have put my money behind them having purchased several new Lotus and dozens of used ones as well, in the last 20yrs. I have supported the community with parts and service to keep them loyal to the Lotus brand. I just believe that Lotus will have to seriously change their manufacturing strategy to be financially viable for the long haul. Or get folded into a much larger brand that can absorb the losses...

 

[John_Matrix]

There is little money in sports cars. The market has changed. Twenty years ago BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar and others all offered open top sports cars or sports coupes. No more SLK, TT or XK (f type) consumers want small SUV’s. With automatic transmissions, CarPlay and finance.
Who has got £100k for a bespoke 2 seat sports car? The answer is not nearly enough people. Even among those that have the means you have to ignore a lot of other new and nearly sports cars to choose a new Emira.
Which brand has the resources and the will to become parent to a company making one niche car in the UK? I just can’t see it.
In the vanishingly unlikely scenario where manufacture is relocated, Is the quality really going to see a step change improvement by this stage in the life cycle? We should be seeing a facelift car. The fact we aren’t speaks volumes.

 

[Lotustoronto]

Yes, and it matters to a few other purists. Sadly there are not enough of us to financially make the business case for Lotus - sustainable.

Do you remember seeing e30 M3s and NSXs sitting unsold on Dealer lots back in the 90s? I do. These realities cause auto companies to look for other ideas to save on the cost of production like platform sharing, out-sourced production, etc.

The new FordGT and Mustang GTD are produced in Canada - not by Ford but by MultiMatic. In fact MM, have done much of the engineering and manufacturing development for both cars. Of course many Americans consider Canada our 51st state... Our friends in the Great White North are doing a nice job with these cars, yet, as a nation, have no real car brands of their own or accomplished racing pedigree.

China and India are huge economies with middle class equal to the size of US population. This is the place to start producing 'affordable' sportscars if you want to see them in the future. Unless of course folks are willing to pay $200k for an Emira produced in Hethel by English management who lag at adopting world-class manufacturing practices.

I want Lotus to succeed. I have put my money behind them having purchased several new Lotus and dozens of used ones as well, in the last 20yrs. I have supported the community with parts and service to keep them loyal to the Lotus brand. I just believe that Lotus will have to seriously change their manufacturing strategy to be financially viable for the long haul. Or get folded into a much larger brand that can absorb the losses...

+1 for Canada.... Lotus should move manufacturing to here instead of US. We have all the resources to build EV's! At least we can say it stays in the Commonwealth! MultiMatic also worked on the suspension for Evija.

"The Lotus Evija, a British all-electric hypercar, incorporates Multimatic's advanced suspension technology, specifically their DSSV spool-valve dampers. Multimatic also provides other key automotive electronic systems and engineering expertise to the Evija. The Evija leverages this technology to deliver a blend of extreme track performance and on-road comfort. "

From my understanding Multimatic is pretty much the new Lotus as they work with many OEM's for performance and suspension. - https://www.multimatic.com/

Would be something else if they ventured off and created their own brand, just like Lotus - The Canadian Lotus!