Matt Windle promoted, says he wants to build more cars at Hethel

Hot off the presses!

Lotus has a new European boss – and he wants to build more cars at the firm's Norfolk factory | Autocar

Production at the brand's UK base could be broadened, says Matt Windle, potentially to include the Polestar 6

www.autocar.co.uk

 

[Teshoo Lama]

Very interesting.

I speculated in another thread that Geely may see the British leg of the Lotus strategy (global brand-building) as actually outperforming. The problems have come from poor execution on the China EV side (range/efficiency).

There's hope for Hethel yet!

 

[seriously]

Based on his comments, it seems he has a good handle on the realities of the current situation. Diversify manufacturing at hethel, slow down on electric sports car, expand dealer network (which is a real hindrance for some people's buy decision).

 

[Black Ice]

Based on his comments, it seems he has a good handle on the realities of the current situation. Diversify manufacturing at hethel, slow down on electric sports car, expand dealer network (which is a real hindrance for some people's buy decision).

I agree, especially in regard to the dealer network. My nearest is the best part of 2.5 hours away which isn’t great (certainly by UK standards!). I live in a “regional capital” as well so it’s not like I’m out in the sticks!

 

[UCLAFC]

“The deal recently agreed between the UK and US to lower those tariffs to 10% has helped Lotus, but Windle has yet to press go on restarting shipments to the US as he waits for the details.
"The headline numbers have gone out there, but actually the specifics behind it still haven't been clarified,” he said.
“There's product that's ready to ship, but what we don't want to do is jump the gun and end up getting clobbered.”

 

[Nick in Sydney]

I'm convinced the right strategy is:

1. Quietly kill off the Emeya and Eletre and stop using the contract factory in Wuhan
2. Build the TYP 134 (Macan competitor) in Hethel with a hybrid engine. This could be done alongside the Polestar 6 electric roadster to get volume savings. Manufacturing in Hethel makes it viable for both these vehicles to be sold in the USA and Europe from a tariff POV

 

[freefall_junkie]

Matt Windle seem like a nice guy, but when you consider the absolute cluster f**k of bad management during the Emira rollout I am surprised he is still in a job, let alone promoted . Where do I start? The complete failure and subsequent abandonment of the direct sales model which alienated both dealers and customers, the production delays, the quality issues and associated huge warranty costs, the wholly avoidable oversupply of the UK market leading to tanking residuals, the lack of a coherent product strategy, the woeful customer comms and service, the list goes on and on....

 

[Nick in Sydney]

Matt Windle seem like a nice guy, but when you consider the absolute cluster f**k of bad management during the Emira rollout I am surprised he is still in a job, let alone promoted . Where do I start? The complete failure and subsequent abandonment of the direct sales model which alienated both dealers and customers, the production delays, the quality issues and associated huge warranty costs, the wholly avoidable oversupply of the UK market leading to tanking residuals, the lack of a coherent product strategy, the woeful customer comms and service, the list goes on and on....

I guess when they compared the Emira to the disaster that is Emeya and Eletre, he looked pretty good!

 

[Hobiedick]

Matt Windle seem like a nice guy, but when you consider the absolute cluster f**k of bad management during the Emira rollout I am surprised he is still in a job, let alone promoted . Where do I start? The complete failure and subsequent abandonment of the direct sales model which alienated both dealers and customers, the production delays, the quality issues and associated huge warranty costs, the wholly avoidable oversupply of the UK market leading to tanking residuals, the lack of a coherent product strategy, the woeful customer comms and service, the list goes on and on....

I totally agree with you!!

 

[cwfg]

Their corporate structure may not have given him as much choice/control over some of those things as it may appear. No doubt there was a higher level strategic plan coming down from Geely that he had to work towards that constrained his personal vision. Perhaps he was shouting about doing it differently previously and now they are giving him a change given the shifted landscape and poor business results. Tariffs alone make it more palatable to ramp up production in the UK for a Chinese firm. Perhaps a blessing in disguise for many Lotus stakeholders (i.e. the drivers).

 

[Eagle7]

Matt Windle seem like a nice guy, but when you consider the absolute cluster f**k of bad management during the Emira rollout I am surprised he is still in a job, let alone promoted . Where do I start? The complete failure and subsequent abandonment of the direct sales model which alienated both dealers and customers, the production delays, the quality issues and associated huge warranty costs, the wholly avoidable oversupply of the UK market leading to tanking residuals, the lack of a coherent product strategy, the woeful customer comms and service, the list goes on and on....

Problem is, we don't know how much of what happened was the result of his decisions, or following plans he was given from upstairs. There's also the unbelievable mess of what was taking place in the world at that time, and to his credit, he didn't give up on the Emira but persisted and got it into production. It's the most successful car Lotus has ever produced, so give him credit for that at least.