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.

 

[Nick in Sydney]

It's the most successful car Lotus has ever produced, so give him credit for that at least.

I was about to say the same thing, but then I remembered that Lotus sold over 35,000 Elises, so perhaps it's too soon to label Emira as their most successful car. On the other hand, it took them 26 years to sell all those Elises!

 

[freefall_junkie]

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.

Yes I agree with that. No doubt MW was working under major constraints imposed by Geely, and the Covid supply issues certainly made things much harder. However the buck for the mismanagement of the UK market (direct sales failure, oversupply, inept customer care etc) surely must stop at his door. There are some very talented engineers and designers at Lotus who came up with a great car in the Emira, and yes, it is by far the best selling Lotus model ever, but it seems to me that has happened in spite of not because of some of the decisions from the management at Hethel.

 

[Lotustoronto]

Lotus has been hemorrhaging good talent and clearly the Chinese led plan did not work. I don't know if I can blame Matt W for all of this. I doubt he was responsible for going to a direct sales model, this would have came from Geely in a bid to increase profitability and was an utter disaster. Perhaps the single biggest flop in the CS experience. I can blame Matt for the poor reliability of the car's roll out and endless issues in most early cars, but then again a new model roll out in a new factory setup, it's almost expected. I will say apart from some small issues, my Emira has been great! Vision 80 was something Matt and team created for the future of Lotus, and looked at Tesla as an example. Wrong strategy, it always easier to say after the fact, especially when Government regs was pushing EV's.

There is a big Pivot happening at Lotus and they are clearly scrambling to figure out where this company fits in the automotive world. The revival of Team Lotus and GT3 racing teams is a great start in the right direction. (and the teams look to be doing fairly well in Britain, Italy and China) Will they build the Macan Rival at Hethel? No chance, that is the high volume model and using Geely technology in the hyper hybrid, I fully expect this to be built at Lotus' Chinese factory. To be honest this model will be the make or break for Lotus and Geely ownership. Design, Range and performance all need to be better than the Macan EV. The comparison tests will be interesting.

So what will happen to Hethel? Besides ongoing Emira production, albeit in smaller, more Lotus numbers going forward (2K per year?) they now have a facility that can produce more. When you watch the launch of the De Tomaso P72 (with a Ford Mustang V8!) and an interior to rival Pagani, you couldn't help but wonder if the Evija went that route it would have been an absolute success. Even Ferrari will be launching a manual in its next Icona series car. Where does this leave Lotus and its desire to go up market? Keep the EV's and super Hybrid's from China going and make them better, but create the soul of the brand at Hethel. They will need a new Super Car or Emira variant that will produce some of the emotion that De Tomaso has been able to produce. A new Halo car. The polestar 6 and type 135 I think we're always the same vehicle, just looks like it won't be called a Lotus but a Polestar. Lotus will continue to live with ICE, at least a little while longer. Theory 1 with super hybrid tech would be interesting?

Finally, Lotus needs to do more than just leverage its brand history. Return to some higher level motorsport. Le Mans? F1 would be the ultimate, but a long shot. The only people following their history already know about it - they need to figure a way to get this out there to different demographics. Truly wish best of luck to Matt Windle's future success, he has his work cut out for him.

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

Lotus has been hemorrhaging good talent and clearly the Chinese led plan did not work. I don't know if I can blame Matt W for all of this. I doubt he was responsible for going to a direct sales model, this would have came from Geely in a bid to increase profitability and was an utter disaster. Perhaps the single biggest flop in the CS experience. I can blame Matt for the poor reliability of the car's roll out and endless issues in most early cars, but then again a new model roll out in a new factory setup, it's almost expected. I will say apart from some small issues, my Emira has been great! Vision 80 was something Matt and team created for the future of Lotus, and looked at Tesla as an example. Wrong strategy, it always easier to say after the fact, especially when Government regs was pushing EV's.

There is a big Pivot happening at Lotus and they are clearly scrambling to figure out where this company fits in the automotive world. The revival of Team Lotus and GT3 racing teams is a great start in the right direction. (and the teams look to be doing fairly well in Britain, Italy and China) Will they build the Macan Rival at Hethel? No chance, that is the high volume model and using Geely technology in the hyper hybrid, I fully expect this to be built at Lotus' Chinese factory. To be honest this model will be the make or break for Lotus and Geely ownership. Design, Range and performance all need to be better than the Macan EV. The comparison tests will be interesting.

So what will happen to Hethel? Besides ongoing Emira production, albeit in smaller, more Lotus numbers going forward (2K per year?) they now have a facility that can produce more. When you watch the launch of the De Tomaso P72 (with a Ford Mustang V8!) and an interior to rival Pagani, you couldn't help but wonder if the Evija went that route it would have been an absolute success. Even Ferrari will be launching a manual in its next Icona series car. Where does this leave Lotus and its desire to go up market? Keep the EV's and super Hybrid's from China going and make them better, but create the soul of the brand at Hethel. They will need a new Super Car or Emira variant that will produce some of the emotion that De Tomaso has been able to produce. A new Halo car. The polestar 6 and type 135 I think we're always the same vehicle, just looks like it won't be called a Lotus but a Polestar. Lotus will continue to live with ICE, at least a little while longer. Theory 1 with super hybrid tech would be interesting?

Finally, Lotus needs to do more than just leverage its brand history. Return to some higher level motorsport. Le Mans? F1 would be the ultimate, but a long shot. The only people following their history already know about it - they need to figure a way to get this out there to different demographics. Truly wish best of luck to Matt Windle's future success, he has his work cut out for him.

I know I’m beating a dead horse, but they just need to put an engine in the Evija

 

[DerTheDer]

Another bad move by Lotus, Windle needs to be out.