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

 

[Lotustoronto]

Seems you know a lot more details than I do. However, I imagine that Geely funding came with some level of influence and I think I can see it in the Eletre and the Emeya execution. These vehicles are antithetical to everything Lotus has traditionally stood for. I agree the world was headed to EVs back then. I think the Evija did it in a way that respects the Lotus brand (hydraulics in the steering, conventional brakes, focus on dynamics) and I was optimistic that the Type 135 was going to as well. The Emeya and Eletre seem like they slapped a lotus logo on some other brand’s product.

I hear ya, and the EV’s aren’t very Lotus. But everyone does it. The Bentley Bentega / Porsche Cayene and Q7 are all a VW Touareg. I think the Lambo Urus is on the same platform with VW parts stamped all over.

 

[NJemira85]

My opinion is based on my experience as a frustrated buyer. I'm still waiting for my Emira, going on for 14 months now. I don't understand why UK was flooded with Emiras while the US supply is just a trickle. I don't work for Lotus but I think there were several buyers in the US who have orders but just walked away due to the long wait . This is lost opportunity for Lotus which was under Windle's leadership. Lotus, ship your darn cars to the US while people are still interested. Don't leave money on the table. I'm sure dealers are frustrated as well, having a list of eager customers but no cars to sell. Lotus, you have customers. Make them well and ship them fast.

There are lots of cars for sale in us. Just have one shipped to you

 

[NJemira85]

I hear ya, and the EV’s aren’t very Lotus. But everyone does it. The Bentley Bentega / Porsche Cayene and Q7 are all a VW Touareg. I think the Lambo Urus is on the same platform with VW parts stamped all over.

Yes lambo is same.

Ironically, the bentayga at least got its own unique engine (w12tt).

The rest all have identical v8

 

[Jinba ittai]

I hear ya, and the EV’s aren’t very Lotus. But everyone does it. The Bentley Bentega / Porsche Cayene and Q7 are all a VW Touareg. I think the Lambo Urus is on the same platform with VW parts stamped all over.

Yeah, but those are all commercial successes. There’s something different with Lotus. Lotus buyers are so fanatical about the driving experience they are willing to look past the dealer network, reliability, customer service, etc. If Lotus doesn’t deliver on the driving experience it’s the worst of all worlds.

 

[Lotustoronto]

Yeah, but those are all commercial successes. There’s something different with Lotus. Lotus buyers are so fanatical about the driving experience they are willing to look past the dealer network, reliability, customer service, etc. If Lotus doesn’t deliver on the driving experience it’s the worst of all worlds.

I think you just described the failure perfectly. Lotus buyers were slowly dwindling away and eventually the company would shut down making only small light weight sports cars. The biggest part to Vision 80 was expanding dealer network, working on reliability and fixing customer service to meet demand. That's why they hired so many new executives to make sure that got implemented. Each one of those executives failed to meet targets, and have either left or been fired. Geely looks as it is their fault, I'm sure the employees blame the parent company in lack of support. The answer is somewhere in the middle. Nonetheless, the guys in charge of fixing the problems you outlined ended up leaving and left a trail of chaos in its wake. Lotus must pivot into larger scale production with SUV's that sell or its dealer footprint will be severely reduced across the globe as who would want to take on a company that sells 1 vehicle? There needs to be a business case for dealer networks to come on board. People buy 911's because Macan buyers keep the dealership lights on. Porsche in 1990's was in the exact same predicament, only selling the 911 and about to go bankrupt. Porsche were sold at VW dealers back in the day. Without the pivot to VW based SUV's they would not be anywhere near as successful and it mirrors Lotus in so many ways.

Porsche sales numbers from the 1980's - a fraction of what it is today.

• 1980–1983 (estimate): ~6,000–7,000 units per year (based on milestone deductions)
• 1984: 13,428 units
• 1985: 11,859 units
• 1986: 15,120 units
• 1987: 14,472 units
• 1988: 12,641 units
• 1989: 12,863 units

Last thing I want to add... Lotus reminds me more of Maserati at the moment than Porsche of the 1990's. Mclaren IMO seems to be the one that is best positioned to evolve into a larger luxury focused brand. Time will tell.