Lotus in the post DB era

[richardvg]

Judging by the article ,my last post would be applicable ...........

I could build more cars in a shed in 3 months than can be delivered in a year !

We are all aware that the build quality needs addressing but for goodness sake ! It is now like dealing with a bunch of politicians ......more bulls%^t and no action .

Speaking from experience and for which i will provide the proof within the next two to three weeks ,myself and a small team (5 in total) ,have taken two vans ,stripped them completely ,done extensive modifications and put them back together with functional equipment .This was a task that the " politicians" said was impossible to achieve and bla bla bla . The only piece that we have not done ourselves is the front and back seat.....every other item is bespoke yet production orientated as the second vehicle had to be identical and there are possibly more to come.

This has been achieved within a short period of time (1 August - 15 October)

The shed is 100 square meters .

In terms of Lotus ........well how the hell can you not put together ,let us say 50 cars in that period ........simple no planning .

I am so tired of seen financial bollocks ruling how things happen.

Without a frigging car ,you wouldnt have to worry about finance.!!!!!!

My opinion is that this company is closed already and needs to go back to basics without all the nonsense .

[simon@scuffham.com]

well said, it's not rocket science....

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

It's a horrible thought but could it be cheaper NOT to produce the Exige's on the order book then wait until February to sell up?

Very depressing times for Lotus.

Edited October 6, 2012 by Stirling_Villeneuve

[Guest surferphil]

Only if there is a serious flaw with the Exige and it cannot go into production, otherwise it makes no sense to hold back, the company would be worth more if there was a better return for investment.

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

What's the word on the Exige? I've been told "Over heating" and "Ball joints".

[DarrylV8]

the over heating issue must be serious, i remember a few years back Lotus sorting out over heating issue on a Ford (mondeo?)

mind you with the glass boot lid there doesent appear much escape for the engines hot air, are we going to get a lighter weight exige v6 using the gt evora grp boot lid from the gtn range?

[simon@scuffham.com]

at a guess, std elise radiator pack with AC etc is not going to cope with a 350hp in-efficient engine in a hot climate.

uprated ones wihout AC etc can only just cope 350-380hp engines

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

If this is the case wouldn't someone have spotted this is the development stage as opposed to leaving until production has ( allegedly ) started? It's not like the demo models haven't been driven half way around Europe either...

Edited October 7, 2012 by Stirling_Villeneuve

[Exploded]

Maybe the overheating issue is more an ambient engine room problem, than a problem of engine cooling.

That Ferrari style rear window, ain't probably helping a lot, to drop ambient heat.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Exploded

[Snoopy1969]

Yup, it sounds to me like they are just waiting until February and then they'll try to sell.

The revised GTE style Evora pictured looks fantastic, just what was needed to relaunch the model and generate sales. Why is it not on sale? Does anyone know if a new interior was planned for it?

The "GTE STyle" Front / front bumper has to be available (mansory?); on mobile.de there are two Evoras fitted with that, one is from Lotus Roma

[DanyBaharFan]

Dany Bahar - Lotus Lost Tapes Part One, June 2011

Edited October 8, 2012 by DanyBaharFan

[Guest surferphil]

Maybe it's like The Empire Strikes Back where they had trouble adapting the speeders to the cold.

Evora looks nice in Blue.

[Bibs]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/lotus-has-mountain-to-climb-as-debts-pile-up-8202915.html

[Bentzion]

http://www.independe...up-8202915.html

"There are fears that DRB is stripping out some of the engineering technology and that management still hopes to sell the business on to a Chinese owner."

I said this in a previous post. They may not be interested in LOTUS cars but rather the Engineering side only as it gives them vast intelectual property that has made Lotus money for decades. That knowledge can be applied to ANY manufacturer. It's contract work: The client pays for the development plus a profit. That's more attractive then jostling for market share in a very competitive market that can be fickle! I hope the government step in if that is true.

[Iconic Ride]

Can't believe I'm even asking this, but does the UK and/or Malaysia have the legal equivalent of U.S. "Chapter 11 Bankruptcy" law, whereby a corporation in dire financial straits can basically zero out their existing debts (or pay "pennies on the dollar") and essentially start over with a clean slate? It's an action of last resort, or course, but if the spate of recent articles is any indication of the truth of what is happening with Lotus at the moment, it may very well come to this. The process of going through such a bankruptcy is not fun, for either employees or their employer, but it certainly beats the alternative of complete liquidation.

I don't suppose Mr Lopez has answered the auction hall page put out earlier?

[TBD]

I don't suppose Mr Lopez has answered the auction hall page put out earlier?

I'm sure he is still watching and waiting.

[simonb]

Very worrying Independent article. Not paying the revenue and not paying suppliers is not a good way forward. Cannot see decent staff staying if their deductions are not being passed on to the revenue.

How the hell did they draw down 200 million (or even close to that) with so little delivered

[DarrylV8]

Does not make for good reading; hopefully GL will purchase Lotus and steer the company in the right direction.

As others have stated above, Lotus need to sort the Exige out very quickly and get the cars to the new owners pretty smartly.

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

The articles get worse, the rumours more and more bleak and yet DRB remain silent. The suggestion that some of the technology is be removed is the worst signal yet.... if there's any substance in that one. Any thoughts on who the prospective Chinese buyer might be?

[TBD]

Actually the article is not all bad. It shows quite well where Lotus has to get costs down. Their overhead costs are just too high, so this is where cost cutting has to hit. Cancelling the Paris car show would fit this picture, though I doubt if they ere actually able to recover a lot of the previously commited costs.

However, the article would also fall into a bigger picture of window dressing Lotus for a sale. Making production costs look small in comparison to high overhead costs is a proven method of blowing the cost saving potential up in front of a potential sale. It makes the production lien look more profitable. But, this message isn't really tailored to a Chinese buyer, whose edge is in reeducing production costs. Its the potential European buyers who would find overhead costs the easiest to slash.

Interesting is that the article cites "ARM, Logica and OCS" as key suppliers that Lotus hasn't paid. ARM and OCS are people trader, i.e. they provide external staff and Logica is an IT company. Their involvement would hardly be in the production line, but in the development of DB's five car plan. Did Logica by any chance build a new SAP-system for Lotus?

Oh, and I wouldn't pay a supplier delivering bad ball joints either!

Edited October 9, 2012 by TBD

[Guest surferphil]

Can't believe I'm even asking this, but does the UK and/or Malaysia have the legal equivalent of U.S. "Chapter 11 Bankruptcy" law, whereby a corporation in dire financial straits can basically zero out their existing debts (or pay "pennies on the dollar") and essentially start over with a clean slate? It's an action of last resort, or course, but if the spate of recent articles is any indication of the truth of what is happening with Lotus at the moment, it may very well come to this. The process of going through such a bankruptcy is not fun, for either employees or their employer, but it certainly beats the alternative of complete liquidation.

I don't suppose Mr Lopez has answered the auction hall page put out earlier?

I think basically once you file for bankruptcy those who you owe money to get your assets, the rules are different for different types of business but essentially the receivers own the assets. Usually there is a bankruptcy court involved to divide the assets but agreements can be made to satisfy the creditors although I don't think that is a statutory right. The buiness stops trading if a creditor is not paid.

It's not always wise for a creditor to apply to a bankruptcy court as you may never be paid if the company has no assets and is freed of debt once the assets are gone.

A PLC looses the stakeholders money and companies assets, a Ltd company looses the companies money and a sole trader looses the business and everything they own but the clothes on their backs.

It isn't Lotus that owes money, its Proton

[jonwat]

Report in today's Evening Standard:

Suppliers ‘owed £23m’ as Lotus crisis deepens

[Bibs]

That's the same piece as The Independent, same author too!

[Bentzion]

We may all just be jumping the gun here OR NOT. The fact that we're not geting information is worse of course. It's like a CIA torture black out room. The more the silence the more your brain goes into overtime.

This may all work out in the end. Since this is a forum and is very active it seems like an eternity every 24hrs that goes by without any progress. Especially when articles like that come out.

[douglasgdmw]

Just wondering how many people have cancelled their order for the V6 Exige based upon all the stories and lack of clarity on dates?

Getting a little bit nervous myself about all the negative press, like all of us I really want Lotus to survive but wondering where this would leave me if it all went pear shaped if I ever get the V6 Exige delivered next March (or if ever)?

George