Future of Lotus

[Bravo73]

From my understanding the skills being hired today differ from the skills let of two years ago. It was mostly Lotus Engineering personal that was laid off, but production skills being looked for now.

That is correct. It isn't the same roles being 'fired then hired'.

[Snoopy1969]

esp the fact mentioned by Thomas and Jonny is a very important one, that Point should be stressed in the media also to provide a more "detailed" view on it.

 

Lets see what Lotus is able to achieve this year / next year consdering the sales / production etc. Surely JMG has had a positive Impact on Lotus in General so far, I hope he is able to find a "Lotus" way.

 

@@@Andy, of course the Systems in the european countries are different, the "german System" has also ist "big" faults, because the difference of the normal wage to the reduced one is paid (at the end) by all Peoples tax... :-(....but if a big car Company will make huge profits again than - in General - the Money is not paid back...so - again General speaking - you can say that the Profit of the huge companies is "sponsored" by the "normal" tax payer........................of course all the Systems and their Impacts ect are very complex.

[C8RKH]

I agree Willi, just trying to show how relatively "hard" it is for a British Company like Lotus compared to some of its much bigger European counterparts who can sometimes benefit from very generous state intervention (and I not talking about inward investment, R&D grants etc).

 

Germany is not so bad really and is actually going through some pretty fundamental changes in reality, just don't get me started on the protectionist French who have been "subsidising" their large corporations out of general taxation for years and seemingly getting away with it without too much flak from Brussels or the rest of the EU.  

[NedaSay]

@@@nedasay, aurouge:

 

sorry, but getting rid of employees and hiring People again in a short time span might be econ. clever but for the People it is defin. NOT - when we praise handbuild cars we all should think of the People that build our cars - they are no robots so I am happy for every Person that is hired (maybe hired "again") but "real" Cleverness in my eyes is to Keep your workforce even if you are in some Trouble by trying other steps like cut down wages for a certain period with the Chance to get the "cut down" part back when the Company is in safer regions etc.

 

just my 2p

 

 

Most people that were let go were Lotus Engineering people (consultancy arm), most people that were recently hired are Lotus Cars (factory floor and offices).  

 

Yes, the cleverness is to keep as much of your workforce as you can, but you also need to give people room to grow... Essentially the fact that Matt Becker and others left gave Dave Marler and Gavan Kershaw ... a shot at doing more.  The cleverness is also to say we have a lot of capabilities in this field and we need to get some people to help us in these other fields and on a limited budget choices have to be made. The cleverness is to take the time and review the situation so that the best possible decision is made. As far as I remember the process took over 3 months and the number of people was not as high as initially anticipated. 

 

Then the people they recruited are also industry veterans who have worked for companies like Jaguar, Renault... They were hired for their skills and because their skills were relevant to Lotus needs This is the way companies work in order to stay relevant, in order to stay competitive last I checked. The company still promotes people from the inside and will recruit people on the outside when needed. 

 

Under DB, Lotus was top heavy, after DB's plan collapsed they just had way too many people in the offices as the initial DB's plan required a lot of people working a 4 projects at once with a much larger budget. When JMG joined, the company still had a few too many heads and not enough legs. The way I see it, JMG just rebalanced the company so that it can move forward affectively, a lean and mean green machine. 

 

 

As for the 3000 cars sold objective. I do honestly think that JMG, his staff and the bean counters at DRB made sure it was possible before announcing it.  Lotus financial year ends in April I think, so they have until april next year to reach the number,  and with the Elise still relevant, the Exige S and Exige S auto selling in high numbers, the Evora 400 ready to take on the USA by years end with an auto gearbox right away and more dealers worldwide it should be done. In addition there will be a small number of 311 that will also be sold within that financial year. all in all it should be a more comfortable year for lotus as Evora will generate higher margins.

 

And in 2016 Lotus will have time to consolidate stuff even more with the Evora roadster and I guess the Evora 450 in addition to the revamped Exige that should be presented in the last quarter. 

Edited August 28, 2015 by NedaSay

[Gravel]

Cutting wages upsets the entire staff, letting some people go upsets only some of them. Once you start cutting wages you are on a slippery slope that goes only one way. Morale slips, quality slips due to a lack of morale, then the product slips. Plus you have the entire work force that starts to look over its shoulder and think 'time to start looking for other work'. Each member of a workforce has commitments financially, and once you start and cut their salary, it forces them to look elsewhere.

Once those skilled people go, you cant just replace them. It takes years to train someone up to the quality required, and that costs a shed load of cash. However hard it looks, letting some go is a much better way of doing it than upsetting an entire workforce. However loyal a workforce is, real life always takes priority.

From my own experience in several jobs, it's pretty bad for morale having 10% or so of your colleagues fired, believe me! Just reminds the survivors how expendable we all are...

That is correct. It isn't the same roles being 'fired then hired'.

I think that would be pretty dodgy as it might count as constructive dismissal.

[Bibs]

That would be the case if they were rehiring the same positions, but as stated they're different roles/skills etc.

[auRouge]

@@@nedasay, aurouge:

sorry, but getting rid of employees and hiring People again in a short time span might be econ. clever but for the People it is defin. NOT - when we praise handbuild cars we all should think of the People that build our cars - they are no robots so I am happy for every Person that is hired (maybe hired "again") but "real" Cleverness in my eyes is to Keep your workforce even if you are in some Trouble by trying other steps like cut down wages for a certain period with the Chance to get the "cut down" part back when the Company is in safer regions etc.

just my 2p

I agree but it's a shitty world out there and ethics rarely come into it when a company is about to go kaput!!

I went through this sort of crap last summer and left on my own accord to join a far more competent owner and management! It's a public airline, you're all my ✈️boss

[Gravel]

I would have thought that the biggest threat for assembly line workers is ultimately robots.

There will probably always be a place for hand stitched this or hand finished that, but bonded by Dave or by sub-millimeter accuracy robot #23 - which would you prefer?

[DaveC72]

I would have thought that the biggest threat for assembly line workers is ultimately robots.

There will probably always be a place for hand stitched this or hand finished that, but bonded by Dave or by sub-millimeter accuracy robot #23 - which would you prefer?

 

Dave, obviously

[CaptainSlow]

I would have thought that the biggest threat for assembly line workers is ultimately robots.

There will probably always be a place for hand stitched this or hand finished that, but bonded by Dave or by sub-millimeter accuracy robot #23 - which would you prefer?

You would need some serious volumes to justify the cost of robots. Plus loosing in flexibility.

[Bazza 907]

We have a robot vacuum cleaner is called Dave

[C8RKH]

So do I Bazza. Mine's calledd Wife!

[NedaSay]

Interview of JMG in Automobile Mag :

http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/lotus-ceo-jean-marc-gales-talks-evora-400-future-suv/ 

 

It's official the Evora roadster is in fact a targa   and the SUV could make it stateside!

Edited September 23, 2015 by NedaSay

[C8RKH]

I like the idea of a targa, not a problem to me and I don't need the two back seats anyway either, so, a nice red one with a cognac interior, yummy....

[Snoopy1969]

@Andy, that is exactly the spec that was coming to my mind ... :-), thinking Tom Selleck / Magnum p. i.

[C8RKH]

Oh yes snoopy1969, I already have the Cuban's in a box ready for when I get it!!!

Thinking about re-trimming my current red evora in Cognac as find the black it has soooo boring.  Cognac, red stitching, red carpet and red seatbelts - lol - a real PI lurve machine.....

[Snoopy1969]

@‌Andy, your idea of an interior sounds a Little bit boring ;-) ...have a look at this.......

Like this!

[Gravel]

Well, the we do have an ageing population with a stack of wealth, so perhaps JMG is targeting that growth market. First make it easier to get in and out of, paint it bright orange to make it easier to find in a garden centre car  park.  Then offer tartan interior carpets and a CF tissue box holder in the rear plus National Trust membership on top of Lotus recovery - and you sell them by the boat load. Way more fun than an annuity too!

[C8RKH]

@‌Andy, your idea of an interior sounds a Little bit boring ;-) ...have a look at this.......

Like this!

Wow Snoopy that's more Huggy Bear Brown than Magnum PI - a bit too retro for me but I could see how it drifted in the day.

I guess we better get back on topic before being shot - so all I can say is that I hope JMG looks back to the Esprit for inspiration, but maybe not to that interior (I know it is not an Esprit!)  or some of the green/red tartan ones. Again, in the right car of the appropriate age, they look cool  

 

Edited September 25, 2015 by C8RKH

[Al]

Interview of JMG in Automobile Mag :

http://www.automobilemag.com/features/news/lotus-ceo-jean-marc-gales-talks-evora-400-future-suv/ 

 

It's official the Evora roadster is in fact a targa   and the SUV could make it stateside!

Thanks for posting that before some others took it in another direction  it was a good read.  I'm a for the Targa concept though.

I like the idea of a targa, not a problem to me and I don't need the two back seats anyway either, so, a nice red one with a cognac interior, yummy....

Andy from what I'm reading and as we discussed the Targa is the best of both worlds I think, so we keep the seats option / space for luggage most of the time and maybe just can't take the panels off when 4 up which is how often? 0.1% of the time in our cases.  If you are going for the Ardent Red to steal my thunder then I'll have to have a word with Brandon to knobble you.   Actually I could be easily talked into yellow or orange now we are seeing the 400 in more colours and somebody had a lovely bright metallic red on a elise I think it was in a post.  Hmmmmmmm.  How many kidneys does it take to survive?

[Bibs]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/automobiles/for-lotus-cars-a-new-chief-and-a-return-to-its-vaunted-lightness.html?mwrsm=Facebook&_r=0&referer

Nothing new and quite a few inaccuracies but good exposure all the same.

[USAndretti42]

 Was surprised to read the statement from the person at Ares Design that the 5-model plan was already started befor Dany arrived at Lotus

[NedaSay]

10 hours ago, USAndretti42 said:

 Was surprised to read the statement from the person at Ares Design that the 5-model plan was already started befor Dany arrived at Lotus

I do think MJK wanted to get 5 cars out eventually, the small Ethos thingy had been in development at Proton, Lotus "Advanced tech" in Malaysia, remember that at the same time Aston Martin was all about the Cygnet so that would have been a badging thing.  Elise was selling nicely, Exige V6 was almost ready, Evora was out and about and an Esprit chassis was in development. The goal was probably a 5 cars line up. Dany B. wanted it blinged up and got sidetracked by his delusion of grandeur.  That's my read on it.

And now the plan is to have 5 cars again : Elise, Exige, 3Eleven, Evora, and Essuvee with high degrees of commonalities between the cars : Proton components for the barely visible stuff, a brand new nervous system/loom that is being developed for the SUV and that will make it's way on all the cars. Just as all cars will get Toyota/AISIN powertrains. It's a more sensible plan less bling more achievable on ressources the company has now. 

[glm2000]

Roger Becker on FB:

"The Esprit Sport 300 created in a year (1992) when all was well at Lotus and the ideals of Lotus were understood and appreciated by staff and customers alike. And in that year Doc Bundy won the Imsa Supercar Championship against the tough opposition of Hans Stuck of Brumos Porsche, and Chris Boardman won Olympic Gold on the Lotus Sport Pursuit Bike which was a first British Cycling Gold Medal in 84 years! And to top all this the Elise as a concept was created. This by loyal and dedicated staff who are in these days forgotten by current management and frowned upon by the Malaysian owners! How sad is that!! RGB."

[NedaSay]

Bibs I came up on that write up: on the GTspirit website:

http://gtspirit.com/2015/12/10/lotus-exige-sport-350-review/

I put an extract here for quick read:

Quote

On a chilly morning in mid-December, we found ourselves parking up outside the new Lotus management offices at Potash Lane, Norfolk in the UK. The British brand were unveiling their latest hardcore, mid-engined road racer, the Lotus Exige Sport 350. We would be among the first journalists to experience it.

Lotus has had a difficult time of late, however, the glass buildings are a sign that things are finally starting to look up for the iconic British car manufacturer. From these buildings, the Lotus design and management teams are hard at work preparing future generations of Lotus models.

 

So there are new buildings on site?