RE: Lotus Looks To Bob Lutz

[thirsty]

David B Robson said:

Let's not forget, that this is one of the guys who helped write a whole new chapter to the history of General Motors

- Chapter 11

You obviously don't know much about Bob Lutz or even GM. Their problems went far beyond the car line up. Now that those issues are behind them, it's the cars that are helping them make a comeback. Some still are not great, but most GM cars are at least OK. Some are really good.

Lutz helped position them for "after Chapter 11" with a much better looking and more reliable car line up. He isn't a magician so he couldn't change everything, but he did wonders for a dying car company.

[Ozzie Osmond]

thirsty said:

it's the (GM) cars that are helping them make a comeback.

That is sooo much what Lotus needs to grasp. Building the right car at the right price. When Elise was launched it rapidly took sales from other sports cars (Renault Spider, MR2) because it was just so "right". The relative flop of Elan M100 didn't deter customers. They need to do the same again.

[B10]

When people use phrases like "brand experience" I feel very suspicious.

[Twincam16]

What Lutz does understand is the need for volume sales whilst also maintaining exclusivity.

Under Lutz at GM, we got the Pontiac Fiero and the Chevrolet Corvette C4 and ZR1. Spot the connection? Yes, that's right - Lutz was at least in part responsible for the original GM-Lotus buyout following Lotus development of American cars to turn them from wallowing barges to credible machines that could hold their own against European imports. In short, he recognises Lotus's strengths.

He also did the once-unthinkable and allowed the creation of the first reliable Lotus - the Elan M100 - by allowing them access to GM's RnD funds.

Under Lutz GM ownership, American Lotus fans also got the Esprit Jim Clark and X180 editions - race-bred versions we didn't get over here, sadly. The Esprit became a popular racing car, and he also managed to get the Basic Instinct product placement.

Hopefully Lutz will manage to retain the small sports cars as affordable entry-level exotics that can be sold in America whilst applying Corvette thinking to the top end of the range.

Oddly enough, despite their completely different demeanours, the Corvette and Esprit have a lot in common - construction, price range, giant-killing ability, racing pedigree that everyone other than the Americans fails to notice...

[Mikeyboy]

Ed. said:

Ozzie Osmond said:

Dear Bob

Here's a suggestion using as many current parts as possible because lets face it Lotus needs a decent car which will attract customers and sell for less than £40,000 without the need to dip into an expensive options list.

1. Use your VVA achitecture's benefits to shorten and lighten Evora chassis.
2. Use a suitable Toyota V6 off the shelf. Doesn't matter which so long as it's cheap and it works.
3. Remove the roof (Elise style) but supply a proper hard roof panel which is easy to fit.
4. Restyle the back of the car to tidy it up into a proper sports car design which suits the shortened car. (Elise-ish)
5. Use as many existing components as possible to contain costs. De-content wherever posssible.
6. Slap a sticker for £39,950 on the windsreen and get ready to talk to customers.

"Build it and they will come"

Yours sincerely
Ozzie

So you want a V6 Elise for £40k
On subject, abandoning customers and enthusiasts interested in core values for some image fickle brand wes doesn't seem a good idea to me.

I've said it on another thread and I'll say it again. Just because thats what you like about Lotus doesn't mean that enough people like it as well. In fact the figures say that more people don't want to have that as their sports car than do and so they are losing money.
How many people have you had ask you in the street about your elise and then cringe when you say how much it cost?
When I had mine most people used to follow that up with "but its got nothing in it"
Thats the sports car market, SLKs Z4s and Boxsters not superlight stripped out beasties, no matter how much we might like them.
So if I were a hard nosed business man I'd be more than happy to kick a couple of thousand enthusiasts into touch so I could sell 22,100 Z4 like cars a year(2008), rather than the 20,000 or so it took them 8 years to sell of the Elise.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Mikeyboy said:

Thats the sports car market, SLKs Z4s and Boxsters ....So if I were a hard nosed business man I'd be more than happy to kick a couple of thousand enthusiasts into touch so I could sell 22,100 Z4 like cars a year(2008), rather than the 20,000 or so it took them 8 years to sell of the Elise.

You are absolutely 100% correct on that IMO.

Which still leaves the question who on earth wants to buy the bloomin' Evora for the kind of money they're asking?

[Mikeyboy]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Mikeyboy said:

Thats the sports car market, SLKs Z4s and Boxsters ....So if I were a hard nosed business man I'd be more than happy to kick a couple of thousand enthusiasts into touch so I could sell 22,100 Z4 like cars a year(2008), rather than the 20,000 or so it took them 8 years to sell of the Elise.

You are absolutely 100% correct on that IMO.

Which still leaves the question who on earth wants to buy the bloomin' Evora for the kind of money they're asking?

I unfortunately have to agree. Drove one. Adored it. And then worked out how much a decent specced one was and realised it would be cheaper to buy a 997 GT3 by the time I got the cash together.