Monday 19th January 2015

Pomp and circumstances: PH Blog

Dale reflects on contrasting fortunes at Bentley and Lotus after testing new cars from both

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The state of the British car industry is always a political and emotional minefield able to ignite passionate debates on PH. And there's nothing wrong with that. It shows we care. And last week I enjoyed driving two completely different new cars. Both very British, both carrying emotive badges and both, in their own ways, undeniably sports cars.

On Tuesday I was in Norfolk to drive the new Lotus Elise S Cup, then on Wednesday I was leaving Crewe behind the wheel of the Bentley Continental GT3-R. Yes, the kerb weight of the Lotus fits into that Bentley a little over two times and, yes, the cost of the Lotus fits into the asking price of the Bentley around five times. Contrasts abound. But none more shocking than in the atmosphere at the respective factories.

Lotus still builds great cars, needs folk to buy 'em

Each car sparked lively debate, PHers chipping in interesting observations on the position of each brand and where they're at right now. If you are a Lotus or Bentley fan, each of them is worth a glance.

From my own visits, I'll say this. At Hethel there's an atmosphere of stiff upper lip, heads down through the bad times and anticipating the good. Everybody I spoke to had confidence in the product, but nobody was bouncing off the ceiling with enthusiasm either. It's incredibly easy to ridicule Dany Bahahahaha (see, I did it just there) and his audacious plans and schemes. Many blame him for the difficult situation that Lotus now sits in. Sales are well below targets, the range is ageing fast and there's the feeling among many that a new model is impossible for the brand. In boss Jean-Marc Gales there does at least seem to be a man with a plan though.

The next day was a total contrast.

In Crewe the VW group link to Bentley is unbelievably strong. And energising too. It's all hustle and bustle. Waiting in reception I saw staff from Audi and Porsche signing in and out. The car park is awash with group products. The place is alive.

Both brands fly the flag with real pride

While Lotus lost £71.1m in 2014 sales still rose. Bentley saw sales leap nine per cent in 2014. That's over 11,000 new Bentleys at a minimum of £100K per car. Add the fact Crewe is, in VW speak, a "centre of excellence" for the W12 motor and interior trim, and you get this feeling that the very British brand is making waves in its new bigger, German-owned pond. The Bentayga SUV, loathsome as some may find it, will probably be a massive success. A massive British success, with a huge W12 motor at the front. And I think there'll be something else a bit more PH arriving soon after as well, judging only by the talents, connections and enthusiasms of the people they're hiring.

The fact that Bentley is "owned by ze Germans" doesn't really take away from the success at all. Like Lotus, they're a bunch of skilled and enthusiastic people making niche cars that don't fit in with the jelly moulded products sold in their millions around the world. Unlike Lotus, they're not saddled with crippling losses and a recent history of bad decisions.

But they do both build sporting cars that beat the world, with the Union Jack stuck on the side. And that's no bad thing.

Dale

 

[chelme]

'It's incredibly easy to ridicule Dany Bahahahaha (see, I did it just there) and his audacious plans and schemes. Many blame him for the difficult situation that Lotus now sits in.'

And many forget, Lotus was in dire straights before he got anywhere near the brand...Perhaps its the stiff upper lip approach, eh?? ;-)

[sunsurfer]

I thought Bahar's (or Lotus managements') overall idea of a range of modular sportscars made perfect economic and technical sense - this is exactly what McLaren is doing.

Where it all fell apart was in implementation of that idea.

[shoestring7]

So probably the best thing that could happen to Lotus is being bought by VAG?

SS7

[Chris Y]

I would rather Lotus shut down completely than be bought by a German company. People should stop whining about the "ageing product". How old is the 911? The Elise is still a fantastic car. The v6 models are also good but, I fancy, a tad pricey.

[suffolk009]

Lotus as part of the VAG brand would be dull.

I know Lamborghini have been financially doing rather better than before, but the cars don't excite me now. It's almost like they're trying to be the naughty rude teenager at the sensible family dinner table.

Lotus need new product, and people to buy it. I just don't know how that's going to happen.

[redroadster]

Why is it a mystery to some that a stripped out car with no creature comforts is not selling enough to cover costs but a car lavished with luxury is a place to be where many people want to park there bums,there's simply not a big enough market for lotus they have been doing it long enough has the penny not dropped ? .Porche don,t seem to have a problem selling there sports cars but they have mixed sportiness and luxury bit of a pattern forming. . . . .

[shoestring7]

The Crack Fox said:

shoestring7 said:

So probably the best thing that could happen to Lotus is being bought by VAG?

SS7

Can you tell the difference between most AudI/VW/Skoda and Seats? Do you look at any of them and get a bonk-on? I don't. VAG would kill Lotus.

I can also tell the difference between Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini (which may well give you a bonk-on), and are examples of VAG understanding a brand and giving it access to both funding and the sort of engineering/electronics resources sorely missing at Hethel.

SS7

[kbf1981]

Lotus is doing better now. The V6 Exige is great value for money. In terms of popularity, very few people buy stripped out sports cars. How many GT3's do Porsche sell vs. Cayennes?

[SidewaysSi]

kbf1981 said:

Lotus is doing better now. The V6 Exige is great value for money. In terms of popularity, very few people buy stripped out sports cars. How many GT3's do Porsche sell vs. Cayennes?

Exactly - the general car buying population does not get or understand Lotus. What they do want is a fancy (German) badge and comfort/speed to impress their mates. Stunning steering feel and handling is an alien concept to most.

[k-ink]

The vast sales of Bentley and the struggling sales of Lotus are simply a reflection of the current society: bankers getting richer while the vast majority of normal people are getting poorer. If I were Lotus I'd start selling over priced lardy SUVs or quit.

[suffolk009]

^^^^ Lotus do need to get into the SUV market. (though it saddens me to say it)

[M@1975]

Listening to a podcast this week where Americans were talking about the Exige and Elise and they described them as "dogsh*t that nobody in their right mind would spend the money on". I get the point they were making, no creature comforts, not easy to get in and out of, not expensive enough to impress people and not easy to get in and out of. These are all the things that would get Lotus selling in the USA and in most other countries. Instead it is what it is and if you stick with that you have to expect sales to be pretty much where they are.
I would have loved to own an Elise but getting in and out of my friend's Exige S on a reasonably regular basis was frankly an utter ballache and after anything over about 40 mins in it I started to feel a bit claustraphobic. I know there are the hardcore out there who will argue the toss but they build niche cars for short people.

[Beefmeister]

Chris Y said:

I would rather Lotus shut down completely than be bought by a German company.

And herein lies the biggest problem this country has.

Because Rolls Royce has done soooo badly out of being bought by a German company.

I find it baffling that someone would rather Lotus dies than still making cars under a German owner. Absurd.

[Sampaio]

VAG managed to make Lamborghini boring and utterly predictable... Other brands have done a great job at taking control of small brands though - BMW ressuscitated MINI (think about the success of the Cooper S and forget about the countryman for a moment) and did a great job with Rolls Royce as well. Aston Martin will soon be helped greatly by Mercedes/AMG and I can only imagine good things will come out of that partnership.
Lotus needs a bigger brother and I believe either BMW or the JLR group would be ideal partners.
It's either that or ending up like TVR...

[crofty1984]

sunsurfer said:

I thought Bahar's (or Lotus managements') overall idea of a range of modular sportscars made perfect economic and technical sense - this is exactly what McLaren is doing.

Where it all fell apart was in implementation of that idea.

I worked at Lotus during those years and think you're bang on the money.

[Dave Hedgehog]

SidewaysSi said:

kbf1981 said:

Lotus is doing better now. The V6 Exige is great value for money. In terms of popularity, very few people buy stripped out sports cars. How many GT3's do Porsche sell vs. Cayennes?

Exactly - the general car buying population does not get or understand Lotus. What they do want is a fancy (German) badge and comfort/speed to impress their mates. Stunning steering feel and handling is an alien concept to most.

when you doing 7mph on the M25 awesome steering feel is the last thing you care about

[Dave Hedgehog]

Sampaio said:

VAG managed to make Lamborghini boring and utterly predictable... Other brands have done a great job at taking control of small brands though - BMW ressuscitated MINI (think about the success of the Cooper S and forget about the countryman for a moment) and did a great job with Rolls Royce as well. Aston Martin will soon be helped greatly by Mercedes/AMG and I can only imagine good things will come out of that partnership.
Lotus needs a bigger brother and I believe either BMW or the JLR group would be ideal partners.
It's either that or ending up like TVR...

if you think this is boring you need help my friend

[Impasse]

Lotus sales are up 54% worldwide.
TLF clicky

[F1GTRUeno]

Impasse said:

Lotus sales are up 54% worldwide.
TLF clicky

So they've sold 6 instead of 3, get in.

[Vee12V]

That Continental GT3-R is just as much of a joke as most Bentley (esp Continental GT) drivers are nowadays.
It's not because they sell like hot pies to the nouveau riche, they should be applauded for it.