Tuesday 29th June 2010

Lotus Looks To Bob Lutz

Norfolk sports car maker looks to global execs to help with its future

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The seemingly unretirable Bob Lutz is rumoured to be taking on an advisory role at Lotus. The move would be part of Lotus's five-year plan to turn itself from a niche track day specialist into a global premium sports car brand.

Motor industry website Automotive News Europe has reported that the former GM man has had formal talks with Lotus, though no official job offer from Lotus has yet been made.

Also in Lotus's sights is former senior BMW man Tom Purves. "The goal is to make a contribution to projects of the future - improving the quality, the product offerings and the operations of the company," he told Automotive News, "It's exciting, and there is no question it is a great brand and has a good future."

[Andy T]

Oh dear...

[MrTappets]

Okaay. Is this good? I'm not quite sure what to think.

[JohnGoodridge]

The Crack Fox said:

Lotus need someone to help them make a profit. Lutz was head of GM who made collosal losses. Hmmm.....

So maybe they'll be paying him a colossal amount to do the opposite of his advice. (Lotus in expensive executive reverse psychology shenanigans...)


This whole Lotus 'makeover' has me worried, too many big egos involved and rumours of messing with the core values of lightness and simplicity. I know they need to make a bob or two but dear God, please let it end well.

[bing]

JohnGoodridge said:

The Crack Fox said:

Lotus need someone to help them make a profit. Lutz was head of GM who made collosal losses. Hmmm.....

So maybe they'll be paying him a colossal amount to do the opposite of his advice. (Lotus in expensive executive reverse psychology shenanigans...)


This whole Lotus 'makeover' has me worried, too many big egos involved and rumours of messing with the core values of lightness and simplicity. I know they need to make a bob or two but dear God, please let it end well.

What he ^^^^ said

[tgx4776]

Sounds like Lotus is over. This is a dark time.

[David B Robson]

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

[dinkel]

tgx4776 said:

Sounds like Lotus is over. This is a dark time.

Wiki:
"Lutz has expressed skepticism on the issue of global warming, and on one occasion referred to it as "a total crock of sh@it."

He was at BMW in the early 70s and did good work. He must have quite a network.

[bermy boy]

The only thing for it is a Pistonheads members buy-out. I'm for a hundred quid. Any takers?

[MX7]

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

+ Welcome.

Their staff list is going to read like a Who's Who of the motor industry.

[Ozzie Osmond]

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

[Insight]

bermy boy said:

The only thing for it is a Pistonheads members buy-out. I'm for a hundred quid. Any takers?

Not an entirely impossible idea. Imagine Lotus is worth £50 million (I made up this figure). That's 50,000 Pistonheaders putting in £1,000 each. Enough money to care about the outcome but not enough to have to sell your house for. Kind of like any golf club in the country that's owned by it's members.

Edited by Insight on Tuesday 29th June 17:28

[TheRoadWarrior]

JohnGoodridge said:

The Crack Fox said:

Lotus need someone to help them make a profit. Lutz was head of GM who made collosal losses. Hmmm.....

So maybe they'll be paying him a colossal amount to do the opposite of his advice. (Lotus in expensive executive reverse psychology shenanigans...)


This whole Lotus 'makeover' has me worried, too many big egos involved and rumours of messing with the core values of lightness and simplicity. I know they need to make a bob or two but dear God, please let it end well.

Pun intended?

On the whole PH-Lotus-buyout; i'm in.. not feeling flushed this month though, say.. £500?

[Ed.]

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.

[peter450]

The Crack Fox said:

Lotus need someone to help them make a profit. Lutz was head of GM who made collosal losses. Hmmm.....

He'll be an expert on what not to do then

[Benmac]

I'm somewhat less than enthused by this news but at least PH managed to refer to him with using the phrase 'car guy'.

[alexpa]

Insight said:

bermy boy said:

The only thing for it is a Pistonheads members buy-out. I'm for a hundred quid. Any takers?

Not an entirely impossible idea. Imagine Lotus is worth £50 million (I made up this figure). That's 50,000 Pistonheaders putting in £1,000 each. Enough money to care about the outcome but not enough to have to sell your house for. Kind of like any golf club in the country that's owned by it's members.

Edited by Insight on Tuesday 29th June 17:28

That'll be 50,000 chefs in the Kitchen then. I'll write mein Lotus, have a putsch, and with the help of my british racing green shirts take over as supreme leader of Lotus. What I say goes, the occultist in me will force the 5 key strenghts of lightness, agility, form in harmony with function, high performance, and resonable comfort. Oh and beauty to behold, of course!

[AnotherClarkey]

Dear oh dear. Maybe Lotus have had enough of 'being on the brink of bankruptcy' over the years and want someone skilled in going the whole way? Under what terms would you sign up a loser like Lutz?

[Supersante]

AnotherClarkey said:

Dear oh dear. Maybe Lotus have had enough of 'being on the brink of bankruptcy' over the years and want someone skilled in going the whole way? Under what terms would you sign up a loser like Lutz?

Would suggest you check out Bob Lutz's CV before making statements like that.

[AnotherClarkey]

Supersante said:

AnotherClarkey said:

Dear oh dear. Maybe Lotus have had enough of 'being on the brink of bankruptcy' over the years and want someone skilled in going the whole way? Under what terms would you sign up a loser like Lutz?

Would suggest you check out Bob Lutz's CV before making statements like that.

Is it that great? Exide? Ford? Chrysler? GM? Cunningham?

[Frimley111R]

Supersante said:

AnotherClarkey said:

Dear oh dear. Maybe Lotus have had enough of 'being on the brink of bankruptcy' over the years and want someone skilled in going the whole way? Under what terms would you sign up a loser like Lutz?

Would suggest you check out Bob Lutz's CV before making statements like that.

Didn't I see him in Autocar recently where they creditted him with beginning to turn GM around? Just because he may have made mistakes in the past doesn't mean he'll make them again and I'd expect he has has masses of skill to impart to Lotus.