RE: Lotus Terminates European Dealer Network

RE: Lotus Terminates European Dealer Network

Thursday 8th July 2010

Lotus Terminates European Dealer Network

CEO serves two-year notice period on European dealers as part of radical shake-up



Lotus boss Dany Bahar has written to the sports car maker's entire dealer network to tell them that their current contracts will terminate in July 2012.

The massive shake-up of the European Lotus dealer network is part of Lotus's plans to overhaul the entire company within the next five years.

According to Autocar, Lotus's current contract with its dealers requires a two-year notice period for the termination of contracts.

Existing dealers and franchise holders will be able to apply for a new contract, but Lotus won't yet reveal exactly what it plans to do with its European sales network.

Lotus will also reveal its new product plans - though not necessarily its sales network strategy - at the Paris motor show in September.

Author
Discussion

ReVolt

Original Poster:

34 posts

164 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
That's a bit of a shock!?

bertie

8,545 posts

283 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
Oh no!

Lotus signs suicide pact!

dberkmen

40 posts

266 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
That'll be a sigh of relief for most of them... wink

[AJ]

3,079 posts

197 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
Don't worry, before we know it, the Exige and 211 will be but a distant memory and we'll all be used to seeing these with lotus badges on:


weeping




SAndals

170 posts

173 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all


Wait a minute - when did she become Lotus boss?

Andy T

468 posts

227 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
I'd buy a car off her!

Oddball RS

1,757 posts

217 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
Skids under em, what will they be selling in 2 years anyway?

Creative FX

4 posts

168 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
Their aim is to go rapidly upmarket. This will mean getting rid of owner / driver type Dealerships (normally run by enthusiasts such as Bell & Colvill) and replace them with either Lotus owned 'Centres of Excellence' or large PLC's managing huge sales zones. Whatever happens it will be more professional for a larger prestige marque but will naturally cost us, the consumers (if we choose to stay with Lotus) more in the long run.

And on a much more serious note - just how hot is that pic of Danny??????

Tuna

19,930 posts

283 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
Interesting stats... Lotus have only 8 dealerships in Germany, and last year sold fewer cars in that country than Morgan.

It was fairly obvious that the dealer network was going to have to change if they were to make any inroads to selling a larger product line-up. This seems like a pretty extreme way of achieving that, but it wouldn't surprise me if the 'good' dealerships are welcomed back into the fold, whilst some of the under performing ones are let go.

bertie

8,545 posts

283 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
My main problem is if I was going to spend the thick end of 100 large on a car, would I be thinking Lotus.........err, no.

cqueen

2,620 posts

219 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
bertie said:
My main problem is if I was going to spend the thick end of 100 large on a car, would I be thinking Lotus.........err, no.
Maybe not in it's current format...

Edited by cqueen on Thursday 8th July 17:17

theturbs

949 posts

235 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all

Given what's been said about the intended push upmarket, my guess is that Lotus will establish "Official Centres" along the lines of what Porsche did a few years back

Greg_D

6,542 posts

245 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
cqueen said:
bertie said:
My main problem is if I was going to spend the thick end of 100 large on a car, would I be thinking Lotus.........err, no.
Maybe not in it's current format...

Edited by cqueen on Thursday 8th July 17:17
Exactly, who would have thought that people would fall over themselves to spend £50k+ on a Nissan

But i do agree though, the signs aren't good

Greg

RTH

1,057 posts

211 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
So you desperately need new car sales ?

Here's and idea, sack all the dealers in Europe

........Perhaps they will put Victoria Beckam on their board !

odyssey2200

18,650 posts

208 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
Lotus getting too big for their boots?

If they try to push the network around without having the level of dealer profitability that allows the dealers to comply while still being profitable this could backfire badly.



Edited by odyssey2200 on Thursday 8th July 18:12

bertie

8,545 posts

283 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
cqueen said:
bertie said:
My main problem is if I was going to spend the thick end of 100 large on a car, would I be thinking Lotus.........err, no.
Maybe not in it's current format...

Edited by cqueen on Thursday 8th July 17:17
It's very difficult to change a brands position though.

Could you really see yourself spending £100k on a Lotus and not a Porsche / Ferrari / Lamborghini / Aston / Bentley?

PascalBuyens

2,868 posts

281 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
Can't see this ending good...

chickensoup

469 posts

254 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all

May not be the first with a proton badge

noclue

109 posts

175 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
In times when cash is tight overheads are the first thing a company looks at. Lotus probably believe that the people buying Lotuses have already made thier mind up this is the marque for them even before they hit a dealer and that they will retain 95% of the sales they get direct cutting out the middle man

Frimley111R

15,537 posts

233 months

Thursday 8th July 2010
quotequote all
Greg_D said:
cqueen said:
bertie said:
My main problem is if I was going to spend the thick end of 100 large on a car, would I be thinking Lotus.........err, no.
Maybe not in it's current format...

Edited by cqueen on Thursday 8th July 17:17
Exactly, who would have thought that people would fall over themselves to spend £50k+ on a Nissan

But i do agree though, the signs aren't good

Greg
How are signs not good? For the first time (almost ever) they have a decent management team, very high level consultants and realise that making excellent but niche cars which are falling too far behind on quality and development is only going to send them one way. If you think they can't make it look at Alfa a few years ago, look at Skoda and Seat to see how far any manufacturer can come. People would absolutely pay £100k for a Lotus if it had flashy showrooms and great build along with all the main attributes of any Lotus. This is step 1...