The 'Ferrari-isation' of Lotus continues at speed, with the appointment of former Ferrari design boss Donato Coco as Director of Design for Group Lotus.
Donato Coco will join Lotus in January
Former Ferrari F1 marketing chief
Dany Bahar was hired as Lotus Chief Executive
by the company's Malaysian owners earlier this year, an appointment followed in quick succession by that of Claudio Berro, the former Ferrari F1 boss
who now finds himself in charge of Lotus Motorsport operations.
The new Lotus design chief Donato Coco arrives hot from Maranello himself (well, warm-ish - he doesn't start until the New Year), creating a family of former-Ferrari high-flyers at Hethel that must leave Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo wondering who's going to jump ship next.
Our first reaction is to wonder whether 2010 could be the year to open a pizzeria in Norwich, but perhaps we ought to be more interested in what Mr Coco can deliver in design terms for a company we thought had already been doing pretty well under the leadership of Russell Car, otherwise known as Head Of Lotus Design.
"Russell Carr will continue to work on both Lotus products and third party design work, an area which is growing rapidly especially in the emerging Asian markets," says the press release announcing Coco's appointment.
So what about the newcomer? He's not exactly an 'unknown' in the business, but for a quick review of his illustrious CV we'll hand you over to the Lotus press release again:
He was responsible for the 599XX
"Donato Coco was previously Director of Design and Development - Ferrari where he worked on the Ferrari F430 Scuderia coupé and Spider 16M, Ferrari California, 599XX and the F458 Italia. Prior to Ferrari, Donato worked for Automobiles Citroën rising to the position of Chief Designer and was responsible for, amongst others, the Xsara, Picasso, C3, C3 Pluriel, C2, C1, ZX Paris Dakar and the Xsara WRC.
"Donato Coco holds an MA in Automotive Design from the Royal College of Art, London, England. Whilst at the RCA, he was awarded first prize in a design competition, which was presented to him by Margaret Thatcher when she was Prime Minister of Great Britain."