RE: Lotus Restructures
Friday 19th April 2002
Lotus Restructures
Greater independence for each division and no CEO
Discussion
quote:
I hope that they are deciding to make the Elise with the Toyota motor from 190 Celica! Does anyone know anything more about this? I had thought intially they would use the 160 bhp Rover engine.
Lucifero,
I think they will develop a 160bhp model at least in the mean time for the European market. Rover seem to be coming up with deals for Caterham to use their engine so Lotus would be a logical step.
quote:
I think the restructuring is a good idea.
In the business world you do this for one of two reasons:
1) You are trying to do exactly what the article says; operate an efficient trim organization
or
2) You are planning on selling a division off...
(Don't shoot the messenger, I call them like I see them. Personally, I hope it is the former!)
ErnestM
I'll tell you why there is no CEO anymore; they couldn't find anyone decent crazy enough to take the job.
After reading the comments in a recent Lotus Life of the overall head honcho at Lotus - some guy on the board of directors - he literally said words to the effect that the CEOs job is to do what he tells them to do, the head guy being the one who decides strategy, policy, company direction, ie all the little things a CEO is meant to do!
So the CEOs role was reduced to corporate lackey; no wonder Terry Playle left and no wonder they cant find anyone to replace him!
I don't know why Lotus is such a basket case; as everyone says, they should be as successful as Porsche. There is no way the Lotus Elise will succeed in the U.S - U.S. consumers are incredibly demanding, and Lotus can't give the quality they demand. There is room in this world for Lotus, but they have to be able to offer Toyota quality as a given if they hope to sell in the US - that is just assumed - and from there the Lotus core values of lightweight, fun to drive, cleverly engineered cars are the selling point. The time for the Elise in the US has passed, dodgy quality not wisthstanding, because the roadster market is saturated now, the new MR2 and the Vauxhall Vx220 both making the Elise a hard sell.
Much better would be an M250/M250 replacement going for about the price of a BMW M3.
The notion of Lotus having 3 models - Elise, M250 and Esprit replacement - is folly. Too much going on for Lotus and too much to get right, and I can't believe the market for high end sports cars - owned by the 911 - could be seriously tackled by Lotus.
Stick with the Elise and get a M250 out asap. 2 models, that's it. Get the quality up, hire some Japanese production engineers like Porsche did in the 90's if thats what it takes.
Make the M250 no more than 1000 kg, and instead of an espirit replacement think about a top of the range "M250 active" with enhanced power and fully active suspension.
After reading the comments in a recent Lotus Life of the overall head honcho at Lotus - some guy on the board of directors - he literally said words to the effect that the CEOs job is to do what he tells them to do, the head guy being the one who decides strategy, policy, company direction, ie all the little things a CEO is meant to do!
So the CEOs role was reduced to corporate lackey; no wonder Terry Playle left and no wonder they cant find anyone to replace him!
I don't know why Lotus is such a basket case; as everyone says, they should be as successful as Porsche. There is no way the Lotus Elise will succeed in the U.S - U.S. consumers are incredibly demanding, and Lotus can't give the quality they demand. There is room in this world for Lotus, but they have to be able to offer Toyota quality as a given if they hope to sell in the US - that is just assumed - and from there the Lotus core values of lightweight, fun to drive, cleverly engineered cars are the selling point. The time for the Elise in the US has passed, dodgy quality not wisthstanding, because the roadster market is saturated now, the new MR2 and the Vauxhall Vx220 both making the Elise a hard sell.
Much better would be an M250/M250 replacement going for about the price of a BMW M3.
The notion of Lotus having 3 models - Elise, M250 and Esprit replacement - is folly. Too much going on for Lotus and too much to get right, and I can't believe the market for high end sports cars - owned by the 911 - could be seriously tackled by Lotus.
Stick with the Elise and get a M250 out asap. 2 models, that's it. Get the quality up, hire some Japanese production engineers like Porsche did in the 90's if thats what it takes.
Make the M250 no more than 1000 kg, and instead of an espirit replacement think about a top of the range "M250 active" with enhanced power and fully active suspension.
I think it's a poor idea not to have a CEO. There has to be someone showing true leadership and making sure each division's activities support the overall corporate strategy in an efficient manner.
The current structure will lead to infighting and lack of efficiency as each division fights for its own advantages, rather than trying to be an optimised cog within the company.
The current structure will lead to infighting and lack of efficiency as each division fights for its own advantages, rather than trying to be an optimised cog within the company.
I agree with Ernest about the two reasons you restructure. Applied to the Lotus case, I think you can narrow it down to 1. Because there is no CEO, I expect to see them sold, and soon.
And don't be suprised if their future CEO currently wears a little blue oval over his breast pocket. That's just an educated guess (admittedly not mine, a friend noodled it through for me.)
Mad Mike
And don't be suprised if their future CEO currently wears a little blue oval over his breast pocket. That's just an educated guess (admittedly not mine, a friend noodled it through for me.)
Mad Mike
The Lotus restructure is the work of a board of directors who a) don't know what they're doing and b)well, there is no b, they just don't know what they're doing. Ford aren't interested - they tried to buy the company about a year or so ago but the Malaysians wouldn't sell and now Jac Nasser's gone, Bill Ford Jr. wants to concentrate on their core brand. One or two others have tried to buy it but again, they won't sell. They don't know what to do with it and they won't sell it and meantime, it slides down the pan. The Asian business mentality is that of "pride", they cannot be seen to lose face so they cannot be helped and they cannot ask for help. The last two CEOs were appointed by the Malaysian CEO of Proton, a man with a big political career ahead of him - so he's not going to do anything to flag-up the Lotus disaster in Malaysia it'll affect his career.
What's really concerning is the number of Proton's on the road with Lotus badges now on them. Perhaps we've missed the point, maybe Proton's will become Lotus' - the quickest way for a brand from Malaysia to evolve into a worldwide player perhaps? Oh, and by the way, there are more redundancies forecast for September. Last person out, you should just be able to hear Colin sobbing in the dark?
What's really concerning is the number of Proton's on the road with Lotus badges now on them. Perhaps we've missed the point, maybe Proton's will become Lotus' - the quickest way for a brand from Malaysia to evolve into a worldwide player perhaps? Oh, and by the way, there are more redundancies forecast for September. Last person out, you should just be able to hear Colin sobbing in the dark?
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