Lotus:- The End?
Discussion
Just found this : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/lo...
ravon said:
Just found this : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/lo...
That looks like a tricky one, I guess the nay sayers will say told you so, however companies have climed out of the mire before and gone from strength to strength. On the face of it It's no wonder previous management were booted drawing on £200M of loan yet not stemming the underlying cash bleed giving away cars etc etc etc but then again we can only second guess the real business plan at that time and can only double guess the outcome here. The whole Motor industry does have its problems like most other industries at this time I dont think its just Lotus.It's a complete guess here, but I don't think DRB actually have that much money. Lotus were halfway through a major restructuring when they were bought and you can't just turn off the tap in the middle of something like that and expect everything to be normal.
DRB appear to be juggling debts and hoping the banks will bail them out - that doesn't seem to me to be the actions of a well financed owner. Was throwing out Bahar just an attempt to distance themselves from the debt in the hope that the banks who're actually funding the company would pay up?
Certainly, if DRB can't finance getting cars out the door, then the only way is down from here. Are they hoping for bankruptcy so they can offload Lotus? After all, they only got the lads at Hethel by accident when they bought Proton.
DRB appear to be juggling debts and hoping the banks will bail them out - that doesn't seem to me to be the actions of a well financed owner. Was throwing out Bahar just an attempt to distance themselves from the debt in the hope that the banks who're actually funding the company would pay up?
Certainly, if DRB can't finance getting cars out the door, then the only way is down from here. Are they hoping for bankruptcy so they can offload Lotus? After all, they only got the lads at Hethel by accident when they bought Proton.
Great Pretender said:
Tell me, what's it like on your planet?
Evedently full of negative old farts. Heres a tip, moan when it goes under (as I will) but until then stop complaining and one way speculating. Or go get laid or elope w eachother .... may cheer some of you doom mongers up. Companies get traded all the time .....which may even be a positive in this case.
bobo said:
Great Pretender said:
Tell me, what's it like on your planet?
Evedently full of negative old farts. Heres a tip, moan when it goes under (as I will) but until then stop complaining and one way speculating. Or go get laid or elope w eachother .... may cheer some of you doom mongers up. Companies get traded all the time .....which may even be a positive in this case.
Let me turn the table on you though:
Look at Lotus' car manufacturing arm as viable business and then ask yourself why anyone in their right mind would be keen to take it on? What's it got in abundance other than massive debt and happy-clappy petrol-head spirit (taking the supremely skilled workforce out of the equation for a minute)?
I'm not a doom-mongerer; I'm a realist.
I think its "1945/De Bunker" for Hethel.......some will say the Boxster did them the way it TVR. Personal i think the problems were many, much better cars from BIG manufactors whom could give back up & build Q.
The internet ment Lotus total & disgraceful deregard for their (ever smaller) customer base was exposed. Just as everyone else went for downsized engines, they strangly went up.
I think the killer blow was that you had "SUPER" fast Hot Hatch's...4WD Golfs, S3,RS3 TT RS etc..........or GTR/Porsches R8's........Just no way they could fight that, no niches they could fill.
Will anyone (anyone worth while that is) buy them as a car producer?.....China?
Mike
The internet ment Lotus total & disgraceful deregard for their (ever smaller) customer base was exposed. Just as everyone else went for downsized engines, they strangly went up.
I think the killer blow was that you had "SUPER" fast Hot Hatch's...4WD Golfs, S3,RS3 TT RS etc..........or GTR/Porsches R8's........Just no way they could fight that, no niches they could fill.
Will anyone (anyone worth while that is) buy them as a car producer?.....China?
Mike
TheLastPost said:
Unfortunately, it seems to be becoming ever more apparent that the Elise generation of cars were a momentary flash of brilliance that halted an otherwise inevitable decline. They simply haven't been able to come up with anything remotely as appealing as a follow up: it was the proverbial tough act to follow. 
It's a pity they had to can the M250, as I thought it was a lot more exciting than the Europa and Evora.
What about this latest Exige??It's a pity they had to can the M250, as I thought it was a lot more exciting than the Europa and Evora.
Autocar reckon its the best car currently on sale.
TheLastPost said:
The latest Exige is just the last (probably ) of the Elise generation cars.
I've no doubt it's a great variant of a great car (I've not driven one yet), but it remains too extreme (and is too expensive) to sell in sufficient numbers save the company in a market already saturated with Elises/Exiges, I think.
I'm pleased to say, i think you're wrong.) of the Elise generation cars. I've no doubt it's a great variant of a great car (I've not driven one yet), but it remains too extreme (and is too expensive) to sell in sufficient numbers save the company in a market already saturated with Elises/Exiges, I think.
The new Exige, if they can get them out the door, would be enough to turn the thing around. It's just what the motoring world wants. It's the sort of product that TVR would be aiming at had they survived. It's certainly not too expensive when you look at other high performance sports cars.
The EVO fodder usual suspects are all double the price, & would never have that specialist exclusivity that the new Exige would have.
All IMHO of course
Forgetting al the arguments about product & quality for a moment, forgetting about the engineering arm, the deposits paid on future build cars, the staff, the dealer network, the bahar incident.
Forget all that.
Focus on the few points in the article linked above. They can't pay their suppliers.
They're hoping not to pay the taxman.
And they're hoping not to pay the banks.
The only thing left not to pay us the staff, and from my experience that is exactly what will happen next.
I sure hope it doesn't & not just for the staffs sake, but they're following the well trodden path of thousands upon thousands of businesses that have gone bust.
Believe me I certainly don't want that to happen, even if for the purely selfish reason that I really want a lotus as my imminent next car, but it really doesn't look good.
Forget all that.
Focus on the few points in the article linked above. They can't pay their suppliers.
They're hoping not to pay the taxman.
And they're hoping not to pay the banks.
The only thing left not to pay us the staff, and from my experience that is exactly what will happen next.
I sure hope it doesn't & not just for the staffs sake, but they're following the well trodden path of thousands upon thousands of businesses that have gone bust.
Believe me I certainly don't want that to happen, even if for the purely selfish reason that I really want a lotus as my imminent next car, but it really doesn't look good.
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