Lotus redundancies

[Monkeylegend]

Approx 350 jobs to go apparently.

[JimmyTheHand]

BBC Link

[saaby93]

How many jobs do they left?
Didnt they get an enormous grant to build a new esprit 12 months ago?

[wobert]

Unfortunately the "R" word goes hand in hand with Lotus.

I worked at Lotus Engineering from '91 until '95. I went through 6 bouts of possible redundancy during that time.......

[Fastpedeller]

saaby93 said:

How many jobs do they left?
Didnt they get an enormous grant to build a new esprit 12 months ago?

Think it was a loan rather than a grant. It was 10m, but the group lost 165m last year so a drop in the ocean by comparison.
I'm not surprised, as the per capita output (ie car numbers) is very low compared to other viable companies in similar field eg kit car/specialist car companies who produce similar numbers with a fraction of the workforce.

[lamboman100]

The mismanagement at Lotus is quite staggering.

Get the handling of the car right, but everything else wrong (immature styling, ugly interior, low productivity, etc. etc.).

If Porsche or MB bought Lotus (which they should), Lotus would be a worldclass firm within 5 years. Like BMW-Mini and Tata-Jaguar.

[anonymous-user]

There's also a glaring gap in the market Lotus would be in prime position to fill at a relatively low cost, namely, an "eco" sports car, think Elise hybrid for example............


(imagine a 140bhp Ford Ecoboost 3 cyl and about 60kW of 'lecy motor in an Elise sized package. Restyle it a bit for better aero, and bingo, a "whole new thing" rather than yet another "warmed over" version of the same car which no one will buy.........)

[DrDeAtH]

Why would Porsche want to buy lotus? Only to close it down as a rival.
Nah... Best have TATA buy Lotus and add it to the JLR group. Pretty much covers the bases then... All premium brands, all made in Britain.

[kambites]

Sad but hardly a surprise.

[Scuffers]

kambites said:

Sad but hardly a surprise.

This...

They are no where close to breaking even, let alone service their debts.

[anonymous-user]

lamboman100 said:

If Porsche or MB bought Lotus (which they should), Lotus would be a worldclass firm within 5 years. Like BMW-Mini and Tata-Jaguar.

Bang on

[robinessex]

Of course, the government is supporting manufacturing, aren't they. Never mind, Lidl is creating a few thousand shelf stacking jobs.

[anonymous-user]

I think Lotus remind me of MG in a way. They have stretched their one trick pony of a brand far too far producing what boils down to bigger versions of the same thing.

The Elise/Exige were good 10 years ago but since then its just been overpriced flakey st with a distinct kit car feel.

Its the lack of money and not talent that is to blame for that.

Edit to add - poor news for the employees

[Impasse]

I don't believe that particular grant actually materialised. Anyway, a slightly more detailed report here.

[Olivera]

It was only the other week that various PHers were stating everything was going swimmingly at Lotus, sales were on the up, overseas sales in particular were booming, and they were close to building 2000 cars per annum. I on the other hand was always very, very sceptical of such build numbers!

[kambites]

Saying that they're selling 2000 cars a year is not the same as saying they're financially stable. Obviously.

[Impasse]

Olivera said:

It was only the other week that various PHers were stating everything was going swimmingly at Lotus, sales were on the up, overseas sales in particular were booming, and they were close to building 2000 cars per annum. I on the other hand was always very, very sceptical of such build numbers!

Nope, the numbers are true. I'm not sure the reasons behind JMG's decision, but he obviously feels the company can take some fat trimming.

[morgrp]

Having lived just a few miles form Hethel for many years its quite common for Lotus to do this sort of thing - It is rotten luck for the employees but knowing many who have and still do work there, many have come to expect it.

[Olivera]

lord trumpton said:

...
Its the lack of money and not talent that is to blame for that.
...
s

You do recall that Lotus squandered several tens, if not hundreds of millions of pounds developing an aborted range of cars, culminating in a £167m loss in 2013? Mismanagement has been more of a problem than financial investment.