There's a New Plan to Save Lotus
Lotus is struggling. The boutique British brand has been losing money hand over leather-driving-glove-covered fist for several years now, but their new chief-executive has plans to correct the company’s course.
Jean-Marc Gales has been CEO of Lotus since 2012 when the firm’s previous leader was unceremoniously sacked. Despite the change of leadership, in their most recent fiscal year they lost 159 million pounds, about $253 million.
To stem this tidal wave of red ink the company plans to eliminate some 325 jobs, which may not sound like much of a reduction, but on a percentage basis it’s huge when you only have about 1,200 employees.
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In addition to cutbacks Gales also plans to increase the number of Lotus dealers. So far they’ve opened nine new stores in the last six months and that total could reach 20 by the end of the company’s fiscal year.
Lotus will remain absolutely focused on building vehicles that are dedicated to providing an entertaining driving experience. Going forward they will continue to use an aluminum-tub chassis but one of an improved design that’s even more rigid yet easier to get into and out of.
Gales said there are no new vehicles to announce at this time but in spite of this he projects the company will return to profitability in the “very foreseeable future.”
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[Source: Automotive News]
Born and raised in metro Detroit, Craig was steeped in mechanics from childhood. He feels as much at home with a wrench or welding gun in his hand as he does behind the wheel or in front of a camera. Putting his Bachelor's Degree in Journalism to good use, he's always pumping out videos, reviews, and features for AutoGuide.com. When the workday is over, he can be found out driving his fully restored 1936 Ford V8 sedan. Craig has covered the automotive industry full time for more than 10 years and is a member of the Automotive Press Association (APA) and Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA).
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This would be a much better article if it actually discussed the "New Plan to Save Lotus" because what was presented in the story wasn't much of a plan.
The new plan, is to get people to buy Lotus cars. :D