Lotus has announced that it is set to create more than 100 new jobs in the company. The recruitment drive follows a £100 million (RM493 million) investment signed off for it by DRB-Hicom earlier in the month, which the British automaker says will enable it to strengthen its engineering, productivity, efficiency and quality.
According to the company, which employs more than 1,100 staff across the UK, positions will open for 45 specialist engineers and 40 manufacturing operatives as well as 18 graduates.
It added that the engineering specialists and graduates would work on the development of new products within Lotus Engineering. The automaker said it’s creating the new positions in response to increased global demand for its sport cars and an anticipated rise in interest in its engineering consultancy services.
“It’s been a period of substantial change at Lotus and we are now in a strong position to expand our work on future products and to increase production in our manufacturing facilities,” said the company’s COO Aslam Farikullah.
“We want Lotus to be at the forefront of the global automotive industry and for us to remain competitive, we will introduce more exciting products – there has never been a better time to be part of the future of Lotus,” he added.
Last year, it was reported that DRB-Hicom rejected a £1 offer for Lotus and said it would stand by Lotus and nurse it back to health, something it’s doing with the pumping in of the £100 million investment.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the five Lotus concept cars unveiled in Paris in 2010 were not going to make it into production. The ‘Paris five’ were the Esprit, Elan, Eterne, Elite and the new Elise, which was supposed to replace the current one.
Replacements for the Exige and Evora are expected by 2015 or 2016, with a newly-developed platform and engine reportedly in the mix. It’ll be interesting to see what’s brewing in Hethel.
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lets see how long will it last…
What will DRB-Hicom get, in return?
More likely, it will be something like this: hey, you sign the money 1milK, I give you 30% ‘cash’, nobody will discover this, win win. Don’t give what you earn to your shareholderss, just ask your accountantss to work harder and declare loss.
It is an expensive toy for some elites in the country lah ! cant beat them join politics lah.
Dumping valuable money (RM ??) into a bottomless pit to buy an enblem ( Designed by Lotus )
Lotus? no rv, no performance and no looks.
you have got to have ferrari, lambo etc to say like that lol
a sport car owner doesn’t really mind about rv
Are u serious?
no rv – go check a 12 yo Elise. brand new was RM200k. today, is around RM100k. No rv? Perhaps you mistook it for property which increases in value?
no performance – 2008 Exige S w 1.8L engine, at RM220k today, can do zth faster than a F430. no performance? perhaps you expect cars to perform like a Veyron?
no looks – this is subjective. i think u will relate better with badges. a fugly car with an F, L, or P badge will be beautiful to you…
no rv, no performance and no looks?!!
No rv and no performance – have you gotten your facts checked? My bet is you do not even own a car with RV and performance that can match the Lotus.
No looks – this is subjective, and I respect your comment.
They still got another RM1 Billion hutang bank to pay also….
and yo got ass hole debt to pay for anwar ibrahim..
Proton is willing to nurture Lotus in order to get the so called “Tuned by Lotus Engineering” on their cars but can’t spend some on its R&D???
Lotus Tuned handling is something of a huge advantage in the 1990s.
but nowadays, many car manufacturers are capable of providing good handling cars, even down to fine-tuning them.
cars like Toyota GT86, or Renault Clio RS, or Focus RS/ST or Nissan GTR are developed without Lotus help.
But Lotus was involved in Nissan GTR development.. if anybody did read about GTR..
err…Nissan GTR handling and aerodynamics were develop with Lotus…its engine with Cosworth…get your facts right..
ooppss.. my fault. but truth remains as fact – many cars nowadays have good balanced handling without any input by Lotus.
even Proton nowadays make do without Lotus direct input. all new models suspension tuned by local engineers (of course trained by Lotus)
please say all Japs and koreans cars are on par with conti handling and you will be the best joker. title guaranteed.
Proton is willing to fork out millions to nurture Lotus which gets them the so called “Tuned by Lotus Engineering” on Proton cars but can’t spend some on its own R&D???
Forget the pass, now DRB-HICOM is in the midst of putting PROTON in the right track. i heard proton has 200 engineers and quarter of it is for R&D. Following u pay peanuts u get monkey, now they asking experts to do the set up and slowly transfer of knowlege. Bare in mind tht Lotus also not doing good in UK,US as the economic slow down. Clarify can but don’t complain too much PROTON haters. After all, give me example of MAlaysia Consumer products can be proud of. Malaysia had many Business to Business products and less consumer products. Let Malaysia nurture and make profitable consumer products and in this prospect, it an automotive industry. If not PROTON who can do? go la set your own company
Invest billion, but did get any durians.
What techs have been transferred?
I pasang untuk you, but I takkan teach you how to do it.
Its a proton!
i doubt lotus can make pprofit. supercar industry is vy expensive and everyone know making money fr this sector is a tough job…
To begin with, Lotus is not a supercar company. Never was. Lotus is a sport car company which explain why their car price are much cheaper than the like of Ferrari or Lambo or even Porche. Asshole Dany Bahar wanted Lotus to become one of supercar brand which is a wrong move. Lotus should stay true to its root.
Of coz you want to enter luxury market la. That is where the money is. You make car for no money people how to have high margin?
Most smart people aleady knew the so called 5 Lotus prototypes are not going into production, but just syiok sindili models…Potong has nothing no technology, platform, engine to offer Lotus…and throwing 100 millions pounds to create only 100 jobs, wat a waste…wat has Potong benefited all these years from Lotus?? Lotus handling but cannot even handle own market!
…wat has Potong benefited all these years from Lotus?
1: Dani Baha ha Ha Ha!
2: Lotus F1 Vs Lotus F1 &
3: All Lotus Paste mooncake branding rights
What happen to the billions took to develop 5 models the last time?
Amoi dont talk cock, there was no such billions spending for the 5 model.
You must be from older generation. Info are everywhere on the net.
let me share a secret of success to Lotus….
1. put sound proofing in your ‘sport’ car pls..
I know Lotus is trying to make a sport breed car, but hey, none is really that successful..since you’re not that high performing, why don’t you just add-in some 4-5kg of insulation in your car..at least Lotus will gain ‘normal’ buyer interest instead of JUST racer..hey, not everyone can bear the loud sound in a sport car you know..some just want the LOOK of a sport car but not the actual feel in the car..
focusing too much on a recipe won’t get you anywhere even with millions of dollars spent..
it’s like CR-V, 4wd but goes on road
Nope, lightweight is the main key in Lotus’ recipe. Even with their recipe now, they still have their own niche market. People don’t buy Lotus because most models in manual-only option and because of practicality (space, ergonomics) issue, not sound insulation.
For those who already own one (and even dream of it), they just still want a Lotus. Because race car, that’s whyyyyy.
you think race car makes money??? dream on..
I agree with you. They should even make the car more accessible. Getting in and out of lotus is an ergonomic joke. You either need to be a monkey or baboon to get in and out.
To me, i can bet my last sen that in 2 years time, the money will be gone, and this british fish and chips will ask for more sucker money from our “gila glamour” bigshot. So, in the end, i am not surprised lotus will one day bungkus like TVR or MG once the honey stop flowing.
As a car manufacturer, you can’t just hit on a niche market without a volume bread and butter seller product. Just like how ferrari need money from Fiat bread and butter sales.
In sports, money buy you Championship.
But in the automotive world, money can’t get u to great height if u don’t know what the masses wants and need.
Lotus is in an awkward position, sports car or performance car ?????
Proton/Drb should take advantage of this not the other way round.European/American are smart to play us even when they’re in deep shit.Proton can cut cost by using their engine technologies fully rather than asking them for assist in building Campro engines.See how smart are they?After this 100million pound invest they can co develop a new range of engine from 1.4,1.6,1.8,2.0 and even 2.4.See how smart Volkswagen is?Audi using their engine tech 85%,Skoda using their tsi engines.Wake up Drb and Proton,U want European touch for ur car now you get it and please utilize it fully.
DRB-Hicom should instruct Lotus to use that money and purchase Proton, then rename Proton as Lotus.
If Lotus cannot make sports car, at least they can try their luck in average joe cars.
ah wat a brilliant idea….
Lotus BLM, Lotus Neo, Lotus Persona, Lotus Preve, Lotus Exora…..boleh tambah lagi Lotus Curry House….the latter is doing BETTER though!
technology tranfer take time bro..
i think most of profit come from lotus stock market..
think big bro
it has been 15 years. that long?
how long did you get your degree, in a month? genius
How about you go ask Kia ? In less than 10 years, they manage to turn around their company and branding and sales have shot up just by hiring Peter Schreyer to lead with a clean sheet of paper. So how long does proton still need ? Proton could have hire Peter and save lots of money instead of buying this crap company.
they penetrated US market years before that, not because of schreyer alone. another thing, economies of scale do give advantage for such companies.
What a waste of money….about half billion spend on Lotus. I think all proton need just technology transfer from Toyota to apply the TPS system. TPS system is the core strength of Toyota. Look how Ford and GM become more successful after applying TPS system.
With join venture with Toyota to apply TPS system, Proton will have more reliable product, more profitable company and more competitive. This in turn will benefit more rakyat who use the car.
Spending half billion in which into production sport car who hardly any Malaysia would ever bought, such a waste of money. We heard the Lotus is losing money, poring more money into the system more for what? That money, made from selling national car, is suppose to invest direct in Proton.
Agreed. Sheer waste of money. How many times have they made a profit since Proton bought them? Zero times. Its already been 17 years. Should have been sold off a long time ago.
seems like another proton , non competitive product , lots of bailout
lotus curry house…
Lotus announces turnaround plans. P1 pours in shitload of money. Lotus mismanages itself. Lotus announces big plans. Nobody gives a damn about Lotus. Lotus gets into financial trouble. Lotus begs P1 for bailout.
Repeat cycle infinitely. we have become all too familiar with the story.
Can DRB share how the 100M going to be spent for Lotus, like master plan or something
100M is not small amount and sport cars are niche market in automotive world, seems direction of Lotus needs to be re-visited
Re-imagining Lotus
Is it that hard to sell cheaper Lotus in Malaysia? Got other cronies protest meh?
What’s brewing? A spot of afternoon tea, old chap…
Ha ha ha!
Throwing bad money after good money.
Dr M will just not admit defeat.
Regarding my previous comment, should be
Throwing good money after bad money.
Sorry.
Proton didn’t learn its lesson.
Now DRB also making the same mistakes.
I give DRB 12 months from now to hold hands up in the air and surrender.
Why can’t DRB see how many CRZs Honda is selling?
It is a clear sign that when you price a so called “Sports Car” affordable enough, you will sell it by the truckloads.
I have suggested before that Proton sells the Elise Mk1 at Malaysian Car Status price (maybe rebadge) say at RM70-80,000 and you will not only see Lotus make money, you will see the return of Lotus in a meaningful way.
Lotus should develop a sport car for the masses. They should produce sport car at mini price range. Pls don’t compete with Ferrari and lambos, sure you ll lose. If you can produce car with look of Elise, sell it at 80k here in malaysia sure many people can buy. Many people don’t really care about the so call sporty performance, they just want the look.
Lotus does nothing, people get mad. Lotus odes something, people get mad as well. Damn Malaysians are hard to be pleased. Maybe some of you should set up your own company as you people know better(assuming most of the people here have enough knowledge and qualifications), right ?
*does
if i were given to choose 1 out of 3 , eg. vios, preve, lotut exit, i will choose vios anytime becos even though it’s aka indon taxi but here in Malaysia is the prefered car model according to statistics.
why becoz T = reliability , the other 2 are liability & mantenen nightmare..ha ha.
yeah with 2 airbags without vsc vios is just as old as 90’s car.
Hyundai and Kia even better, they got peter styler and they makes more monies. power to surpluses of monies.
lotut handling my foot, even kaki bangku can do cornering. the Toyota Levin also can drift corner without lotut fondling.
levin old story la, ’86 also can drift but it’s not passengers car. if attoyott is too clever, put those ‘brilliant’ handling on vios, altis and camry lol
Dear DRB-Hicom, if you want to take Lotus Cars to greater heights maybe you can try to think about this ; Good look + Lightweight + Nimble handling + Good interior quality + Good engine (not necessarily powerful)+ more affordable price for the masses = A recipe for success!
However, DRB is a recipe in disaster.
It will end up with:
Bad look (designed by THE [the one and only guy] overpriced and overrated proton designer), lightweight (by using all plastic), nimble handling (coz Lotus is still awesome in this), bad interior (coz all of those plastic), so so engine (from Toyota), and last but not lease, super overprice.
That’s how they roll and they will never change. If they did, pigs will climb trees or fly. The sun would probably rise from the west too.
Wow~Charity
whatever lah about the company but i wud luv to hv a lotus car :)
100 million Pounds investment for 100 new jobs? Aslam has done it again!
Is Lotus F1 team in Malaysia hiring as well?