Group Lotus has been making the headlines regularly of late. We were there to witness the Proton owned brand’s five car blast at last year Paris show, which will now be financed by a £270 million loan from a group of six Malaysian banks. Of course, there’s also the entry into F1 via title sponsorship of Renault, and the bitter legal battle and name tussle with Tony Fernandes’ Team Lotus.
Gone are the days where the British brand quietly made sportscars in Hethel to a small enthusiast audience; they’re now preparing to join the big league and do battle with the likes of Porsche. They’re also looking at (finally) making profit for loyal owner Proton.
The man behind this major transformation plan is ex-Ferrari marketing man Dany Bahar. Here, the 39-year old CEO of Group Lotus talks about the relationship between Lotus and Proton, extending the life of the Evora, a new self-developed engine and of course, the war with Team Lotus.
Continue reading after the jump.
On the recent naming rights battle with Team Lotus
Dany Bahar: The judgement grants Group Lotus the rights to use the name ‘Lotus’ and the Lotus roundel on their own within F1, we are, therefore, even more committed than ever before to our long term plan within the sport.
The Judge also found that Team Lotus, run by 1Malaysia Racing Team, has the right to continue to race in F1 under the name Team Lotus and using the Team Lotus roundel. As a consequence, it is inevitable that the similarity of the names Lotus and Team Lotus will cause confusion not only amongst F1 supporters and the wider public, but also amongst F1 commentators who use the word ‘Lotus’ interchangeably for both teams as demonstrated throughout the season so far. With the full support of our parent company, Proton, we are seeking leave to appeal so that this point can be clarified for the benefit of all interested in F1.
With regards to our involvement with Lotus Renault GP, as Lotus we stand united with Genii Capital and have every confidence in the future success of Lotus Renault GP.
On Group Lotus’ relationship with Proton
DB: The past year has been an extremely important one in Group Lotus’ history and Proton has played, and continue to play, a crucial role in our development.
One of the most critical elements of this support has been assisting us in securing the funding for our future plans. I am happy to confirm that this is now all complete thanks to Proton’s help and, together with Proton, we can focus on completing the five year business plan to return Group Lotus to profit.
We have an incredibly strong relationship with Proton, they support us 100 per cent and frankly this is really important for a company like ours. Part of the business plan is the joint development of a global small car platform meaning that for the first time in the Proton Lotus history, the relationship will be mutually beneficial. This alone should demonstrate how close we are.
On the progress of Lotus’ five-year plan
DB: With road cars we’re in a good position, we’ve completed year one of a five year plan and we are making good progress on the development of the new Esprit which will be the first of the new models to go on sale.
Based on the feedback we have received since the unveiling in Paris from customers, the media and the industry, we have made some adjustments to our plans. For example, feedback regarding the Elan showed us that it was too close in style and positioning to the Esprit, and so as a consequence we have delayed the delivery of the Elan – delayed not cancelled.
This allows us to focus more of our attention on the Evora which I believe has fantastic potential. We are now concentrating our efforts on making sure that the quality of the Evora matches its undeniable performance. Another major development that has come about as a consequence of the feedback we received is that we are now developing our own engine to use in our future cars, creating even more of the “pure Lotus experience”.
On Formula 1 and motorsports
With regard to motorsport, everyone always asks about F1 but for us, it’s not just about F1, given that motorsport in general is a key ingredient to our marketing strategy. We have always been and will always be an automotive brand that is associated with racing. Congratulations to Nick Heidfeld on his result in Monaco, when he came in eighth to earn valuable points that pushed him up a place in the Driver’s Championship to sixth; whilst Tony Kanaan did a great job coming fourth at the Indy 500.
We want to win though, not just participate. But we don’t expect everything overnight, we start slowly and gradually build up our presence in a way that makes sense for our business. Look at our involvement within IndyCar, we started last year with one car, now we have three and from next year onwards we’ll be offering engines. People always question the cost but, believe me, if we couldn’t afford it we wouldn’t do it.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
“People always question the cost but, believe me, if we couldn’t afford it we wouldn’t do it.”
Yes, Proton will afford it all through Khazanah stake which mean the Malaysian Government afford it.
Just got back from P1 stakeholder’s briefing…..
Latest news, export volume for 2011/2012 is 9,000 unit of CBU…..
Haaaa, WHAT ???? 9,000 CBUs only……?????? Full AFTA !!! Full AFTA !!!
P1 is nearing its DOOM !!!! Hurrah !!!!! Finally, Msian Rakyats will benefit !!!!
TQ BN for closing down the door for P1. Sapa ada share P1, sila jual segera !!!!!
You know… if you want to lie.. please at least make it believeable…. if not you’ll only make yourself looks stupid…. Haiya…..
Get your fact rite brader…. Dont said such thing that you didnt have any correct figures and full understanding.
This is inside traders… Can anyone call the authority and arrest this man…. Shame on you.
What Mr Bahar should do is registered an IP to a name of ‘Real Lotus’…
Problem solved.
scrap the europa reskin to proton project and do a dual-project benefit in facelifting the evora to the new donato coco design direction and a major facelift for proton as its 1st pure sport car to compete with celica at least.
DB reminds me of ‘Faceman’ in A Team.. Good if he can pull it off, bad if he is just talk cocking..
Alo, proton hire this guy to sell car, he tried to sell the company to toyota.. mahathir will kua kua kiu again lar… muahahahha
uhh.. stop talking and start working.
proton emas, will it replace saga? or totally different class?
dif class but the tech n platform shall be shared later in the SAGA replacement in 2014.
i think savvy – replacement is more right.
The Global Small Car should be Savvy replacement I believe…. but from what i heard, its platform will be used to develop SAGA replacement…
Perhaps Danny can do more by having Group Lotus and Toyota to to jointly conduct a feasibility study to assess new opportunities aimed at further strengthening mutual competitiveness in the global marketplace.
MIYAZU (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Proton Holdings Bhd, has already gained the confidence of Toyota Auto Body Malaysia (TABM) to supply 29 stamping components.
As Japanese Yen rise, Toyota & Proton can help each other in building affordable & safe global cars.
I wonder how will Dany Bahar answers mysian journalist and proton fanboys here since Bahar did mentioned to UK journalist that he wantedLotus to be parted away from Proton as he prefers a bigger global manufacturer like Toyota or VW to buy over Lotus. Hmmm……..
So after billions taken from Mysia and Proton now he wants to part away??? Sadly even those billions were enough to develop 5 new models and funding their ambitious motorsports program. Not even can fund a proper self engine development to be honest. Could this be another PKFZ in the making?
typo. I mean ” Sadly even those billions weren’t enough to develop 5 new models and funding their ambitious motorsports program”
If VW or Toyota were to own Group Lotus, some execs in Group Lotus will have to go elsewhere.
Dany Bahar is only the CEO and was hired by Proton, he does not own Group Lotus.
What Dany Bahar meant could be that it shouldn’t come as a surprise if sooner than later Lotus would ALLY itself with Toyota instead of Proton. Toyota is already working with Lotus on engines, so the stage for a future tie-up is already set.
Proton is already ally itself with Mitsubishi and maybe Nissan in the future.
All this ally deal does not involve an equity holding and is simply a technical and product-sharing arrangement.
There must be something that Group Lotus/Proton can offer to car makers such as Toyota and Nissan. If not, it is impossible to talk to guys at Toyota & Nissan.
If Group Lotus were to be owned by Toyota, what will happen to Lotus Renault GP? Toyota quits F1to cut cost and focus on core business. I am sure Dany Bahar knows this very well.
It is actually normal for branding purposes to differentiate higher target market to associate the customers to the brand. this is very common. I guess he meant that by parting from proton image, they can establish a better brand, not necessarily because proton image is bad, its just for different type of customer.
usually the more apart (ie: more unrecognizable link between the two brands) the better for business point of view. Like Ford owning Mazda, people does not associate these two cars even if they share the same chassis. you know they’re linked because you yourself find it out, normal people wouldn’t know there is link at all between the two companies.
i hope lotus will prevail both on track and on the road,for proton’s sake
Lotus is now in the best position to be a launching pad for Proton to the world market. Meanwhile pay close attention to Dany Bahar and his team’s KPIs. Never stop breathing down their necks until they deliver.
All the best Proton.
Be careful Proton.. Don’t get conned..
Dany Bahar is the most disloyal CEO I have ever seen. He wants to break away from Proton at the very first chance he could get! This man needs to be sacked!.. Proton will be bitten soon enough he Proton keep this disloyal guy helming Lotus!
After bring millions for Malaysia fun to Lotus and they snap us with remark.. prefer to break away…
Proton oh proton… time to show them who is the boss…
£270 million loan could possibly gave Lotus a barely developed car or 2 half-cooked cars to sell……
This could end in tears, especially for those brave local bankers……Wish you all good luck & $$$ well-spent…..
Want to make profit? Copy Porsche, make a lightweight Lotus SUV.
PROTON…jangan sampai dah terhantuk baru nak terngadah…
PROTON should remind this guy that GROUP LOTUS is PROTON yang punya bukan Dany Bahar; so if GROUP LOTUS wants another alliance or to be sell to other party; that will be PROTON to decide not Dany Bahar…
Sack this Dany Bahar and take ex-BMW dude Mario Theissen to be the next GROUP LOTUS CEO
:D
Ko gila. Bayar gaji kawan tu setahun dah bole beli lotus kot
I told you this Turk hiding behind a Swiss passport is
a conman … be very careful as he has a reputation
in europe !! Good luck Proton cos the 270mil pounds
is only half of the initial 450 mil required for their 5 year plan.
It’s a huge investment with a huge risk tagged to it !.
This chap is a marketing guy..la what you expect from him except – cakap besar, he is spending all the money while proton have to pay for it later when he is done with lotus.
moga panjang umur dpt hidup 5 tahun lg nak tgk kesudahan ni
http://www.insideline.com/lotus/lotus-ceo-bahar-eyes-possible-sale-or-spinoff-from-malaysian-parent-proton.html
I don’t think Dany Bahar is disloyal towards Proton.
While Proton ally itself with Mitsubishi and Nissan for future models, Lotus will ally itself with Toyota more than with Proton. Toyota is already working with Lotus on engines, so the stage for a future tie-up is already set!!
If Toyota wanted Lotus, it should have bought it long time ago. Now it is time for Proton to unlock Lotus and if Lotus can’t sell enough cars, it still can sell engineering services to Proton, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Toyota such as mechanical underpining, powertrain, body panel, and electrical and electronic systems.
Some time agree with you. makeitmine
Some marketing strategy is to create necessary controversy to get attention.
By rule. nobody is allowed to buy Lotus if biggest shareholder doesn’t want to sell it. And Proton depend heavily on Lotus for tech.
But it depend on interference from Khazanah also. they can do other MV Augusta drama here to create another quick buck.
Pity by condition a engineering group is control by non engineering relate group.
LOL..
Arararara… a lot of angry and distrustful voices against Dany boy… Jangan terasa k, Danny hehehe… nama spelling nak dekat sama dah hehe :P
Anyway, here’s a little economic lesson: Pecking Order Theory. There’s 3 stages of fundings companies use for their activities: 1st: retained profits, which is profit they generate themselves through their business activity. Lotus as we know, don’t do well here, thus the reason why DB wants to transform Lotus to start selling cars. Makes sense except they don’t have that NOW. So… 2nd: borrow. Something Lotus just did from our 6 banks. 3rd: sell share. In case borrowing is not enough. This is a more expensive option than borrowing, and it will dilute shareholder’s value, so it’s usually a lower priority than borrowing. This could be the thing DB was talking about.
I have yet to come across the exact script of what DB said at the private roundtable, the one he said abt them unable to meet emission and crash regulation on their own, so they need big partner(s) like Toyota.
The thing is, while he said about realising it through alliance or sale, it never specifically said what kinda sale he’s talking about. In any case, I doubt Proton’s gonna let their majority control to be diluted should any sale of shares occur.
Sale probably has to occur at some point, IPOs may be issued as DB talks about floating their share in stock market. But again, Proton may allow it, just enough to make sure they still remain the major controlling shareholder. I dunno, I’m okay if this is the scenario that DB was talking about. And I hope I’m right in this. His clarification immediately afterwards indicate that whatever happens, Proton will still be around as the parent.
Great comment!
Heheh, I guess I see what you meant when you say some people just want to sell stories. Boy boy, insideline.com’s traffic must’ve increased sharply these past few days fuh fuh…
This story about Lotus breaking away from Proton, I seriously doubt when I first read it. Lotus have been Proton’s anak emas all these while, no way in hell they gonna allow this kinda thing to happen… logically. Even if DB wanted to, Proton would definitely have the power to prevent it. The only thing I can think of when I read the news is most likely the Pecking Order Theory, and I thought the selling shares part is the mis-quoted bit.
At last Tony win on Team Lotus name..peace yo..:)
Isn’t Lotus a great car maker and holds a leading related technology? If it is, then getting the sufficient funding and running a good marketing is what Lotus needed (mind you, I am not referring to Team Lotus). If not, they deserved all the bashings here.
“Isn’t Lotus a great car maker and holds a leading related technology?”
Answer to that is NO. Not Lotus Cars. It is Lotus Engineering that holds some tech know-how
One happy Lotus basher… :)
He’s telling the truth, stupid blind supporter !!! Previous direction is excellence thru design and engineering………..
Now they change to excellence thru high sales and high profit !!!!
Yeap…. another happy Lotus/Proton basher…… :)
Lol, poking fun at d Lotus name battle? :p
In any case, I believe they’re doing exactly what u hinted: secure fundings and run good marketing.
On deeper analysis, I think it’s good they secure funds from Msia. I believe they do so in MYR, which is strong against GBP. This means, after conversion, they get more GBP, and with a little accounting trick, they can report higher translation gain, good for d financial statement :P
Good marketing, if looking at DB’s background, is his forte. I sure feel their marketing is better now with LRGP, it has higher international exposure than Tony Lotus. They’re also utilising d fact that Lotus has a rich motorsport heritage that could only be matched by Ferrari’s heritage. Their Indy 500 involvement is looking good now too
For their road car, it’s abt time they have a painful reality check. They have gotta realise that the old lightweight business model is unsustainable, n too niche to be commercially successful. Well, mayb they can still continue, bt it shouldn’t be their flagship core model. Ferrari can be an exception, bt they’ve been racing all these years with great success, so they’ve earned their right. Lotus can’t change its past demise, bt now is d best chance for them to reclaim their glory. Evora I see is a great car, even liked by Jeremy Clarkson. The sports car that’s fun to drive,n yet comfortable enough for everyday drive formula has worked on it, and I think it’s sensible to expect the 5 new models with similar formula to be successful too.
Go Group Lotus!
All that is nice and well but it is the bottomline that counts. And the Evora is doing poorly in sales. And currently, as things are, its a little mind boggling to understand why the 5 new models won’t face the same problem
Some say thick skull won’t understand anything. Please don’t bother boggling your mind.
Please oh please don’t fail this, a lot of Malaysians will be the victim of this project if they fail
Lotus boss Dany Bahar revealed that Lotus is helping Malaysian parent Proton develop a range of cars. Lotus’s British-based headquarters in Hethel is helping with several new models. One of those models is the global city car which debuted at the Paris Motor Show last fall. Much like Aston Martin’s need for the Cygnet to meet fuel consumption regulation, Lotus will need a version of the Proton city car too.
According to Bahar, Proton “is getting the benefit [of owning Lotus] for the first time,” and the new hatchback will look like the concept, if it’s going to happen at all.
Lotus needs its five-year plan to succeed if it wants to survive long into the future. Although owned by Proton, Bahar feels Lotus’s cars are too distant from Proton’s to be able to develop future cars that meet stricter emission and crash regulations.
Even though it’s not up to him, Bahar would like Proton to sell Lotus to a larger manufacturer such as Toyota. This would give Proton and other investors a way out. Toyota may be the smart way to go because of Lotus’s extensive use of Toyota engines in its current cars.
Lotus may have the upcoming Elite and Eterne built by Magna in Austria if its application for a UK regional development loan it needs to build a new factory at Hethel is rejected again.
Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/lotus-chief-ally-larger-automaker-83843.html#ixzz1OY06Weq7
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