Lotus has the right products, great products, but is not selling enough cars as it should. This is the assessment of former top BMW exec Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, brought in late last year to mentor Lotus CEO Dany Bahar. The plan is to boost sales over the next 18 months, according to Autocar UK.
In its UK home market, Lotus is struggling. The Proton subsidiary sold just 272 cars in the first eight months of 2011, 24% less than 358 in the same period last year. The overall market is down by 6%.
“The brand is well known but the products are not. We are focusing on a new range of cars, but we must sell more cars now,” Kalbfell said, referring to Lotus’ spectacular five-year plan that will yield the new Esprit, a luxury GT and a four-door car, among other models.
“We have some great cars in our range, like the Evora. Many car companies would love to have the Evora in their range. Now the point must be to get the car on the shopping list of buyers,” he added.
To address this, Lotus has Frankfurt debutant Evora GTE. It’s the most powerful Lotus road car ever built, with a 444 PS V6, revised chassis, carbonfibre body parts, and a sticker price close to £120k. This will help pave the way and prepare customers for the new Esprit, which will surely be priced above £100k.
“We cannot just jump buyers up from the Elise to the Esprit,” said Kalbfell. Another such “bridging” model is the £40k Exige S that also debut in Frankfurt. “With 350 bhp and 1080 kg, who else has such a hot performance model at this price?” said Kalbfell.
On a different note, word is that Gerard Lopez’s Genii Capital, owners of Lotus Renault GP, is looking at buying into Group Lotus. Click here to read more.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
ye la..Lotus hv great products but yet they’re not selling very well..its kinda weird actually..
yeah…i do agree with that statment…..syok sendiri will not help lotus to conquer the world…..no sell mean no money, no money mean u’ll never survive longer…..
Totally agree!!!
72 cars in the first eight months of 2011 mean average 34 cars sold per month, that too little..
Genii capital’s Renault in F1 owner (Not Renault sport F1) gonna buy GL soon. what i seen Proton being conned by their Turkish CEO. Pick a war on his countryman in F1 but end up losing in high courts twice to Team Lotus. Only moron do that. Now it open way for foreign to eat up your pie! Foolish proton. That Turkish ceo is an unwanted loser sacked out from ferrari & red bull. And u choose to pick this failure shit to be your leader to on high risk on your company with highly expending bill in all series of racing.
He definitely is searching for another parent for Lotus instead of Proton. If I were CEO, I’d do the exact same thing. Proton can barely support itself, why support Lotus? He wouldn’t be the perfect guy for Lotus, but he being visionary and all, what’s not to love? More car porn for us. Seriously, you still want Proton to take care of Lotus?
Tony Fernandes deserve to acquire the Group lotus compare to Genii capital where Genii currently also facing financial difficulty and high speculation Renault will not using Renault sport F1 engine anymore and replace by Cosworth. Renault (not the real Renault manufacturer) Switch to Cosworth, while Williams now switch to Renault wana back to their glory day in the past follow Team Lotus foot step where Tony and williams have good friendship in f1. That y u see Renault is fall huge behind Mercedes and currently on same level like Force india. Genii is good in unique way of twist their post in business as Lopez own a lot money to a AH LONG. He want to sell to Ah Long but ah Long pun smart dun 1 F1 team only wanted money. and their Principal, Eric is a Bullshit. That y Kimi scold this team and poor victim is the Heifeld being blamed for low performance. Actually proton excuse against Tony fernandes and Team lotus are really vr lame over small issue unrelated to F1. U must think person like tony fernandes can get royal awards from France, British and Local king as well as international recognition like forbes. moreover, why big top global giant corporation like Intel, APC, Dell, GE ,CNN choose to sponsor his small team rather than bigger older teams. They like his personality, the way his do business and handle things, & strong past records. In the end, Proton damage the Lotus name in F1 too severe but try to point finger to blame Tony that even now tony try to switch to his new british sport car manufacturer brand which Lotus is pose serious threat to his F1 business and future brand popularity. Which idiot will buy Lotus road cars instead of Porsche will have for prestige value and more advance tech?
since you’ve mentioned tony’s name and praise him like there’s no tomorow
you better wait for your personal “kaballah” enlightment from drMPower
LoL
Where have ppl praise loser?! ppl only praise successful and excellent human being. Malaysia perhaps usually praise loser like no tomorrow because we all know Malaysia Boleh!!! Apa2 pun Boleh especially negative punya lagi hebat lagi best BOLEH kan!
Whoa, a company with little corruption brings to a successful car maker. ;)
Lotus can “Ta Pau” soon.
Wait, lotus allowed itself to hire a mentor for its ceo? Great job…
It is weird that they need ex BMW guy to say something like this…i can make that recommendation, thousand of us here at paultan.org can make the same recommendation…we all know that fact stated … we all know evora is a good car, elise is a good car.,etc etc..but what we cant advice would be evora cant be a hot cake, why people refuse to buy ? is it the brand, or is it the car, would the future car sell, etc etc etc….the very same reason i never like “professional” consultant…stating the obvious and making tons of money….aiya…..weird la…same scenario in any industry….mine as well…..really weird…
Proton need to beef up Lotus brand. Go do some movie sponsoring and drama cars.
Marketing is the way to go.
Sadly they are not as smart as you guys! They prefer go to high court more often rather than wasting money marketing on their Bullshit lousy car. And they end up loser again and again (against David Hunt previous Team Lotus owner) in this long 18 years of acquisition of Group lotus with the recently 2 high court 2011 lose to Tony Fernandes original Team Lotus.
Wow…
a mentor is needed. This is clearly shown how useless Dany Bahar is.
PROTON is either kick this Bahar out or just sell GL to the highest bidder
For how long PROTON must pikul this biawak hidup?
a better and more mature car company (read: not protong) would have kicked the idiotic dany bahar out if they bought group lotus.
don’t blame on Bahar, Lotus is just a small sportcar manufacture that offer nothing other than slower, more pricey, cheap interior and yeah… only have what claim as better ride & handling.
in terms of acceleration :
same price GTR v.s Evora S – GTR win
same price Cayman v.s Evora S – Cayman win
cheaper BMW 1M v.s Evora S – BMW 1M win
for now, what Bahar plan and want to transform is to make Lotus equal as Mclaren or Bugatti. Is it possible? Yeah cause Malaysia Boleh…
now we all should try Kaballah. it works for Madonna and her toyboys so it must work for us
or scientology. it works for a man some feet shorter than his wife.
Look.
Lotus has its own fan base, and with over 20-30 years affection towards the brand, selling 200-300 units in the UK alone shouldnt be a problem if not because of the financial mess going on now
in the UK and some parts in this world, people are buying things based on their buying power and currently lets face it the koreans are selling what people are able to own
thats the only reason they are getting high ups to the ranking these days. i mean the strongest reason. i have to stress this up because if i dont some men with funny bulldog face gonna come up and mess my internet.
most of them drive a hyundai or a kia. one maybe own a ssangyong. the chairman. because he thought thats mercedes S class. nutter.
so in a place where people nowadays find it very hard to meet ends, a reduction of 24% in sales is acceptable, however it is not a positive indication at some areas of business.
somebody digged up about GTR and evora and all BS comparing this and that.
well GTR knocked many german heads. one man atleast may have peed on ferdinand pierch’s garden. and sticked two fingers at walter rohrl for not be able to replicate that Ring times.
but the germans lived. and they banged up octoberfest pretty well. only britain failed when it comes to bird and booze. its binged britain now.
my point is there is no point comparing GTR with a marquee like Lotus. it brings nothing to table. do u buy a car to lap the Ring everyday? do u buy a vehicle for its 3 second acceleration? or do u drive to work at 200mph everyday?
chances if ur answers are YES to each the question, u must be 14 years old sitting on a sofa playing forza. or GT5. u can not be a man who does real world driving. or if u insist u do, u must be somebody with restrain order of 100m off schoolboys. or altar boys.
selling bigger volume, yes. but lotus isnt mass producing makers. there must be an acceptable numbers to satisfy both parties. the owners and the bankers.
the engineering knowhows are brilliant.
the overall developments are promising although now only they are getting their own engine, not the tuned camry engine. yes a bit late but its a self own engine nontheless. but the cost of getting the engine done must be justified thoroughly. whats the point of getting one, but the company strangled to red?
i see this as another preliminary ‘reasoning’ of justifying the need for Lotus to get a new, flash the cash owner
thats about it
ha ha… good one drMpower. enjoyed your post.
sell the car cheap-cheap…..sure ppl will buy. Tin milo car oso ppl will buy if the price is right…..
Sell to Malaysian cheap-cheap so all malaysia can rasa the sportcar…..
lol 272 & 358 unit for first eight month, that not even 500 unit a year.
how the hell Lotus came out so much money until able become as title sponsor for Renault Lotus?
let’s say each car contribute profit of $10,000 for Lotus, that’s only $5million buck a year!
so profitable!
looks like things are not too well in norwich.
now everyone is sounding off….i do not think herr kalbfell need tell to what is already obvious to us layperson. reading between the lines…he may be asked by danny b to $^&* off soon!
and the ‘turnaround’ plan is hardly a year old and we hear GL has already shelved one of the new models (elan, i think), and the evora is now tasked to bridge the gap to the new esprit….wow, and these are major strategic directions done on the fly (?)…
proton, lets not have the ghost of agusta haunt the country again. and ask the GL guys to shut up and deliver the plan!
Generally bad product won’t sell. Bad product from bad company won’t sell too. Good product from bad company also won’t sell. However bad product from good company got chance to sell.
I doubt lotus car is so good at all areas, design, engine performance, quality, safety, market acceptance, collectablility or may be only good at handling.
Proton better replace Bahar with Karl-Heinz Kalbfell instead or if Proton really serious about Group Lotus involvement in Formula 1; there’s another ex BMW guy who have vast experience in Formula 1 .. Mr. Mario Theissien.
Dany Bahar is just the same as Tony Fernandes. He’s only good at marketing the Brand. If Proton really wants to keep Bahar; move him down to Marketing department and appoint other Person who really knows how to runs a company be a LOTUS CEO.
In two years time they will ask father (meaning Proton, meaning taxpayers) for another twenty million pounds.
kesian, proton’s subsidies company only manage sells few hundred vehicle over a year…
nowonder lotus is still surviving strong as it was backup by proton and it’s strong malaysia automotive policy…
truth is very sad for their blind supporter… nevermind you guys can keep dreaming…
What??Lotus is owned by the company that make shitty cars in Malaysia who has been winning numerous Frost & Sullivan awards which no one have even heard , every year without fail.Dont forget that they are the TOP two carmakers in a ‘ UNLEVEL PLAYING FIELD’ in Malaysia.
After over 26 years of making shitty cars in Malaysia we can proudly say our team of shitty Protons boyz are now going out to the world in a ‘LEVEL PLAYING FIELD’ trying to sell a car brand only renown for racing but never a MASS consumer product.
The only way for Proton to sell alot of Lotus cars is if ‘Chacko’ comes up with a marketing campaign that says ‘DRIVING A LOTUS CURES CANCER’.
Goodluck boyz and lay off those spliff smoking sessions during the board and management meeting!!!!! ;-)
I think people in Proton better read this article. This ex-BMW guy is talking sense and he is already sounding the alarm. If Proton guys can’t understand what he means…………………….
It is simple business sense, you have a future plan but you must also have a present plan. By the looks of it, Lotus is concentrating too much on future plans and ignoring the present company position. If this is true then this what people say “can’t even walk properly but already thinking running”. Sad sad indeed.
It’s volume is low because it is own by Proton.
If it is own by Audi or Mercedes, sure its sales volume will go up.
Audi is owned by Volkswagen. Audi made good cars but couldn’t sell too. Mercedes, or rather Mercedes-Benz (the company, which is a division of Daimler AG) used to own Chrysler. Actually it was Daimler that used to own Chrysler (I think). Couldn’t sell cras with that Chrysler brand too. Sold it off.
The thing is…. making & selling cars (and many other things) is a complicated process. If not, Ferrari would not be owned by Fiat, Saab would not have been in trouble, Volvo would not have been sold to a Chinese company, Citroen & Peugeot would not have been consolidated….
…. and everybody would be able to buy their own car from Ikea.
:mrgreen:
uncle abu… Audi sells more car than Merc and BMW in Europe..
Why do I feel that a lot of Malaysians dislike Lotus and have a belief that Lotus is some lousy brand? lol. Keep your hopes up on them. Change ownership la. Let bigger car companies invest in Lotus to allow it to release its potential. For car noobs, Lotus is not Malaysian.*cue to go whaaat?* Never was, never is. It is OWNED by Malaysia instead.
Honestly, I feel that Proton is incapable of pushing Lotus to its extremes. I look forward to the new Esprit. Do you? I believe with another company at hand, their build quality will be from tin milo to ironman. I have to say that Proton has saved Lotus’ life on quite a few occasions but I guess they have to move on. Time to let go but memories will always be there and when they get famous, we can say Proton owned them before! :)
Don’t la when it comes to car manufacturing, you guys so ‘patriotic’. Be supportive. Got money? But a Lotus, not an Evo X, 335i, A5, TT. You know the sorts.
r u sure? bye2 lotus…i prefer gtr & evo x…
it’s all about personal preference. If Lotus had the supercars they are envisioning, I don’t think you would say the same. If I had the choice of the Evora S or the Evo, I’d get the Evora. Exclusivity of course if you asked why I chose that.
only enthusiast owner buy lotus..but not me…k
baru keluar dari gua ke machaaa?
we all knew already since long time ago that LOTUS car is not malaysian
duh!
LOL. dude, did you read the text? for car newbs? ==
120k pound for an evora? that is too much to pay for too little power. at 114k pound you’d get a Audi R8 V10 or a Porsche 911 Turbo with Variable Engine Mount. both of which are more powerful, nicer sounding and as good to drive, not to mention the badge snobbery. I wondered where did Lotus ever get the inspiration to even dare to charge 120k pound for a car powered by the engine of a Toyota Camry, albeit in a supercharged form
That’s exactly the problem. Just look at the competition. The F1 image can only go so far.
It was maybe a year ago that Lotus was granted a 24 million pounds loan guaranteed by Proton. The news was posted here. I commented that Lotus just wasn’t selling enough cars.
At the slow rate of sales, how much is left of the 24 million by now?
Standard Evora is only 50k pound, this GTE version is a limited edition just like their parent company did for Proton Satria Neo R3 Lotus Racing.
Lotus CEO: Sales? what sales? we are just a toy boy of Protong to burn money only for their top management for image creation, We never intend to sell car in competitive market where Protong makes $$ in squeezing their home citizen enough already.
Do anybody still remember our beloved PM has approved a little amount of loan for Lotus’s five years strategic plan few month ago?
Any news on that? Sales statistic perhaps?
Does Ex-BMW statement reflects anything on ‘our PM’ decisions to keep on reviving Lotus?
i think lotus should change its concept.
making a practical road going car. like lotus sedan, sport hatch, with diesel to a powerful sporty engine.
Hard to see Lotus car on KL road…do know why? Nissan GTR from gray import much comment sigh…
The decision to develop Lotus’s V8 engine in-house could be a mistake or perhaps the timing is not right. Lotus should have developed the cheaper Lotus Elan first before going for the top of the range Lotus Esprit model. It could used outsourced engines, and if Japanese engine is not on the enthusiats’ cup of tea, then Lotus can try to secure engines (e.g V6 engine) supply from the British or European manufacturers ( Ford, Renault) or even pure American brand like Chevrolet. Developing a high performance engine for road cars would cost a bomb, and for a small company like Lotus who badly needs a series of new models to survive, such venture could spell disaster..