Lotus Strategy

L.O.T.U.S – Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious. This is an amusing aside, but like many stereotypes it has buried within it an uncomfortable truth, and disaster for LotusLotusUnited Kingdom, 1952 > present68 models
951 photos
7 videos
seems never to be far away. So what does the post-Danny Bahar era hold?

Lotus was sold to DRB-Hicom in January and despite staying quiet on the subject for a number of months they eventually sacked Bahar and threw his grand plans into the abandoned projects folder. The current situation can only be fully understood in the context of what Bahar had previously had in mind, so I’ll throw some numbers at you.

£400,000,000: The amount that Bahar planned to invest in a company that has been losing money for the last 15 years.

Five new models:

1. New Esprit ‘the ultimate supercar’

Lotus EspritUnited Kingdom, 2010 > present4 photos

2. New Elise ‘the bread and butter’ but now with 316bhp

3. New Elan ‘like a smaller Esprit’

Lotus ElanUnited Kingdom, 2010 > present4 photos

4. New Elite ‘taking the battle to Ferrari’s FF’

Lotus EliteUnited Kingdom, 2010 > present3 photos

5. The Eterne ‘Aston Martin Rapide rival’

Lotus EterneUnited Kingdom, 2015 > present5 photos

On top of that, the Esprit, Elite and Eterne will be priced at over £100,000!

Of course, I’m interested to hear what you, the Autoviva readership, think about this plan. But I’m going to give you my thoughts anyway.

The issue for Lotus, and for that matter Aston MartinAston MartinUnited Kingdom, 1914 > present62 models
1872 photos
24 videos
, is one of development costs. In fact, the reality is that even with the £400 million proposed investment it would be a challenge to develop five world class models.

Let us take the staple product, the Lotus Elise for example, Bahar suggested that it ought to have 316bhp and weigh over a tonne, the cost for all of this? It has to be close to £50,000 don’t you think? At this level it will have to have much more than a cracking chassis to sell, as the current Evora bears testament to. And really good multimedia systems, gearbox and servicing are things that Lotus has not got in place. Who is going to build all the dealers for the support network?

I will not go through the whole range, but you get the point, I’m sure. The Ferrari FFFerrari FFItaly, 2011 > present24 photos
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and F12Ferrari F12berlinettaItaly, 2012 > present16 photos
1 video
are too good nowadays to get scared by the Esprit, Elite and Eterne. Even if they might steal a few sales from loyal, English, Aston Martin RapideAston Martin RapideUnited Kingdom, 2010 > present8 photos
customers, who too are few and far between.

So, what would I do? It is all very well offering criticism, so I will try and give an answer.

What is Lotus good at? What does Lotus have the brand identity to actually sell?

The answer is the Elise and products based around it. Wouldn’t it be great to see something priced at around £20,000 again? Not with 316bhp, but 150bhp instead, normally aspirated and below 2.0l of 4 pot and weighing, well…next to nothing. The money, what little there is of it should then go into producing the Evora replacement, but this time it needs to be really well made, with a much better gearbox and an interior that…for want of a better word: ‘works.’

The Esprit should probably come later, but only once the foundations are laid with the good build quality and usability built into the Evora model. That too should be priced at below £100,000 and focus on lightness.
This won’t be a quick process, it could take a decade. But strong brands are built on strong foundations. And L.O.T.U.S foundations aren’t that sturdy…yet.