So.... Phil Popham
Discussion
New Boss, industry experienced, Jaguar, turned around Sunseeker Yachts... what do we think?
Popham said:
I have spent my career working with, and have a passion for famous British luxury, high-tech and pioneering brands, and Lotus, with its amazing history, definitely fits into that category, I am looking forward to being part of the team that will drive the substantial future growth of the Lotus business.
Maldini35 said:
He’s a brand builder not just a cost cutter.
Certainly a big improvement on JMG.
I don't think you can say he's a "big improvement" because their brief is different. It's clear that JMG's brief was to make Lotus a viable takeover target. Given lacklustre sales and lack of funds, he had no option but to slash costs, manage the cash carefully (not paying suppliers will have delivered short-term gain but long term pain...) and tinker with existing products in a bid to improve sales and margins. Any Chief Exec would have done the same thing in his position.Certainly a big improvement on JMG.
The mark of this new bloke will be that he doesn't piss whatever investment money he has up the wall (see Dany Bahar for details) and can make Lotus products that (i) the general public want to buy (ii) existing owners feel like they're worth upgrading to.
HeMightBeBanned said:
The mark of this new bloke will be that he doesn't piss whatever investment money he has up the wall (see Danny Bahar for details) and can make Lotus products that (i) the general public want to buy (ii) existing owners feel like they're worth upgrading to.
He's a totally different level of manager with a totally different level of budget and access to other manufacturer's products so no reason why that should be the case.HeMightBeBanned said:
I don't think you can say he's a "big improvement" because their brief is different. It's clear that JMG's brief was to make Lotus a viable takeover target. Given lacklustre sales and lack of funds, he had no option but to slash costs, manage the cash carefully (not paying suppliers will have delivered short-term gain but long term pain...) and tinker with existing products in a bid to improve sales and margins. Any Chief Exec would have done the same thing in his position.
The mark of this new bloke will be that he doesn't piss whatever investment money he has up the wall (see Dany Bahar for details) and can make Lotus products that (i) the general public want to buy (ii) existing owners feel like they're worth upgrading to.
Trust me - a big improvement.The mark of this new bloke will be that he doesn't piss whatever investment money he has up the wall (see Dany Bahar for details) and can make Lotus products that (i) the general public want to buy (ii) existing owners feel like they're worth upgrading to.
JMG was unable to attract or retain top talent with his unique management style.
Yes his initial brief was different (cut costs to survive) but he clearly showed he was unable to adapt to the new brief - hence his sudden departure for ‘personal reasons’.
Some great people at Lotus - hopefully now they have the leadership they deserve
Nerdherder said:
The world needs a 30k Lotus new mister bossman!
Then the world equally needs a 30k Porsche 911 and a 30k Alfa sports car and a 70k Ferrari and a 40k Jaguar sports car, and, and...Lotus has never been an economy brand.
Those relative pricings are what the relationship was back in the days of the Elan Sprint where it competed, successfully, with the 911T, Alfa Giulietta, Dino 246 and E-Type respectively.
Lotus does need a car that, for the same pricing as a high-end sports car, represents Lotus' traditional market niche of very high tech, very low weight and industry topping handling with the tradeoff of luxury GT features.
Remember Lotus' production cars used to be the ones to bring technology that hadn't even become universally adopted in Formula 1 yet to the street. The original Elan didn't become a legend because it was cute. It became a legend because in 1962 it had a twin cam engine with one carburetor barrel per cylinder, 4-wheel independent strut suspension, composite bodywork on a monocoque backbone chassis and 4-wheel disk brakes. And did so at the same price as other, more powerful but far less state of the art high end sports cars. It didn't compete with MG or Triumph or Austin-Healy for mass-market pricing and sales.
MikeGalos said:
Remember Lotus' production cars used to be the ones to bring technology that hadn't even become universally adopted in Formula 1 yet to the street. The original Elan didn't become a legend because it was cute. It became a legend because in 1962 it had a twin cam engine with one carburetor barrel per cylinder, 4-wheel independent strut suspension, composite bodywork on a monocoque backbone chassis and 4-wheel disk brakes. And did so at the same price as other, more powerful but far less state of the art high end sports cars. It didn't compete with MG or Triumph or Austin-Healy for mass-market pricing and sales.
So they really need to bite the bullet and design a carbon tub.GregorFuk said:
So they really need to bite the bullet and design a carbon tub.
Depends which way they go. The point of Aluminium is you can do relatively short production runs cost effectively. It means they could have a few super-targeted niche models that do what the mainstream manufacturers can't without ending up with boutique prices.Carbon fibre is more expensive and (I think?) harder to design for - so you have to go for fewer models with a much more premium price.
The first option was how we got the Elise. The second is how Mclaren delivered the 12c etc. Whilst I so want to see a halo 'new Esprit' that is a Mclaren killer, I'd also like to see stuff that a mere mortals can aspire to. Not Ford prices by any means, but not same price as a house prices either.
Seems like a solid choice. Just hope he does not think that Lotus should be sunseekers on wheels.
Apart from the stupidity of offering an SUV, it seems Lotus are in better long term shape than they have been for many years.
Credit to Jean-Marc Gales for getting absolutely every penny of revenue out of each car and getting them tweeked sufficiently to be cars Chapman would be proud of.
Apart from the stupidity of offering an SUV, it seems Lotus are in better long term shape than they have been for many years.
Credit to Jean-Marc Gales for getting absolutely every penny of revenue out of each car and getting them tweeked sufficiently to be cars Chapman would be proud of.
GregorFuk said:
MikeGalos said:
Remember Lotus' production cars used to be the ones to bring technology that hadn't even become universally adopted in Formula 1 yet to the street. The original Elan didn't become a legend because it was cute. It became a legend because in 1962 it had a twin cam engine with one carburetor barrel per cylinder, 4-wheel independent strut suspension, composite bodywork on a monocoque backbone chassis and 4-wheel disk brakes. And did so at the same price as other, more powerful but far less state of the art high end sports cars. It didn't compete with MG or Triumph or Austin-Healy for mass-market pricing and sales.
So they really need to bite the bullet and design a carbon tub.And those are things that will NOT come with Miata pricing. Nor have they ever. They come with saying "Here's a true race level technology car for the price of a sports car built on two generation old technology and the tradeoff is that you won't get 'rich Corinthian leather' and high quality custom switchgear and an audio system better than you have in your home and you will pay as much as you would for the cars that do focus on those amenities but that skimp on actual automotive technology because that's the optimization that we think matters."
Edited by MikeGalos on Thursday 20th September 14:04
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