RE: Lotus to build cars in Malaysia
Thursday 16th June 2005
Elise demand forces move to MalaysiaManufacturing at Lotus could be about to leave the UK, according to a report in AutoExpress. At least, part of it anyway. The reports suggests that the Norfolk company has run out of factory space at Hethel, where the Elise now takes up all its capacity.
Lotus to build cars in Malaysia
Demand for Elise means Hethel plant is at capacity
Elise demand forces move to Malaysia
As a result, the new Esprit, due in 2007, will be made in Malaysia, home country of parent company Proton. A Lotus spokesperson reckoned that the Hethel site is not big enough to cope with demand, and that Lotus enthusiasts would rather see the company invest in product development than building bigger factories. The same source reportedly said that the plant's future has been guaranteed for at least the next 10 years.
Discussion
I don't think the malaysian lines would be compatible. The Elise is put togrther in such a different way. The Aluminium "tub" is not built by Lotus either and would need to be shipped from Europe.Also If they are testing the water they might find that the fact they are built in The UK actually counts for something in the market Lotus are in.
>> Edited by telecat on Thursday 16th June 14:12
>> Edited by telecat on Thursday 16th June 14:12
Considering the facility at Hethel was expanded to include space to build the VX220 and that project is now over, I'd be very surprised if capacity had been reached even with the current US demand.
I'd suggest that this is simply a case of wanting to move Lotus to Malaysia. Now that the VW deal has been done with Proton and the issue of Proton's future is therfore dealt with, they now want to pull the company closer to its real management - Mahatir and his Boys.
I don't understand why we just don't sell Buckingham Palace and the Crown jewels as we seem happy to flog anything iconically British to anyone with some cash - Russian, Malaysian, American, Chinese! Meanwhile, British investors sink their money into anything but the UK and drive German cars - thanks chaps, how very sporting! If anyone can remember the Malaysian TVRs, it might give you a clue as to what Malaysian Lotus' might be like!
Best regards,
The Captain
23, Colin Chapman Road
Old Lotus Way,
New Hethel Housing Estate
Norfolk
I'd suggest that this is simply a case of wanting to move Lotus to Malaysia. Now that the VW deal has been done with Proton and the issue of Proton's future is therfore dealt with, they now want to pull the company closer to its real management - Mahatir and his Boys.
I don't understand why we just don't sell Buckingham Palace and the Crown jewels as we seem happy to flog anything iconically British to anyone with some cash - Russian, Malaysian, American, Chinese! Meanwhile, British investors sink their money into anything but the UK and drive German cars - thanks chaps, how very sporting! If anyone can remember the Malaysian TVRs, it might give you a clue as to what Malaysian Lotus' might be like!
Best regards,
The Captain
23, Colin Chapman Road
Old Lotus Way,
New Hethel Housing Estate
Norfolk
johnny senna said:
even Elise's production moves out of UK...
this will be the end of UK automotive industry...sad day!
Errr......TVR, Morgan, Marcos, Radical, Caterham, Westfield.....
forget to provide extra informations,
I just consider Lotus because it is kind of a mass production brand now (thx to Elise sale)
**how many does TVR sell per year??
I may be wrong to my informations. correct me please.
recently I heard the news that "Rover" is closed down.
**I think it also means ending of the MG brand, right??
but was Rover or MG made in UK?? please correct my mistake..
so the only brand I remember is Lotus (as an international icon)
cb1118 said:
cb1118 said:
even Elise's production moves out of UK...
this will be the end of UK automotive industry...sad day!
Errr......TVR, Morgan, Marcos, Radical, Caterham, Westfield.....
forget to provide extra informations,
I just consider Lotus because it is kind of a mass production brand now (thx to Elise sale)
**how many does TVR sell per year??
I may be wrong to my informations. correct me please.
recently I heard the news that "Rover" is closed down.
**I think it also means ending of the MG brand, right??
but was Rover or MG made in UK?? please correct my mistake..
so the only brand I remember is Lotus (as an international icon)
Yes MG and Rover were made in the UK now bust. There's still Jaguar + Landrover, but they're part of Frod now.
If Lotus were British owned and setting up extra capacity in Malaysia (to spread currency risks etc) it would be fine. But as they are owned by Proton how long before all manufacturing is over there.
A friend of mine reckons that anybody buying a Rover now is ill advised. Yet he has had problems with his VW and plenty with the dealer. I think he is suffering from the "Buy German" campaign raged across our newspapers.
The new 'Esprit' will be built in Malaysia, but emotion aside, this does make a lot of business sense, to make the car competitive from a price point of view then unit build cost must be minimised. The new car will be circa £60K and if they can make a real super car at that price and keep costs down they are onto a winner.
It is a shame, but to make the car here would not work financially, and after all, Nobles are made in South Africa, Bentleys in Germany etc
I have my deposit on the 'Esprit' and if it half as good as they say it will be, I wont mind where its made !
>> Edited by homesickangel on Thursday 16th June 15:57
It is a shame, but to make the car here would not work financially, and after all, Nobles are made in South Africa, Bentleys in Germany etc
I have my deposit on the 'Esprit' and if it half as good as they say it will be, I wont mind where its made !
>> Edited by homesickangel on Thursday 16th June 15:57
"A Lotus spokesperson reckoned that the Hethel site is not big enough to cope with demand"
Has anyone from Proton noticed that Hethel is situated on a huge
ing airfield with acres of space?
Mr Proton a car made in Malaysia with a Lotus badge stuck on it isn't a Lotus, never was, never will be, just a reminder look here for the size of Hethel
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/c3deq">http://tinyurl.com/c3deq</a>
Notice the green fields, bumpy roads, dodgy corners that define England, the chippy is just down the road, Colin is buried not far away. Ever wondered why we buy Lotus rather than some anodyne car like xxxxx ?(substitute 99% of the worlds car manufacturers here)
A Lotus is not the product of some far east sweat shop full of far too polite workers dressed in corporate colours and stinking of egg foo yung.
>> Edited by M100 on Thursday 16th June 16:22
>> Edited by M100 on Thursday 16th June 16:23
Has anyone from Proton noticed that Hethel is situated on a huge
ing airfield with acres of space? Mr Proton a car made in Malaysia with a Lotus badge stuck on it isn't a Lotus, never was, never will be, just a reminder look here for the size of Hethel
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/c3deq">http://tinyurl.com/c3deq</a>
Notice the green fields, bumpy roads, dodgy corners that define England, the chippy is just down the road, Colin is buried not far away. Ever wondered why we buy Lotus rather than some anodyne car like xxxxx ?(substitute 99% of the worlds car manufacturers here)
A Lotus is not the product of some far east sweat shop full of far too polite workers dressed in corporate colours and stinking of egg foo yung.
>> Edited by M100 on Thursday 16th June 16:22
>> Edited by M100 on Thursday 16th June 16:23
lets get real about this lotus is a company that makes sports cars to sell for a profit, if they make good cars ppl will buy them if they make bad cars they wont, but if they make good cars at to higher a price ppl wont buy them or not in enough numbers they need to stay competive. Everyone else is doing this an lotus need to aswell if they want to have a future
Its hard i know i would like everything to be built in england too but the reality is most people dont care hence y everyone buys a bmw, audi etc an buying british in the case of rover, MG was almost seen as a bad thing (christ how did that happen) & y rolls royce an bentley an aston martin an lotus all traditional british sports car brands are in foriegn hands, and if they had not been bought by oversea's companies then lotus an aston would not be around anymore an bentleys would just be faster rollers with bigger wheels.
Its todays economics things built abroad in low cost countries are a lot cheaper an if you dont follow suit your products rapidly become uncompetive an obslete an you go out of business a la rover, its a shame but its the way things are now so dont be too angry a lotus for doing this as its a good decision for the companies future competiveness which will be key to there survival
Its hard i know i would like everything to be built in england too but the reality is most people dont care hence y everyone buys a bmw, audi etc an buying british in the case of rover, MG was almost seen as a bad thing (christ how did that happen) & y rolls royce an bentley an aston martin an lotus all traditional british sports car brands are in foriegn hands, and if they had not been bought by oversea's companies then lotus an aston would not be around anymore an bentleys would just be faster rollers with bigger wheels.
Its todays economics things built abroad in low cost countries are a lot cheaper an if you dont follow suit your products rapidly become uncompetive an obslete an you go out of business a la rover, its a shame but its the way things are now so dont be too angry a lotus for doing this as its a good decision for the companies future competiveness which will be key to there survival
BEFORE Lotus laid off loads of its staff, it expanded the production capabilities at Hethel to two lines with a capacity of 10 000 cars per year. They have NEVER been anywhere close to this figure, so unless there is some new popular model about to take up a big chunk of capacity, there is some bull being spouted.
If the Esprit is to be a hand finished luxury car, then build it somewhere where craftsmen can be bought cheap (NOT Europe), then it might just be affordable
If the Esprit is to be a hand finished luxury car, then build it somewhere where craftsmen can be bought cheap (NOT Europe), then it might just be affordable
The Captain said:
Considering the facility at Hethel was expanded to include space to build the VX220 and that project is now over, I'd be very surprised if capacity had been reached even with the current US demand.
I'd suggest that this is simply a case of wanting to move Lotus to Malaysia. Now that the VW deal has been done with Proton and the issue of Proton's future is therfore dealt with, they now want to pull the company closer to its real management - Mahatir and his Boys.
I don't understand why we just don't sell Buckingham Palace and the Crown jewels as we seem happy to flog anything iconically British to anyone with some cash - Russian, Malaysian, American, Chinese! Meanwhile, British investors sink their money into anything but the UK and drive German cars - thanks chaps, how very sporting! If anyone can remember the Malaysian TVRs, it might give you a clue as to what Malaysian Lotus' might be like!
Best regards,
The Captain
23, Colin Chapman Road
Old Lotus Way,
New Hethel Housing Estate
Norfolk
Can't agree more. This country is going to hell on a handcart. Fast.
I dont know about using the Asian labour on the Lotus Esprit
first, I understand the new BMW 3-series is made on an assembly line, and is still made in Germany
second, I do believe the labour cost does matter on an "assembly line" vehicles
I don't think the Lotus Esprit or the Lotus Elise are into this category
look at the Lotus Elise,
the focus of the assembly is the chasis, which is glued together, to ensure stiffness, the bonding without any screw to avoid loss at joint points after many years of usage...
I personally think this is a major technology breakthrough in chasis technology.....and that'ss why the cost of an Elise is 50% higher than a Honda S2000 (possibly the best sportscar using standard way of assembly) / and that's why it is called a LOTUS
**price reference is based on Asian market situation
look at the Lotus Esprit
it will be a lexury, exotic model, and top of the line to representing Lotus.
for a car to be called "exotic" sportscar....
it must be
(1)first, must be hand built! (not mass qty assembly line)
hand built skill is not an easy task
and does require many years of experience to back up the claim..
**I don't think Malaysia has such automotiv industry background yet.
the only company from Asia that I can remember "hand building" a car is from Japan...and the name is HONDA NSX..
and also, only Japan who has 2 "kit car/tune car" shops to make their own sports car...**also built by hand
(2)the price will be at the same range as a NSX or a Porsche based model (or even to the top Turbo Cabriolet model, if the Esprit has a upgraded version)
with this price tag....the car must be able to afford the labour cost of modern country
**the cheapest and the closest country that I think has the skillful workers is USA. (just look at their car culture history)
(yes, I would think of building a Lotus Esprit in the USA making more sense)
(3)I think Lotus should focus on doing the right assembly and making a "reliable" product
**reliability calculated to be similar to a Porsche or a Ferrari is good enough...
NOTE: owning a LOTUS is already meaning "exotic car owner", which means expectation of expensive maintainence cost....
so if a LOTUS can be driven daily like a Porsche.
and the cost of maintainence plus the regular schedule of service is similar to the Porsches and the Ferrari, it already makes sense.
I personally don't want to buy a cheap "new model" LOTUS ESPRIT that has very poor reliability.
and I don't want a LOTUS ESPRIT to be built in mass production assembly line.
I hope LOTUS would focus on "hand buildinig skill" as a selling point, and why the LOTUS is 50% higher prices than a Japanese sportscar...
or simply a LOTUS carrys same price tag as a base model Porsche..
if LOTUS can offer the quality, I think LOTUS definitely worth the same price as a Porsche
first, I understand the new BMW 3-series is made on an assembly line, and is still made in Germany
second, I do believe the labour cost does matter on an "assembly line" vehicles
I don't think the Lotus Esprit or the Lotus Elise are into this category
look at the Lotus Elise,
the focus of the assembly is the chasis, which is glued together, to ensure stiffness, the bonding without any screw to avoid loss at joint points after many years of usage...
I personally think this is a major technology breakthrough in chasis technology.....and that'ss why the cost of an Elise is 50% higher than a Honda S2000 (possibly the best sportscar using standard way of assembly) / and that's why it is called a LOTUS
**price reference is based on Asian market situation
look at the Lotus Esprit
it will be a lexury, exotic model, and top of the line to representing Lotus.
for a car to be called "exotic" sportscar....
it must be
(1)first, must be hand built! (not mass qty assembly line)
hand built skill is not an easy task
and does require many years of experience to back up the claim..
**I don't think Malaysia has such automotiv industry background yet.
the only company from Asia that I can remember "hand building" a car is from Japan...and the name is HONDA NSX..
and also, only Japan who has 2 "kit car/tune car" shops to make their own sports car...**also built by hand
(2)the price will be at the same range as a NSX or a Porsche based model (or even to the top Turbo Cabriolet model, if the Esprit has a upgraded version)
with this price tag....the car must be able to afford the labour cost of modern country
**the cheapest and the closest country that I think has the skillful workers is USA. (just look at their car culture history)
(yes, I would think of building a Lotus Esprit in the USA making more sense)
(3)I think Lotus should focus on doing the right assembly and making a "reliable" product
**reliability calculated to be similar to a Porsche or a Ferrari is good enough...
NOTE: owning a LOTUS is already meaning "exotic car owner", which means expectation of expensive maintainence cost....
so if a LOTUS can be driven daily like a Porsche.
and the cost of maintainence plus the regular schedule of service is similar to the Porsches and the Ferrari, it already makes sense.
I personally don't want to buy a cheap "new model" LOTUS ESPRIT that has very poor reliability.
and I don't want a LOTUS ESPRIT to be built in mass production assembly line.
I hope LOTUS would focus on "hand buildinig skill" as a selling point, and why the LOTUS is 50% higher prices than a Japanese sportscar...
or simply a LOTUS carrys same price tag as a base model Porsche..
if LOTUS can offer the quality, I think LOTUS definitely worth the same price as a Porsche
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