770 milioni di sterline per lotus

[nicogiraldi]

770 milioni di sterline...

quello che afferma di poter investire il Dany Bahar!

http://www.ultimissimeauto.com/lotus...eo-dany-bahar/

Mahhhhh 900 milioni di euro manco li ha un megagruppo automobilistico!!

Ma chi paga ancora i malesi di Proton? O chi altri?

Mahhhhhhhhhhhhh

[poliziottesco]

il link sembra non funzionare a dovere, la notizia sembra interessante quanto oscura. Circa Proton carmaker mi limito a citare da wikipedia:

" It is a core member of Proton Holdings Berhad, the holding company which is listed on Bursa Malaysia. Over 42% of its equity is owned by a government-owned company Khazanah Nasional Berhad, making it government-linked"

dato che io come molti sono stato colpito da tutti i concepts presentati da Lotus, ed essendo un amante (ahime' non possessore) del marchio, copio e incollo un riassunto delle maggiori proposte con riferimento ai rispettivi terreni di battaglia sul mercato delle sportive. Chiedo scusa se non e' il topic giusto, volevo radunare le novita' ma non volevo aprire un ennesimo topic su lotus.

The New Era Of Lotus - Revealed

Five new models from Norfolk. Count 'em - five

Lotus has a tradition of not playing by conventional rules (such as the desire to actually make a profit), and it has excelled itself at Paris by launching not one all-new car, but five. Thus we now have a new Esprit, Elite, Elan, a replacement for the Elise and a four-door super-saloon called the Eterne.

That's a lot to take in, so for now we'll keep to the highlights of Hethel's ambitious new model programme (we don't actually know much more than that as yet), to give you the highlights of what, in the wonderfully mixed metaphor of Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, will bring Lotus onto a "higher playing field".

There's no doubting the depth and reach of Lotus's ambition, but can it really take on the might of Porsche, Ferrari and Aston Martin without sacrificing its loyal and fanatical existing customer base? Only time - and sales figures - will tell...

Lotus Esprit

The long-awaited for the Esprit as finally been revealed (by Brian May and Naomi Campbell, of all people), with a 611bhp 5.0-litre V8 mounted in the middle of the angular body.

"The Esprit is the ultimate supercar," says Dany Bahar, Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus. "In the past when people thought of the Esprit, they thought of the movies, Bond, Pretty Woman, Basic Instinct but this time around, the car is the star of the show." The Esprit is due in the spring of 2013.

Lotus Elise

This one's going to be crucial; Lotus's bread and butter. The current Elise is already 15 years old and we'll have to wait until 2015 before the New 'un comes on stream, so it's going to need to be good. Still, with 316bhp powering 1095kg, the signs are promising.

Lotus Elan

Kind of like an Esprit, only smaller (think Cayman to 911), the Elan will get a 4.0-litre V6 with 444bhp. That should be enough to take the 1295kg car to a top speed of 194mph and to 62mph in just 3.5secs, and you'll be able to test htat out fro yourself in the second half of 2013.

Lotus Elite

This is Lotus's Aston-chaser, a big-hearted 2+2 GT with a 611bhp 5.0 V8, a retractable hardtop, KERS, and even a hybrid option. On sale for your delectation in Spring 2014.

Lotus Eterne

A surprise among surprises, this one. The Eterne is a four-door super-saloon, using the same 611bhp as the Esprit and Elite. Can Lotus really take on the Rapide and Panamera? Find out in 2015.

fonte: www.pistonheads.com

[nicogiraldi]

riporto il link Lotus Intervista al Ceo Dany Bahar :: Ultimissime Auto

Progetti, strategie e modelli siamo pronti a tornare grandi”

Cosa è successo per decidere, dopo tanto tempo, di “rifondare” l’azienda e di stravolgere la strategia? La domanda di rigore è per Dany Bahar nuovo CEO di Lotus e autore in pochi mesi di un progetto a dir poco spavaldo.

«Se un’azienda chiude i bilanci in rosso per 15 anni significa che il modello di business non funziona. Questo è stato il punto di partenza per decidere di cambiare tutto».

Ma non può essere rischioso per un’azienda con la storia e l’immagine della Lotus?

«Il rischio vero era la chiusura. L’immagine è importante ma il passato non mi interessa; è più importante mettere a frutto le capacità del gruppo, che sono notevoli, e cambiare politica di prodotto. Possiamo anche pensare di essere un po’ meno inglesi se è quello che serve per il business».

Sembra facile…

«Adesso abbiamo le idee chiare, ci sono i progetti, la strategia, i prodotti, soprattutto quelli che verranno, e naturalmente i soldi: 770 milioni di sterline da investire nella nuova Lotus».

Sono una bella cifra; cosa ha promesso agli azionisti della Proton?

«Gli azionisti sono ben consapevoli delle potenzialità della Lotus, nell’engineering e anche sul piano commerciale; penso che in 34 anni riusciremo a tornare redditivi».

Parliamo di prodotto, la gamma attuale che futuro avrà?

«Oggi abbiamo l’Elise/Exige, che non è recente ma è un’icona, e la Evora con le sue nuove evoluzioni; quello che oggi non basta a sostenere il business è comunque un ottimo punto di partenza per la strategia che si svilupperà dal 2014. Dobbiamo allargare la gamma per prendere altri clienti entusiasti senza perdere chi ci ha seguito fino ad oggi».

Al Salone di Parigi presenterete anche i prototipi dei modelli futuri. C’era proprio bisogno di far vedere tutto subito?

«Dobbiamo far vedere adesso cosa sarà la Lotus sotto tutti i punti di vista. Serve per preparate i clienti, ma anche i fornitori e la rete e poi l’immagine di un’azienda forte e dinamica aiuta anche i prodotti attuali».

Tanti modelli, macchine a motore anteriore e posteriore, si parla anche di una quattro porte; per una azienda che fino ad ora è stata a livelli poco più che artigianali non vi sembra di esagerare?

«Quando le cose si fanno si fanno bene. È in corso una ristrutturazione totale: abbiamo già trasferito gli uffici, creato un nuovo Centro Stile; stiamo rinnovando gli impianti produttivi e proprio in questi giorni iniziano i lavori di rifacimento della pista che diventerà un impianto modernissimo tipo Le Castellet. Il nostro obiettivo è tornare a confrontarci con i grandi marchi come Aston Martin, Bentley, Lamborghini… tornare dove eravamo 20 anni fa».

Lasciando la Ferrari, alla fine dell’anno scorso, lei si è portato dietro un buon numero di manager del Cavallino (dal capo del design, Donato Coco, all’ex responsabile dell’attività sportiva Claudio Berro, dal direttore commerciale Andreas Prillmann, al capo della strategia di prodotto Wiebke Bauer), come dobbiamo leggere questo trasferimento in massa?

«È gente che ha accettato la sfida in quello che ritengo sia il lavoro più elettrizzante. Oggi la Lotus è un’azienda internazionale, con persone che vengono dai marchi più prestigiosi, Ferrari ma anche Porsche, Mercedes Amg, Aston Martin…».

Si può parlare di una scommessa sulla ripresa del mercato dell’auto?

«L’uomo d’affari si confronta con il mercato che c’è e il nostro piano è su misura per la situazione attuale; se e quando cambierà ci adegueremo».

Modificato 3 Ottobre 2010 da J-Gian
riportato anche il testo

[J-Gian]

Nota di servizio: riportare testo e fonte, come da regolamento, altrimenti rischiate sanzioni!

[poliziottesco]

qualche dettaglio in piu':

Latest News

Lotus: 'How we're going to do it'

07 October 2010

• <LI id=fdtb_images done10="15" done11="15" done12="15" done13="15" done14="15" done15="15">More Pics <LI id=fdtb_email done10="16" done11="16" done12="16" done13="16" done14="16" done15="16">Email
  
• Print
  

Your say

Comments: 19

Lotus stunned the world last week with the launch of six new models at the Paris motor show that will take the Norfolk firm right into the heart of Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari territory. Many commentators have expressed extreme scepticism over the plans, so Steve Cropley went to meet Lotus's new CEO Dany Bahar for the inside story on how the firm will carry out its radical plan.

“I always had a weakness for this brand,” says Hethel’s rule-changing CEO of the past 12 months, Dany Bahar. “Even while I was working at Ferrari, I knew Lotus was special. But to me, the products weren’t doing justice to the great name and heritage.”

Bahar, who sounds like a soft-voiced Michael Schumacher when he speaks, comes across as a far more emollient character than the person portrayed on the rumour-mill for the 12 months he has so far spent in the main man’s seat at Lotus, avoiding interviews while he put his radical changes into action.

See pics of all six new Lotuses revealed at the Paris show

He settles comfortably in an armchair as we talk, resting one leg comfortably on the other and displaying the sharpest trouser creases I’ve ever seen.

“We want our new cars to be as big as the brand itself,” he explains. “The previous management tried hard to do that with the Evora, but they had to leave everything else the same. Our new plan means we have the opportunity to change everything — to do things from a better position — and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Bahar readily acknowledges outsiders’ worries about his plan — raising the investment, finding the buyers, delivering the quality — and deals calmly with them, one by one. “Our investment is confirmed,” he insists. “Our shareholders have lost a lot of money at Lotus over the past 14 years, and they wanted to stop that. There were two options: sell the company or run it to its potential. They made the second choice.”

Read the full story on all six new Lotuses

But just how dependable is the solvency of Lotus’s owner, Proton, given its well-known past losses and market difficulties? Bahar points to its strong links with the Petronas oil company and with the Malaysian government.

“They’re strong,” he says. “They have their own aggressive plan to lift production to a million cars over the next five to seven years, from around 350,000. Besides that, they’re fun to work with. They have 1000 engineers of their own, and Lotus is already making use of those as capacity allows to work on third-party engineering projects. It’s a great partnership.”

Bahar insists that although his name is on the recovery plan, it wasn’t simply something he dreamed up. “I asked people,” he says. “I'm not a car guy. We did lots of research and I consulted people I trust, some of whom liked the idea so much they now work in the business. That part feels good; knowing there are people who believe we can do this thing just as passionately as I do.”

Downsides? Bahar is disappointed by the reaction of the UK’s coalition government to Lotus’s requests for loans to finance its plant development. “We were asking for loans,” he says, “not grants. We could have 1200 new manufacturing jobs here under the new plans. They complimented us on our presentation, and the whole thing looked a no-brainer. But we learned it wasn’t a no-brainer…”

Now, Bahar says, they’ll make more use of outside suppliers. “We’ll do what we have to do here, but we’ll outsource things that aren’t our speciality — just like every other modern manufacturer does. That, and clever design, will help a lot with the quality thing. We won’t try to be experts at leather work. We’ll find people who can deliver it.

Read more on Lotus's motorsport plans

Bahar, a study in coolness, becomes almost excited when the talk turns to motorsport. “Lotus’s DNA is based on racing,” he says. “No other company has ever had such a wide spread of success: F1, other open-wheelers, Le Mans, sports cars, GTs. Why would we discard such treasure, when it’s where the brand’s authenticity comes from?

“Besides,” says Bahar, “racing has a big impact on the road cars. After they have been tested by the best drivers, you feel safe to take them to the maximum.”

Steve Cropley

fonte: www.autocar.co.uk

[poliziottesco]

qualche dettaglio sul piano "ad interim" messo su da lotus.

Changes for Lotus Exige, Evora

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Lotus is planning a string of changes to existing models, including a new Exige and a heavily revised Evora, before its range overhaul begins with the Esprit.

Lotus CEO Dany Bahar hinted that there could be a new Exige model at the Geneva show in March.

Company insiders have admitted that the Evora will get a refresh in 2012, including a completely redesigned cabin, with the aim of boosting quality and functionality. More variants beyond the recently launched supercharged Evora S are also expected.

Watch Autocar's video review of the Evora S

Lotus is outsourcing the engineering of future cabins to German firm CSI, which engineered the cabins of the Audi R8, Merc SLS and Porsche Panamera.

The firm has also revealed plans to Autocar to power the new Esprit with an all-new Hethel-engineered V8 and the Elan and other models with a new V6.

fonte: www.autocar.co.uk

in sintesi, aspettando i nuovi modelli (tra cui la prima ad apparire dovrebbe essere esprit), sono in programma:

- una nuova exige (da presentarsi a ginevra). Probabile che si tratti di una rivisitazione esteticamente riconducibile ai nuovi stilemi di elise

- una rivisitazione di evora, con nuovi interni a quanto pare riprogettati da chi si e' occupato delle cabine di panamera, sls ed r8 e volti ad avere un feeling piu' upmarket con un occhio alla funzionalita'. Questa mossa probabilmente e' un tentativo per migliorare le qualita' che dovrebbero spingere quest'auto, attualmente non certo di successo come vendite, in un settore piu' orientato al lusso

[poliziottesco]

ancora qualcosi in piu', per la Evora a quanto pare sarebbero in dirittura d'arrivo non solo modifiche agli interni (per incrementare il luxury feeling) ma anche cambio al design del frontale, cosiderato poco aggressivo. Come si vede, il restyling si rifarebbe ai nuovi modelli presentati qualche tempo fa...

Lotus beefs up the Evora

04 February 2011

Lotus is working at top speed on this revised Evora, designed to stimulate sluggish sales and bridge the styling gap between the current car and the new wave of Lotus models due to hit the market from 2013.

The most striking feature of the revised Evora — shown here in this grainy leaked image and believed to be heading for launch late this year as a 2012 model — is its much more aggressive radiator ‘mouth’. It is very reminiscent of the treatment already designed for later models by Lotus’s ex-Ferrari design boss, Donato Coco.

Coco believes the present Evora’s traditional Lotus mouth is “too weak” for a modern performance car. “Even many economy cars look more aggressive,” he says. The new treatment has a long heritage, too, he says, appearing first on the Lotus 18 single-seater at the beginning of the 1960s.

The 2012 Evora is believed also to have a revised interior with a higher level of standard equipment and a greater accent on quality, points of criticism with road testers and owners.

The Evora, which starts at £51,030 for the 276bhp two-seat version, suffered very sluggish sales to start with, but things have improved a little with the launch late last year of the £60,000, 345bhp Evora S, which uses a supercharged version of the standard car’s 276bhp Toyota-derived V6.

Lotus bosses are understood to be on the point of deciding whether they can afford to build a range of own-design V6 and V8 modular engines for future products, following uncertain reactions to the proposed use of Toyota engines in upmarket Lotus models.

“We have designed engines for clients,” said Lotus CEO Dany Bahar, “so why not for ourselves?” He admits, however, that the final decision will be all a matter of money.

fonte: Autocar.co.uk

[superkappa125]

L'unico problema di Evora è che costa troppo. Stop. Gli interni sono molto meno disastrosi di quanto si possa pensare e l'handling è eccellente, abbassassero il prezzo di 5/6K Euro (e facessero pagare meno i pacchetti opzionali) IMHO la situazione sarebbe molto più rosea.

[poliziottesco]

L'unico problema di Evora è che costa troppo. Stop. Gli interni sono molto meno disastrosi di quanto si possa pensare e l'handling è eccellente, abbassassero il prezzo di 5/6K Euro (e facessero pagare meno i pacchetti opzionali) IMHO la situazione sarebbe molto più rosea.

mah...nnon so, sicuramente il costo sarebbe bene fosse inferiore ma, vista dal vivo, devo dire che e' davvero blanda, come si dice nel testo, al giorno d'oggi la piu' infima utilitaria ha la faccia aggressiva (tranne il cerbiattino, ovvio). Un'auto di quella caratura non puo' far leva solo sulle caratteristiche dinamiche e sul fascino del marchio, deve anche sembrare cazzuta...

[poliziottesco]

PH INTERVIEW: LOTUS CEO DANY BAHAR

PH comp winners grab a fascinating few minutes with Lotus boss at Geneva

Lotus boss Dany Bahar at Geneva - minutes before meeting the PH competition winners

PistonHeads: A few months ago you surprised everyone by showing five cars at once. Why make such a bold move and launch all the cars in one hit? Dany Bahar: We wanted to show the world, the media, potential customers and the industry where Lotus is heading in the coming decade, and that's somewhere far different from where it was. We thought that by just putting there an Esprit, or one Elise, or one city car would not capture the whole concept of the rebirth of Lotus.

We wanted to show customers the whole product line-up, to show that this was not just us going crazy. There will always be products for our current customers but we will extend the product range into what the company used to do in the '70s and '80s.

Lotus motorsport on display

Before Paris, when we showed the cars, Lotus was not in a good position with suppliers. The volumes were too low, the financing was not in place and we never had the chance to work with companies such as Bosch, Magnetti Marelli or Getrag. Now, the suppliers are actually chasing us to be partners.

PH: Are you lining up more surprises over the next five years, or are you concerned that maybe you've given it all away?

DB: There is much more to come. The products that will come out in 2013, like the Esprit, will not change dramatically from what we showed, but the cars that are further down the road might undergo some changes, so there might be some surprises there. And we should not forget the current line-up (Elise, Exige, Evora). There will be exciting derivatives of those three cars coming up in the next three years.

PH: Is there a common platform strategy for the new cars?

Front-engined Eterne shares much...

DB:I don't think that a small company like us would be able to finance these five cars if there wasn't a commonality to the platforms. This is the biggest misunderstanding in the public's view. We are not developing five cars. We are developing two cars, and all the five cars are just different derivatives. We will achieve more than 50 per cent of commonality across all the platforms, more than any other sports car has in fact achieved. And why are we able to do that? Because the cars have started from scratch. We have done everything with the objective to share all the components throughout those five cars, and that in engineering terms is really just developing two cars. And I think even companies like Lotus should be able to do that.

...with mid-engined Esprit concept

PH: The two cars you refer to, are they a front-engined configuration (Elite and Eterne) and a mid-engined one? DB: Yes.

PH: What are the key technical elements of that platform-sharing strategy?

DB: The key is the main basic architecture. It is not just two platforms (front-engined and mid-engined), it is only one basic car, modified to give an engine in the front or in the rear. Other than that, the base elements of the sharing strategy, the engine, gearbox, suspension, braking, HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning), electronics, - in other words all the big elements - are shared throughout the cars.

PH: Will the cars use aluminium, for which Lotus is famous, or composites materials?

Mansory tweaked Evora also at Geneva

DB: It depends on which car you talk about. We will develop the composite we have today, but as we go up the range we will have an aluminium body, but with carbon fibre panels as well. Basically, the higher you go up the price range, the more exotic materials we will incorporate.

PH: The world is moving towards lightweight, frugal cars with innovative technology - Lotus's traditional heartland. Are you concerned that you're moving away by going into bigger, heavier cars with larger engines?

DB: Not at all. I think we should differentiate a mass-market product from the sports car market's offerings. You might see a V12 become a V8, but that is still a big engine compared with mass-market cars.

The reason for buying a sports car is passion, emotion, a love for driving. It's not about how much emissions a Ferrari or a McLaren will actually deliver. If you buy a sports car purely because of economical or environmental reasons then something is wrong.

Car shows off 'bespoke' aspirations

So, it is a sort of contradiction, but what we try to do with our strategy is keep the core DNA of lotus - low weight. That means being lighter than any other competitor, and I think we have shown already with the current products that we produce high-performing engines with low emissions. The Evora is under 200g/km CO2, or 220g/km with the Evora S, whereas our competitors are at 270-280g/km. So we have two benchmarks to achieve, which is to be lighter than any other and to be more economical than the others, but a sports car is still a sports car. You want to hear the sound, you want to feel the engine, you want to feel the driving. For those things we are the benchmark anyway in the sports car industry; we just have to be better on the more emotional side. Which we are not good at.

PH: Will you be moving more into the luxury sector, and how do you see the brand moving away from pure lightness, and how will you balance the inevitable weight compromises in the search for greater refinement?

DB: Again I think there is a misunderstanding. What does lightness mean? If you think Lotus is just about the Elise, which unfortunately is the only car that we've produced in the past 15 years, therefore people think that is it. But what about the past 45 years? There were many cars, like Esprit, Eclat, Elite that were all 1400kg or more. There was a V8 Esprit. I admit that these were not very successful commercially, but that doesn't mean that the strategy was wrong. I think what we want to do is keep the light weight approach, but always be 100-200kg lighter than any other competitor. This is what we mean by lightweight.

If you go back 10 years, most cars were made out of steel. Then somebody came up with an aluminium chassis and it was easy to be lighter. Today most sports cars are aluminium anyway, so you can't say 'I'm going to be 300kg lighter than him'. Especially with the current cost pressure you have to develop the cars. So I think we just have to be more clever, by applying more smart engineering, and do it maybe more simply, as we did in the past.

Epic Jim Clark quote on Lotus stand

Our cars will never be high-tech products; we will always try to keep things light and simple, but we can simply not survive, with just the Elise. The Evora, which we made before I joined the company, already showed the ambition of the company to move outside its enthusiasts-only comfort zone, which is fun, but doesn't deliver you enough volumes to sustain the company. I don't think there is anything to say we cannot bring the next Esprit to market. The Esprit was already a bigger car than the Elise 15 years ago, 20 years ago, and although commercially maybe it was not the best success, it was definitely in terms of image the car that best promoted the Lotus brand outside of niche circles. I think that deserves to be a premium car, deserves to be fighting with Porsches and Ferraris and, of course, if you are fighting them you have to have some of the luxury features that type of customer expects. It's a different type of person to the Elise customer.

PH: Which competitor would like to gain customers from for each of your new cars?

DB: There isn't in particular one competitor; we have segments that we would like to aim for, but our general approach is always to meet the performance of the best in class of the segment, but at a price that's 20-30 per cent lower. That's the general rule of thumb in everything we do. Best in class for performance, and then we have to be able to deliver it at a lower cost.

fonte: PistonHeads.com :: Speed Matters