Group Lotus/Proton...heading for disaster?

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Neal
WTF Lotus, WTF!

Lotus appoints a rapper as new design and marketing consultant
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I know. I'm beginning to wonder if Bahar was accidentally released from an insane asylum and by a sheer fluke of luck combined with the alignment of the cosmos, somehow got a job as the boss of Lotus, and now he's just exercising all his crazy ideas.

"I know, let's build a million different models all at once!"

"I know, let's buy an F1 team!"

"I know, let's get Brian May and Mickey Rourke to launch our cars at a motor show!"

"I know, let's get a rapper nobody has ever heard of to tell the engineers what kind of car they should be building!"

Etc. I suspect he only got that rapper because Posh Spice was already busy at Land Rover.
 
Brian May and Mickey Rourke!!!111!! That was news to me, I had to google it to believe it. Not good.
 
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Gordon Murray joins Group Lotus

Automotive design guru Gordon Murray has joined the Lotus Advisory Council, the body that advises Group Lotus on current and future development.

Murray will work alongside key automotive industry figures Bob Lutz (former GM vice chairman), Tom Purves (ex-Rolls-Royce chief executive), Prof. Dr. Burkhard Göschel (a former BMW board member responsible for research and development board member) and Frank Tuch, who was director of quality management at Porsche.

The purpose of the Lotus Advisory Council is to offer the Norfolk-based manufacturer guidance on strategic issues such as product strategy, technology, quality, brand, marketing and distribution.

Group Lotus Chief Executive Dany Bahar said: "Gordon has never been afraid to trail blaze, take risks and do things differently, these are attribute that we are very familiar with and very proud of at Lotus. With his incredible and unique motorsport and design experience he will complement the existing council line up perfectly. We’re very much looking forward to working with him."

When Murray started out in motorsport in 1969 he aspired to work for Colin Chapman at Lotus, but a chance meeting with Brabham designer Ron Tauranac lead to him working for the rival Brabham team, where he was responsible for many F1 innovations, such as the BT46B 'fan car' of 1978.

More recently Gordon established Gordon Murray Design to develop an automotive manufacturing technology trademarked iStream.

Gordon Murray said: "For years I’ve been a huge admirer of Lotus, I have great respect for the legacy that Colin Chapman created and I think what Dany and the team are doing is a really good thing for the brand. He’s taking the strength from Chapman’s principals and taking the business to the next level whilst still keeping the general ethos – not an easy task! I’m really looking forward to contributing to Group Lotus during this exciting time."
 
Toronado
Not sure what to make of this, actually.
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Me neither. An 'Advisory Council' sounds a lot like something that actual employees would choose to ignore if push came to shove once the bean-counters started getting on their backs.

A Lotus Group with Bob Lutz as Chief Executive, Gordon Murray as Head Engineer, Frank Tuch heading up quality control etc would be full of win.
 
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TheCracker
A Lotus Group with Bob Lutz as Chief Executive, Gordon Murray as Head Engineer, Frank Tuch heading up quality control etc would be full of win.
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Agreed!

Hopefully Murray will be influential at Lotus, TBH after the rapper story anything like this gets my hopes up.
 
Seconded.

Does seem confusing though, if hopeful. Bahar wants to take Lotus away from the whole "light and simple" ethos, so they hire Gordon Murray who loves light and simple cars...
 
Well, regardless of the influence of this advisory board, agregating know-how from leading industry specialists is a wise decision.

Bahar's philosophy of moving Lotus upmarket is a well thought approach, adding criminal amiunts of weight to the cars on the process isn't, I just hope that Murray is able to show Bahar how do you make exciting cars whilst keeping on the brand traditions.
 
I spotted that too but didn't to post it in the hope it would go away. I think their PR department it headed up by a magic 8 ball.
 
As someone on my twitter feed said, "Did Colin Chapman steal Dany Bahar's ice cream as a kid or kill his parents or something? Has to be some mental backstory there."

I'm beginning to wonder exactly which insane asylum he's been let out of.

The 5 Paris concepts were a bit loopy. The celebrity endorsements were even crazier. And I know Lotus has been known for its cash-in special editions before, but a Freddie Mercury Evora? Even considering it's been done to help an AIDS charity it's still probably the most insane special edition ever devised.
 
I think you're onto something there...can't really see Porsche, Aston or Ferrari pulling a stunt like this...and Ferrari has pretty much no shame!
 

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