Two years after Dany Bahar’s grandiose six-vehicle launch at the 2010 Paris
auto show, the struggling sports-car maker won’t even have a stand at this
year’s event. Lotus has pulled out of the show, we’ve learned from two
independent sources. In a recent phone conversation, a company spokesman would
not deny what was then a rumor but has now been confirmed by the show’s
organizers.
Lotus’s no-show is not necessarily bad news. It recently put on a truly
impressive display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, complete with historic and
modern cars, proving it is alive and kicking. But the company’s strategy is
under review after former CEO Dany Bahar’s sudden departure. The controversial
former Red Bull and Ferrari executive had not only tried to take Lotus deep into
Ferrari territory, he also hired rapper Swizz Beatz as a design consultant and
teamed up with the tuner Mansory, the offerings of which are as extravagant as
they are lacking in taste. It is alleged that breathtaking expenditures for
Bahar’s lavish corporate lifestyle ultimately led to his exit.
We think that
Lotus will do well to recapture its essence with lightweight and original sports
cars, not with ultra-expensive supercars. It also needs to get its U.S.-market
strategy on track. It won’t be in Paris, but we are confident in seeing a reborn
Lotus at the upcoming auto shows—a reborn Lotus built on its history of
engineering that was on display at Goodwood and not the smoke and mirrors of
Paris two years ago.
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