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Lotus names Jean-Marc Gales as new CEO

It's been about two years since DRB-Hicom took over Proton, and through it Lotus. One of its first courses of action was to fire the existing CEO, Dany Bahar, and proceed to scrap most if not all of his (arguably over-) ambitious plans. In his place they put one of their own - Aslam Farikullah - as Chief Operation Officer, but now the Malaysian-owned British automaker has attracted an industry heavyweight to lead it into the future.
That heavyweight is Jean-Marc Gales. The British- and German-educated Luxembourgian has spent the past couple of years running the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), but may be better known for his previous posting as CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën between 2009 and 2012, during which time he introduced the Citroën DS line, amongst others, and increased the French automaker's sales. Before PSA he worked for Daimler, General Motors and Volkswagen.
As the new Chief Executive Officer of Group Lotus, Gales will face the difficult task of growing a business based on three models - the Elise, Exige and Evora - that date back to 1996, 2000 and 2009, respectively. Whether he'll push for new models like his predecessor did remains to be seen, but he'd be wise to learn from Bahar's mistakes and avoid overextending what has always been a relatively small automaker.

Lotus Motorcycles C-01 now 'ready for the road'

When we first laid eyes on leaked images of the Lotus Motorcycles C-01, we wondered if its laid-back, sport cruiser shape was really appropriate for a motorcycle bearing any connection with Colin Chapman and the company's famous "add lightness" mantra. We've now seen official pictures of the bike in multiple color schemes, including classic black and gold, British racing green and even a variant that resembles Martini livery, and while we think it looks pretty cool, our opinion hasn't really changed.
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that the C-01 isn't an embodiment of the Lotus ethos, as the company that intends to build it isn't really Lotus at all, its builders - German racing firm Kodewa and tuner Holzer Group - merely having licensed the name of the British sportscar maker. It was designed by Daniel Simon, who once worked for Volkswagen and consulted for Bugatti and is the man credited with creating the reborn Tron Light Cycles. Still, looking past its questionable heritage, the C-01 looks pretty darn awesome, and there are some interesting bits that have us looking forward to the production version that's reportedly due within the next two months.
As expected, power comes in at 200 horsepower, courtesy of a modified version of KTM's 1,195-cc V-twin engine. The chassis is made up of steel, titanium and carbon fiber, with a seat height of about 28 inches. Its wheelbase, at about 65 inches, is a full 10 inches longer than a real street-legal superbike, and its front end is raked way out in front with a 19-inch wheel. Those dimensions mean we shouldn't expect much racetrack prowess, unless its rider is only planning on going in a straight line. Indeed, with a claimed dry weight of under 400 pounds, the Lotus Motorcycles C-01 ought to be mighty quick down the quarter mile.

Lotus to move immediately forward with new variants rather than new models

It took 1.5 years, but a DRB-Hicom managing director told Malaysia's Business Times that the company has "cleaned up" the situation at Lotus from its finances to its marketing and image. The clean-up job we're most interested in, the product portfolio, will be demonstrated by financial investment in a three-year program of "variants based on existing products - variants with improved technology, improved performance."
You'll notice mention of the word "variants" three times but no mention of the phrase "new models." We knew that with the death of the five-new-model turnaround plan dreamed up by ex-Lotus CEO Dany Bahar DRB-Hicom said there'd only be three distinct lines - which is the current number - but during Lotus' trouble-plagued 2012 it sold just 80 cars all year, and for a tense spell it really wasn't clear if DRB-Hicom would commit to even keeping Lotus alive, much less investing in it.
It's not clear how much is being put into in the three-year program of offshoot models like the 345-horsepower Exige S Roadster (pictured), but it might be fair to say this is where Lotus' revival really begins, and does so with baby steps. Autocar reports that DRB-Hicom has already put 100 million pounds into the English carmaker, and as its issues were worked through Lotus has sold almost as many cars in the first five months of this year as it did all of last. That has not only convinced the Malaysian minders to throw more money its way, but the UK's business secretary has also approved a 10-million-pound investment into Lotus through the Regional Growth Facility program.