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Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales abruptly quits

Jean-Marc Gales is out as CEO at sports car maker Lotus after nearly four years and a track record of turning the company from years of financial losses to a small profit. He'll be replaced by Feng Qingfeng, vice president and chief technical officer of China's Geely Auto Group, who joined the company's board after Geely acquired a majority ownership stake a year ago. Gales will continue as chief strategic advisor to Lotus Chairman Daniel Donghui Li. "Jean-Marc has stabilized and turned Lotus to profitability for the first time in the iconic brand's history, with new industry-leading products and unique business models since joining the company in 2014," Daniel, who is also Lotus' chief financial officer, said in a statement. "Lotus is poised for the next phase of growth under Feng Qingfeng's leadership, where its expertise in lightweight materials and sports car engineering will form part of the wider expansion of Geely's automotive portfolio." Gales told Autocar he was leaving for "personal reasons" and said it was "time to move on." He will head up JD Classics, a British dealer and restorer of classic cars. Gales praised his successor, saying Feng could "unlock the synergies" between Geely stablemates Lotus, Volvo, Polestar and Chinese brand Lynk & Co. Lotus under Gales had been working on updating its aging portfolio of cars — the Elise, the Exige and the Evora — with plans to first update the Elise by 2020. Earlier this year came word that Gales had green-lighted two new sports cars, to be announced later this year and produced in 2020, and an SUV about the size of the Porsche Macan and possibly based on Volvo's SPA platform, which underpins the XC60 and XC90. Lotus under Gales saw sales increase 10 percent in 2017 to about 1,600 sports cars. Related Video:

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 F1 Team Breaks World Record For Longest Truck Jump

Lotus F1 wasn't content to make just any commercial for their technology partner EMC Industries. It had to be one for the record books. The video released over the weekend shows a truck breaking the world record for longest jump ever completed by a truck. The stunt was obviously geared towards publicity, but while they were at it, they set a Guinness World Record for the longest truck jump at 83 feet, 7 inches. The previous record, according to Guinness, stood at 50 feet, 6 inches, and was set on MTV's Nitro Circus on November 17, 2008, by Gregg Godfrey at Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City. That record stood for six years, but (as best we can tell) was set without the trailer attached, or the F1 car tracking underneath - which only makes this latest stunt that much more impressive. Stunt driver Mike Ryan planned the jump and drove the truck off the ramp and over fellow stunt driver Martin Ivanov as he sped underneath in a Lotus F1 race car. And just so you know no CGI was involved, EMC industries included a making of video on their website.