In its quest to gain a loftier status among the sporty, well-to-do set, Lotus Cars spent the year poaching talent from other British automakers. China’s Geely, which holds a majority stake in the automaker, is expected to loosen the purse strings in pursuit of new models and a greater premium market share, but the human side of the operation needs to be in place before that occurs.
While former Bentley and Aston Martin execs have already hopped on board, the automaker now has a former top Jaguar Land Rover official in the big office, ready to put plans into action. He’s also no stranger to SUVs — a segment Lotus wants a piece of.
Phil Popham, who joined Land Rover in 1988 and finished his stint at the unified Jaguar Land Rover in 2014, was named the new CEO of Lotus on Friday. During his time at JLR, he rose through the ranks to become managing director of operations for JLR UK, then took the role of managing director for global operations. At Lotus, he joins other recent hires from the British auto industry, including new product strategy boss Uday Senapati, formerly of Bentley and JLR, who joined the company 10 days ago.
Marcus Blake, formerly of Aston Martin, showed up at Lotus earlier in the year to handle the automaker’s commercial operation.
Popham’s first day of work is October 1st, when he’ll relieve current Group Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng in the the Lotus Cars CEO role. Feng has worn two hats since the departure of Jean-Marc Gales in June. Once Popham’s installed, maybe we’ll see Geely unleash the nearly $2 billion it’s setting aside for the automaker’s expansion.
“I am delighted that Phil has joined Lotus at this important time in our 70 year history,” said Feng in a statement. “We are growing the Lotus business not only at our headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk but also worldwide so the foundations are laid to become a globally competitive brand and a well recognised leader in the sports car market.”
Earlier this year, Lotus announced the hiring of 300 employees to handle the creation of two new sports cars, as well as an SUV (something no modern automaker can do without). The two cars should appear by 2020, with the SUV arriving within a four-year window.
[Image: Lotus Cars]
Lotus also used to be something of a tuner, think AMG but without being tied to a manufacturer, to Ford (Cortina) and Vauxhall-Opel (Carlton/Omega).
L O T U S
C A R L T O N
No
don’t forget the Isuzu Impulse in that list…lol.
All that money and CEO-ness, still doesn’t know how to wear a suit jacket.
Yes. When I wore suits, two buttons meant the bottom one unbuttoned but I’m old and I don’t know how the kids do it these days. Do they still wear onions on their belts?
+1 Corey. At least his tie is not finger loose.
I wish Lotus would get back into auto racing, beside the spec series. Maybe not F1 but how about IMSA?
“something no modern automaker can do without”
Lotus could likely do without. I question the ROI for a boutique automaker known for racing and race cars. RR or Bentley can call upon existing platforms from the parent company which make profitability possible, can Lotus?
I think the idea here is to pump in a couple of billion for new platforms. Pretty sure they’ll have modularity in mind. Porsche’s bills are paid by the CUVs- sad part of life. OTH, a small fast super light CUV could be fun.
I’m not so sure a Jag CEO is the best pick.
So no Jacksie then….
So no Jacksie then….
In its prime Lotus had no heavy weights (as CEOs or elsewhere). Now it seems its will be heavy weights at the top and on the road.
“He’s also no stranger to SUVs — a segment Lotus wants a piece of”
Really? It was depressing as Porsche, Jaguar, Bentley and even the august Rolls-Royce jumped into that segment to produce flabby bolides that only the Russian Mafia, Saudi princes and NBA players support.
Lotus is/was all about Chapman’s famous quote “First add lightness” – clearly not something an SUV is likely to have.