Lotus hiring Lutz and Purves as advisors
JLA
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Former General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz, shown at the wheel of a
Pontiac Solstice, could be tapped as an adviser to British sports-car
maker Lotus. Former BMW exec Tom Purves could also join the company in
an advisory role.
General Motors
Lotus Cars Ltd. is poised to tap former General Motors Co. product
guru Bob Lutz and retired BMW executive Tom Purves to advise the
British niche carmaker on a five-year turnaround plan.
Lutz, who left GM as vice chairman two months ago at age 78, has had
discussions with Lotus but hasn't received a formal offer, two people
familiar with the situation said.
Purves, 61, said in a telephone interview that he would be happy to
be involved, but his talks with Lotus aren't final.
The goal is to make a contribution to projects of the
future--improving the quality, the product offerings and the
operations of the company, said Purves, who led BMW in North America
before becoming CEO of the German automaker's Rolls-Royce unit. It's
exciting, and there is no question it is a great brand and has a good
future.
Lutz and Thomas Hofmann, a spokesman for parent Group Lotus, declined
to comment.
Deep experience
The addition of Lutz and Purves would allow Lotus Cars CEO Dany Bahar
to tap a combined 90 years of industry experience in his bid to boost
worldwide sales to 8,000 in 2015 from about 2,500 cars last year.
Our aim is to raise the Lotus brand equity back to its rightful place
as it existed in the 1970s when it competed with the likes of Ferrari,
Porsche or Aston Martin, Lotus said in an e-mail to Automotive News.
Maintaining the unique Lotus DNA is crucial, but with more
relevance, greater efficiency and even more sustainability than we
have had in the past.
Group Lotus is owned by the Malaysian carmaker Proton.
Bahar, a former Ferrari sales chief, joined Lotus in September. He has
since brought in managers from Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin and the
German engineering and design company EDAG.
Lutz retired May 1 after steering product development at GM for most
of the past decade. He also worked at BMW, Chrysler and Ford Motor
Co. during his 47-year career.
Purves was head of BMW U.S. Holding Corp. for nine years starting in
1999, leading the brand to record sales in the United States. He
became CEO of Rolls-Royce in July 2008 and retired in March.
Proton bought Lotus in 1996. This month, Proton's third attempt in six
years to collaborate with Volkswagen AG failed.
New model coming
Last week Lotus said it would show a new model at the Paris auto show
this fall. It didn't provide details but did distribute a picture of
historic Stonehenge at sunrise with the tease: Dawn of a New Era.
Lotus doesn't release U.S. sales figures. The company sold about 720
cars in the United States last year, according to estimates by the
Automotive New Data Center, down from a pre-recession 2,522 in 2006.
Lotus says it has 48 U.S. dealers selling the Elise two-door roadster,
which starts at $48,375; the two-door Exige coupe ($66,815); and the
Evora coupe, which went on sale last month ($74,675).
GM owned Lotus from 1986 until 1993, when it sold the company to
Bugatti International. The Lotus Engineering unit is also part of
Group Lotus.
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