DRB-Hicom Tightens Control of Lotus in China

DRB-Hicom has acquired Symphony Lotus Ltd, China Lotus dealership worth RM47.25 million, a move which tighten its control not only on the marketing of Lotus car in China, but also on the quality and delivery of the product over there. This is to ensure a strengthening of Lotus presence in China which is lucrative market with 21 million cars sold annually.

On June 11, DRB-HICOM, via its unit, Lotus Advance Technologies Sdn Bhd, signed a conditional share sale and purchase agreement with Symphony Lotus for the proposed acquisition. Symphony Lotus has one wholly-owned subsidiary, Beijing Lotus Cars Sales Co Ltd, which is a distributor of vehicles and wholesaler of car parts in China.

DRB-Hicom now has a bussiness in China, especially after the takeover of PETRONAS engine family at the end of last year. One of the engine in the package, the NE01 has been developed spesifically to be manufactured in China based on the deal made years before the takeover. The rest of the engine, including the old E01 and several other smaller engine are yet to enter the production phase if ever.

Source

P/S: I heard that NE01 not only being packaged into Proton cars, but also undergoing certain feasibility study to be fitted to Lotus bay. I wonder about the logistic, as the engine is well in progress to be manufactured and assembled in China.

Lotus unveiled Exige S & flagship store in London

The shop opening and sports car unveiling mark a new chapter for both Lotus and its parent company PROTON after being taken over by Malaysian conglomerate DRB-HICOM earlier this year. DRB-HICOM with its vast experience and presence in the entire automotive industry value chain, coupled with long-standing collaborations with other global automotive giants reiterated their commitment to drive this iconic British brand to greater success.

Group Managing Director of DRB-HICOM and Executive Chairman of PROTON Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil Jamil said: “We can derive many synergies between DRB-HICOM, PROTON and Lotus; and we reaffirm our full and long-term commitment to raise Lotus to the next level of success. With a future of increased productivity and cooperation ahead, Lotus is destined to join the ranks of the great luxury performance brands of the world.”

The 170mph high-performance Exige S with a supercharged V6 engine caused a sensation when it was announced at the Frankfurt motor show last year. The first cars will begin rolling off the production line at the company’s HQ at Hethel, Norfolk, later this month.

Lotus Chief Operating Officer Aslam Farikullah said: “The car represents the very best of Lotus. Its aerodynamic appearance is race-track inspired, as is the interior. Every detail from the racing twin-piston front caliper brakes, to the glossy black wheels and lightweight aluminum bonded structure has the Lotus mark of excellence about it.”

The board of DRB-HICOM met with British Trade Secretary Dr Vince Cable on Wednesday, shortly before the store was officially opened by Malaysian High Commissioner to the UK, Dato’ Sri Zakaria Sulong. More after the jump.

Lotus' Danny Bahar sacked, in comes Aslam Farikullah

Lotus group today has confirmed the dismissal of Danny Bahar from his CEO position with immediate effect. The decision was made by the Board of Group Lotus plc following the results of an investigation into a complaint made against him by the company’s penultimate holding company, DRB-HICOM Berhad.

The Company today also announced the appointment of Mr Aslam Farikullah as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer with immediate effect. Mr Aslam, aged 51, has over 26 years working experience, most of which was in the automotive industry. He graduated from University of Bath, England with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Engineering. A British permanent resident, Mr Aslam and his English wife of 27 years have three children aged 26, 22 and 16.

Dato’ Sri Haji Mohd Khamil Jamil, Group Managing Director of DRB-HICOM Berhad and also Chairman of Lotus said: “I would like to assure you that we remain committed to ensure the ongoing and future business operations of the Lotus Group as we take the Lotus Group to the next level to remain relevant in the global automotive industry. I look forward to bringing mutual benefits to not only DRB-HICOM and PROTON Holdings Berhad but also the Lotus Group and its employees as well as contribute to the growth of the British automotive industry.”

Our comment? Well, no comment.

Lotus CEO Danny Bahar suspended

Lotus CEO, Danny Bahar has been suspended from his job, according to Autocar. This is following the complaint about Bahar's conduct, as confirmed by DRB-HICOM.

DRB said the decision was made based on operational review but Bahar will be welcomed to return to his position if the investigation found no fault in his part. Group Lotus Plc also has confirmed the statement. DRB-Hicom statement said "Following an operational review, CEO Danny Bahar has been temporarily suspended from his role to facilitate an investigation into a complaint about his conduct made by Lotus' penultimate parent company, DRB-HICOM Berhad."

In Bahar absence, Lotus operational matters now has been handed to Dato' Lukman Ibrahim, Mohd Khalid Yusof and Aslam Farikulla. Rusman Zaihan the CFO will also be assisting.

Danny Bahar was supposed to in Monaco this weekend to attend the glamorous Gran Prix, but instead was called to Malaysia where he was given news of his suspension.

 

First photo of Youngman-Lotus SUV - close enough to Proton MSX?

Youngman is going to showcase its new SUV in forthcoming Beijing Motorshow. Although officially still billed as a concept, but the car looks as production-ready as it can get. Since years ago, public over the net keep saying that this is the production version of the Proton MSX (or Lotus APX depends which one you see first), but this yet to be named Youngman-Lotus SUV merely shares some cues here and there, with none of the dynamics surface tension that littered everywhere on the original Proton's concept. But that is expected, as some MSX cues are impossible to be incorporated into the mass production, such as the triangular rear window. Overhere, Lotus has finetuned the design, right to the borderline of being me-too product, but still sufficient to inject some excitement towards the rear end design.

The front end is not only different to the MSX/APX triangular theme, but if one integrate the blackened part in the middle of the bumper, one can even see some resemblance to Proton Preve frontal fascia design. But the strong hood characterline that runs from the grille all the way up to the A-pillar has been retained. Youngman however adopt a big fender design that wrapped around the headlight. Front bumper is chunky in a bid to give some toughness perception.

The side profile is sleek, although the red lens rear lights do comes as a bit too loud, possibly due to its size and position that makes its reddish become more apparent. While no official information is available yet for the SUV dimension, it does looks suitably low.

The rear end is a combination between the MSX/APX and cues from second generation Toyota Harrier. But Lotus managed to make them all synergized well and present a somewhat very attractive rear end design. Details are scarce at the moment, but the SUV is tipped to be powered by Mitsubishi-sourced engine in 1.8L and 2.0L capacity. However, there are also sources claiming that the crossover is powered by Proton's campro engine, namely in CPS guise and probably in CFE tuned too. This is more convincing as the SUV itself is Proton-based.

Some more photos can be found after the jump, and a Proton MSX photo for comparison.

Lotus World Vehicle Concept - a pointer to Lotus City car?

Lotus Engineering revealed their latest undertaking in the form of efficient compact supermini designed to tackle the vehicle cost-effective design as well as to achieve the reduction in CO2 emission. The project was undertaken by Lotus Engineering of North America under the fund of International Council on Clean Transport.

The World Vehicle Concept represents a fun-to-drive, low-cost and back to basics commuter that provides practical and high volume solution for reducing the green house emission and improving fuel efficiency. The car is uniquely packaged with central driving position, two second row seat slightly behind the driver and the fourth seat is in the "third" row, slightly behind the second row passengers, right in the middle transverse-wise of the car. This solution enable the occasional seating for four, or as a luggage space totalling 255L. The overlapping of passenger and luggage enabled the compact footprint of just 3,100mm in length, 1,420mm in height and 2,240mm of wheelbase. To reduce the frontal area in quest of aerodynamic efficiency (Cd of 0.19), and to eliminate the dead space, tyres (155/80 R13) are mounted outboard. Not only this solution reduced the frontal area, it also improve the tracking stability.

The concept is stipulated to be powered by 600cc with 50bhp on tap. The engine is mounted midship, just ahead of rear axle. The frees up the space up front for crumple zone, a critical design element for compact city car, particularly with such compact dimension. The other advantage is in terms of vehicle dynamics, resulting in low polar moment of inertia, long withstanding advantage of mid engine layout. The inclusion of internal combustion engine is quite a rare proposal these days, especially in the era of EV and hybrid buzzword. However, Lotus Engineering has their own justification for this, which in the end tied up to the overall cost of the project. Fuel economy is projected to be in the region of 103 mpg. More photo and detail after the jump.

PROTON MSX - What could have been.......

Recently, there was a spy photos of Chinese Youngman SUV, strongly resembling Lotus APX/Proton MSX. Adding more to that, apparently, Proton boss, Dato Syed Zainal admitted that Proton, through Lotus is indeed providing consultancy to Youngman for their SUV based on Proton platform. It was also mentioned that there is a possibility of buying back that model and rebadged it to become Proton SUV.

More juicy details after the jump.