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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 CUV sets sights on Macan

The idea of a minimalist sportscar brand like Lotus actually building a crossover, as opposed to its APX concept, is still a bit hard to comprehend. But survival in the modern automotive landscape isn't easy, and a higher-volume model could do a lot to keep the lights on. Hot off the debut of the feather-light 3-Eleven at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, company CEO Jean-Marc Gales is now divulging some more details about the future model. At the moment, Lotus plans to launch the crossover in 2019, and the company has some rather specific targets in mind. "We want to get SUVs to be light and fast. The nearest rival will be the Porsche Macan – but ours will be better," Gales said to Auto Express. Rumors suggest the use of aluminum and composites with the goal for a weight as much as 400-500 pounds less than Porsche's smaller CUV. The model will be exclusive to the Chinese market at launch. While the Lotus crossover is under serious planning, actual development isn't underway yet. According to Auto Express, the company and its Chinese joint venture partner are still waiting for a license to build cars there. Once that comes, they intend to kick things into high gear. Gales also suggested that a Toyota-sourced powertrain, possibly a hybrid, was in the cards.

Lotus Type 132 crossover EV teased five ways in video

Lotus has combined its series of video teasers of the Type 132 crossover into one reel. The result provides peeks at five of the features we can expect on the electric CUV when it launches next year. Under the "Breathe" section, there's the active lower grille, divvied-up hexagonal openings that twirl open or closed to provide the right combination of powertrain cooling and vehicle aerodynamics. Titled with "See," there's what looks like a sensor detection unit rising from the roof; it looks like a LIDAR unit pointed toward the rear, but it's impossible to know from the clip. In the "Stretch" section, we see an active rear spoiler moving into a higher drag configuration, connected to a fender with lines that evoke the Evija and Emira. Finally, in "Awaken," there's what looks like a giant screen canted toward the driver and towering over the instrument panel. The Type 132 will commence Lotus' EV-only series production future, the first of four models due in the next few years, and the largest. After it will come a sedan marketed as a four-door coupe known as Type 133, expected on sale in 2023, a smaller crossover called the Type 134 that will debut in 2025, and a sports car currently dubbed Type 135 that's planned for 2026 and could get an Alpine-branded sibling. The four-door models are expected to ride on Lotus' Evolution architecture for "premium" vehicles, with available dual-motor powertrains that might get up to 750 horsepower powered by batteries up to 120-kWh. The sports car will get the E-Sports platform Lotus will share with Alpine and sell to other manufacturers, the junior relative of the Extreme platform that supports the 1,973-hp Evija.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.