After taking over the reins at Lotus back in May, Jean-Marc Gales has embarked on a plan to bring the struggling British sports car maker back into profit and back to producing the best sports cars on the market. To do this, the company is being restructured with almost a third of its workforce already let go. The changes however, are far from over.
While recently speaking with Automotive News, Gales confirmed that a key short term goal of Lotus is to open up more dealerships around the world. As a matter of fact, a further 20 Lotus dealers could be open in the remaining seven months of the 2013/2014 financial year.
When quizzed about why Lotus sales aren’t soaring, Gales said, “One reason is that we don’t have enough dealers, even in the UK. There is no dealer in London, and nor is there in Paris, Madrid, northern Italy, Hamburg or Berlin. More dealers drive more sales. We have opened nine new dealerships worldwide over the past six months and I would not exclude having 20 more in this financial year.”
During the interview, Gales also confirmed that Lotus will continue to use its existing aluminium tub chassis but that it will become even more rigid and easier to get in and out of. Additionally, Lotus will begin to offer more variants of its existing Evora, Exige and Elise models rather than launching brand new models.
[Via Automotive News]
