Group Lotus has parted company with its chief executive Kim Ogaard-Neilson just as the company enters the critical launch period for two new cars.
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Mike Kimberley, a company veteran who ran Lotus between 1983 and 1991, is taking over as acting chief executive after Ogaard-Neilson resigned on Thursday morning (11 May) to “pursue his other entrepreneurial interests”.
However relations between the outgoing chief executive and the directors of Lotus owner Proton, the Malaysian car-maker, are known to have been strained for some months.
A new executive committee of Lotus Group International, Proton’s ownership vehicle for Lotus, was formed earlier this year to improve the fortunes of Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering, which together lost £7.4m in FY04-05, the last period for which figures have been published.
Featuring Proton Holdings directors Badrul Feisal and Syed Zainal, and chaired by Kimberley, the committee was putting pressure on Ogaard-Neilson.
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By GlobalDataOne of the chief concerns was over-optimistic sales projections for US sales of the Elise and Exige sportscars.
Despite declaring a respectable 2,200 registrations in the US last year, unsold stocks of cars rose to “between 600 and 700 cars” earlier this year, according to one well-placed source.
The true market for the Elise and Exige in the US is understood to be closer to 1,800 cars a year.
In a statement accompanying the announcement of management changes, Lotus is now more optimistic about the US market.
“All specialist sports car companies operate in highly volatile markets and sales of the Elise are moving ahead in the USA,” Kimberley says.
The appointment of the well-respected Kimberley ought to bring much-needed stability to Lotus, which has had four chief executives in the past eight years.
Kimberley is experienced in bringing new cars to market — he was instrumental in the re-birth of Lamborghini in the mid-90s under the ownership of Indonesian investors.
And he knows Lotus inside-out, which will smooth this September’s launch of the Europa.
Engineering of Project Silverstone — the much-needed Esprit replacement — is also reaching a critical phase ahead of a production start in late 2007 for sale in early 2008.
Julian Rendell
