Lotus: "We are going through a very difficult time"
#11
04-11-2012, 02:26 PM
Holy sh*t
Uh..... this doesn't look good...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...35849009792886
Lotus Just Turned A Joke Into A PR Disaster On Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...35849009792886
Lotus Just Turned A Joke Into A PR Disaster On Facebook
#12
04-11-2012, 02:37 PM
Lotus had very impressive diaplay stand at Autosport show & Geneva show I attended this year. Their future line up of products are pretty impressive too, but frankly knowing their internal issues, all that leads me to believe they're just trying to build some fake positive image in order to attract buyers. Their upcoming project looks ambitious but not realistic at all. No one would show 5 near production ready concept cars at once. That just shows either the company is in dipshit or the guy's running it has no clue what he's doing...
#14
04-11-2012, 04:00 PM
For Firms and Businesses who just think Social Media is a joke, this is a classic case of PR + Social Media going very very wrong -
My advice is to know the person in charge of the accounts and create "Alerts" whenever a post occurs etc - transparency hasn't been created or maintained in the digital world -
Also, as it continues to merge into "new" marketing, the frontier is wide open - but caution, as even the biggest brands sometimes have epic "whale" fails
In A World Gone Mad, Lotus Publishes Angry Facebook Screed | The Truth About Cars
My advice is to know the person in charge of the accounts and create "Alerts" whenever a post occurs etc - transparency hasn't been created or maintained in the digital world -
Also, as it continues to merge into "new" marketing, the frontier is wide open - but caution, as even the biggest brands sometimes have epic "whale" fails
In A World Gone Mad, Lotus Publishes Angry Facebook Screed | The Truth About Cars
Last edited by NAV-TV; 04-11-2012 at 04:01 PM.
#15
04-11-2012, 04:08 PM
Interesting post on autoblog:
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story....
Take a little look at what we found online. Don't you think it's funny? We do. We had a good old giggle. After all, we love a bit of self irony, just as well really. Although it's funny, this one's not accurate but then again, why let the facts get in the way of a good story? The inconvenient truth is – surprise, surprise – we have never said that there are no problems at Lotus.
So whilst lots of people obviously feel the need to comment on Lotus' current situation in the absence of proper facts or evidence, we can't ignore these particular mistruths any longer even if we would like to, so we have decided to turn a negative into a positive and use this hilarious piece of 'art' to set the record straight regarding the status quo at Group Lotus and try to return a little stability to a fast changing situation.
False rumour #1: Dany Bahar is no longer CEO of Group Lotus.
Fact: Rubbish – Dany Bahar still is.
False rumour #2: Dato' Sri Syed is no longer Managing Director of Proton.
Fact: Again rubbish. He still is.
You can thank good old Tony Fernandes for these two. Don't take everything he tweets too seriously – perhaps he's still frustrated about owning Caterham instead of Lotus and the fact that he fights HRT and Marussia instead of Mercedes and Ferrari in F1.
And whilst we're on the subject of jokes - do you know the latest F1 joke? Mike Gascoyne, Caterham Group's Chief Technical Officer, has gone missing. Why? He's looking for the 30 to 40 points he predicted for the last F1 season. Funny.
Speaking of F1: It seems that one special so called 'independent' source is at the root of the lion's share of damaging rumours and misleading stories. The delightful Joe Saward which leads us nicely to....
False rumour #3: Joe Saward is JUST an independent journalist.
Fact: He is an active Director for the Caterham Group.
And unlike some, we don't want to get too personal, so we'll leave it to you to judge how 'independent' his stories about Lotus are.
False rumour #4: Group Lotus is no longer involved in F1.
Fact: Lotus F1 Team and Group Lotus have reshaped their commercial relationship earlier this year. The new governance agreement signifies the continued commitment of Group Lotus to the team and the sport.
Group Lotus' branding and marketing rights and subsequent activities remain unaffected by the new agreement until at least 2017. Alongside continued branding and title partnership status, Group Lotus is also the exclusive master licensee for all Lotus F1 Team merchandise.
The new agreement was reached following Group Lotus owners Proton providing team owners Genii with a £30m loan which is repayable within three years. In order to secure the loan Genii used 100% of the F1 team's assets as collateral meaning that under the conditions of the loan agreement Proton have been given full title guarantee to all plant, machinery, show cars, computers, office and the Lotus F1 Team headquarters.
In addition Proton retains the rights to purchase 10% of the F1 team. Another 10% share option will be activated if the team default on their loan obligations with Proton.
Again we leave it to your judgement how 'bad' Lotus' current situation in F1 is. And speaking of bad situations.....
False rumour #5: Group Lotus is going into administration.
Fact: Rubbish. The takeover of our parent company Proton by DRB-HICOM couldn't have come at a worse time, but up until that point Proton was (and still remains) fully committed to our five year business plan to create jobs and to expand the factory and business. With the takeover process the funding has been restricted and DRB-HICOM is taking time to understand what to do with the business. DRB-HICOM is currently in the middle of due diligence of Group Lotus and there have been and continue to be positive discussions between Group Lotus senior management and senior management at DRB-HICOM both here in Hethel and in Malaysia. At no point has DRB-HICOM indicated to Group Lotus that it intends to put the company into administration. The over-active rumour mill is seriously damaging our business reputation, image and credibility but it is what it is.
The simple fact is, and we haven't denied this - Lotus is going through a very difficult phase at the moment but we are showing true fighting spirit every day in trying to keep this vision alive. This is also a fact – no matter what people outside of Lotus may say or tweet or blog.
Source [Autoblog]
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story....
Take a little look at what we found online. Don't you think it's funny? We do. We had a good old giggle. After all, we love a bit of self irony, just as well really. Although it's funny, this one's not accurate but then again, why let the facts get in the way of a good story? The inconvenient truth is – surprise, surprise – we have never said that there are no problems at Lotus.
So whilst lots of people obviously feel the need to comment on Lotus' current situation in the absence of proper facts or evidence, we can't ignore these particular mistruths any longer even if we would like to, so we have decided to turn a negative into a positive and use this hilarious piece of 'art' to set the record straight regarding the status quo at Group Lotus and try to return a little stability to a fast changing situation.
False rumour #1: Dany Bahar is no longer CEO of Group Lotus.
Fact: Rubbish – Dany Bahar still is.
False rumour #2: Dato' Sri Syed is no longer Managing Director of Proton.
Fact: Again rubbish. He still is.
You can thank good old Tony Fernandes for these two. Don't take everything he tweets too seriously – perhaps he's still frustrated about owning Caterham instead of Lotus and the fact that he fights HRT and Marussia instead of Mercedes and Ferrari in F1.
And whilst we're on the subject of jokes - do you know the latest F1 joke? Mike Gascoyne, Caterham Group's Chief Technical Officer, has gone missing. Why? He's looking for the 30 to 40 points he predicted for the last F1 season. Funny.
Speaking of F1: It seems that one special so called 'independent' source is at the root of the lion's share of damaging rumours and misleading stories. The delightful Joe Saward which leads us nicely to....
False rumour #3: Joe Saward is JUST an independent journalist.
Fact: He is an active Director for the Caterham Group.
And unlike some, we don't want to get too personal, so we'll leave it to you to judge how 'independent' his stories about Lotus are.
False rumour #4: Group Lotus is no longer involved in F1.
Fact: Lotus F1 Team and Group Lotus have reshaped their commercial relationship earlier this year. The new governance agreement signifies the continued commitment of Group Lotus to the team and the sport.
Group Lotus' branding and marketing rights and subsequent activities remain unaffected by the new agreement until at least 2017. Alongside continued branding and title partnership status, Group Lotus is also the exclusive master licensee for all Lotus F1 Team merchandise.
The new agreement was reached following Group Lotus owners Proton providing team owners Genii with a £30m loan which is repayable within three years. In order to secure the loan Genii used 100% of the F1 team's assets as collateral meaning that under the conditions of the loan agreement Proton have been given full title guarantee to all plant, machinery, show cars, computers, office and the Lotus F1 Team headquarters.
In addition Proton retains the rights to purchase 10% of the F1 team. Another 10% share option will be activated if the team default on their loan obligations with Proton.
Again we leave it to your judgement how 'bad' Lotus' current situation in F1 is. And speaking of bad situations.....
False rumour #5: Group Lotus is going into administration.
Fact: Rubbish. The takeover of our parent company Proton by DRB-HICOM couldn't have come at a worse time, but up until that point Proton was (and still remains) fully committed to our five year business plan to create jobs and to expand the factory and business. With the takeover process the funding has been restricted and DRB-HICOM is taking time to understand what to do with the business. DRB-HICOM is currently in the middle of due diligence of Group Lotus and there have been and continue to be positive discussions between Group Lotus senior management and senior management at DRB-HICOM both here in Hethel and in Malaysia. At no point has DRB-HICOM indicated to Group Lotus that it intends to put the company into administration. The over-active rumour mill is seriously damaging our business reputation, image and credibility but it is what it is.
The simple fact is, and we haven't denied this - Lotus is going through a very difficult phase at the moment but we are showing true fighting spirit every day in trying to keep this vision alive. This is also a fact – no matter what people outside of Lotus may say or tweet or blog.
Source [Autoblog]
#17
04-11-2012, 04:14 PM
^^I see this now Chris...
I'm a fan of the brand (well used to be before this non-sense) but Lotus is in a free-fall inmo, to let a PR firm release something like that is ridiculous. You're an auto-maker with a rich history and this is what you do?
I'll still look fondly on these days
I'm a fan of the brand (well used to be before this non-sense) but Lotus is in a free-fall inmo, to let a PR firm release something like that is ridiculous. You're an auto-maker with a rich history and this is what you do?
I'll still look fondly on these days
#18
04-11-2012, 04:20 PM
I feel very torn about this. On one side, I would love for them to pull through, there's much more at stake here then just cars. There's people's lives. However, I would like to point out a very REAL issue- their cars.
They are not producing cars that people want, nor can justify for basically- kit cars. Their quality, fit and finish is shoddy at best. For the $ they are charging there are automakers who produce REAL cars that are built to great specifications with original OEM parts. That's not to say people don't want a Lotus- but the point is- that the people who have been in charge for many years have sipped some really messed up kool-aid. WHO do they think their client is, and WHAT real value are their cars bringing?
They need REAL products that people will buy. Not kit cars. People want to spend $$ on a lotus; but not one that's been tossed together around a Toyota engine and truck transmission.
real cars people.
Lotus should build a car that's in the 20-30k range and a real handler with REAL quality and workmanship. And the super cars need real OEM Lotus only engines and transmissions- with quality that matches Porsche, BMW, Mercedes Benz or better!
Very similar issues that SAAB had. No real product that is competitive to give enough people reason to consider them viable; thus wanting to part with their money.
Tough times indeed. Not shocking results I'm afraid.
They are not producing cars that people want, nor can justify for basically- kit cars. Their quality, fit and finish is shoddy at best. For the $ they are charging there are automakers who produce REAL cars that are built to great specifications with original OEM parts. That's not to say people don't want a Lotus- but the point is- that the people who have been in charge for many years have sipped some really messed up kool-aid. WHO do they think their client is, and WHAT real value are their cars bringing?
They need REAL products that people will buy. Not kit cars. People want to spend $$ on a lotus; but not one that's been tossed together around a Toyota engine and truck transmission.
real cars people.
Lotus should build a car that's in the 20-30k range and a real handler with REAL quality and workmanship. And the super cars need real OEM Lotus only engines and transmissions- with quality that matches Porsche, BMW, Mercedes Benz or better!
Very similar issues that SAAB had. No real product that is competitive to give enough people reason to consider them viable; thus wanting to part with their money.
Tough times indeed. Not shocking results I'm afraid.
