Bob Lutz and Tom Purves Headline Lotus Advisory Council
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It's official: "Maximum" Bob Lutz is coming out of retirement once again.
The Rocky Balboa of the automotive world will curl his cigar smoke gracefully upward in the boardroom at Lotus Cars. Lutz, whose past prides and joys have included the Pontiac G8, Solstice, and the nascent revival of the GTO, has signed on to be an advisor for Lotus.
“This is a tremendously exciting project to be involved in," Lutz said in a release. "Lotus has got a world class management team recruited from many countries and a fabulous lineup of new cars. They’ve got the backing, they’ve got the drive and they’ve got the will. I hope with my forty-odd years automotive experience, I will be able to make some sort of contribution along with the other members of the Advisory Council. "
Also joining that Advisory Council is Tom Purves, former head of Rolls-Royce as well as BMW North America, not to mention one of the best extemporaneous speakers in the auto industry. Purves says, “I have always thought that of all the brands generated by the British motor industry, Lotus is one of the most iconic. It stands for beautiful designs, innovative engineering and state of the art aerodynamics. The Lotus Eleven of the 50’s is one of the most beautiful sports racing cars of all time, and the Elite of the early 60’s combined elegance with groundbreaking engineering. My own Elan was unmatched on an English country road in the early 70’s….always brilliant driver’s cars.”
Clearly Lotus has strong plans for increasing the brand's notoriety, profitability, and market share. This becomes readily apparent when one examines the other members of the newly formed Lotus Advisory Council. Frank Tuch, (former quality Czar at Porsche) is currently chief quality officer at Volkswagen AG. Professor Dr. Burkhard Goschel (chief technical officer at supplier Magna International) formerly ran engine product development at Daimler-Benz—prior to accepting a seat on the BMW board of directors advising research, development and purchasing.
If you're trying to build and sell exceptional automobiles in a very discerning market segment, you need a dream team--and this is nothing less than a dream team. This revelation, right on the heels of the announcement of Lotus' expanded relationship with Toyota, and the introduction of a new four-place Elite. The moves signal a very aggressive start for Lotus as it enters the second decade of the 21st century.
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