Lotus Cars Europe boss reportedly steps down

It never rains but it pours at Louts. Following the will-they, won’t-they drama around Hethel’s future – which certainly doesn’t feel resolved to anyone’s satisfaction at the moment – another senior executive has reportedly moved on from their post. The most senior in fact: it’s Matt Windle, officially head of Lotus Cars Europe, who is said to be leaving after many years in assorted roles throughout the company. Having joined as a Chief Engineer, he rose up the ranks to become Executive Director of Sports Car Engineering before his tenure as Lotus MD and Group VP. Now, after almost nine years at Lotus, Windle is to leave, reports the Financial Times. 

The most telling fact seems to be that Windle is going after just four months in his current position. Officially, or according to his LinkedIn at least, that job was President and CEO Lotus Cars Europe, Managing Director Lotus Cars Limited. Not the kind of job you’d expect the incumbent to depart from after a third of the year, particularly given Windle’s predecessor – Dan Balmer – only occupied the role for less than 12 months. The company at the moment desperately needs security and stability, not a revolving door of different execs coming and going. There’s no word yet on the exact reason for departure, or even a confirmation that Lotus Cars Europe is without a figurehead. 

The past couple of months will surely have taken their toll, though. According to the FT’s sources, Windle was one of the senior staff members asked by Lotus Technology chief executive Feng Qingfeng to draw up plans for manufacturing to end at Hethel, partly in response to US tariffs. Once those plans came to light, Lotus backpedalled sufficiently far to arrive at a place where it had no plans to cease manufacturing in the UK, instead “actively exploring strategic options” to improve efficiency. The offer of government support must have been welcome. But such a tumultuous period – you’d hardly bet your mortgage on Hethel’s future – was unlikely to pass without casualty, and so Windle joins Balmer and former chief commercial officer Mike Johnstone as recent departures.   

What happens next is anyone’s guess. Sales were down in the last quarter 42 per cent, and while losses weren’t quite as catastrophic as previous reports, a Lotus Technology loss of $103mn hardly seems rosy. Clearly, the company will require a new head honcho for the European sector of the business; now we have to wait and see whether that’ll be another known Lotus name, or someone parachuted in from Geely (a suggestion already doing the rounds). Whoever it is, they’ve quite some job on their hands.