Lotus Cars announced two new high-level executive hirings. The news confirms a widespread impression that the sports car company is making an aggressive effort to expand sales — an effort signalled by the hiring of a new design chief, Donato Coco, roughly a year ago and the unveiling of multiple new models — Elise, Elan, Esprit, Elite, and Eterne — at the Paris auto show in September.
Lotus chief executive Dany Bahar, a Ferrari veteran, announced he had brought in former BMW executive Karl-Heinz Kalbfell and Guillaume Chabin, formerly of Bentley and Ferrari. Former GM co-chairman Robert Lutz has also been serving as an adviser to the company.
Mr. Chabin will be director of sales while Mr. Kalbfell will advise Mr. Bahar, the official said, “will provide operational support and advise Group Lotus chief executive officer Dany Bahar on the most efficient delivery of the business plan” at the company’s headquarters in Hethel, England.
Mr. Kalbfell helped direct both engineering and marketing at BMW and was a supporter of the M performance line.
“It’s not often that you get the opportunity to work with such an iconic automotive brand at such an exciting stage of its development, and I really feel that now is the perfect time for me to contribute toward the future of Lotus,” Kalbfell said.
In 2004, he moved to Alfa Romeo but later left, apparently due to differences with the Fiat group chairman Sergio Marchionne, according to Autocar.
Mr. Bahar often described as Ferrari’s former “brand guru,” has brought in other Ferrari executives. In January, he hired Andreas Prillmann, former director of business development at Ferrari as chief commercial officer for Lotus. He also hired Claudio Berro (Lotus Motorsport) and Gino Rosato (Lotus Corporate Affairs).
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