Lotus boss suspended

Dany Bahar, chief executive of the Lotus Group, has been suspended from duties while being investigated by DRB-Hicom, the new owners of Proton.

A Malaysian company, DRB-Hicom acquired Proton — and with it Lotus — back in January. Formerly owned by the Malaysian government, Proton bought Lotus in 1996, but reputedly the company is yet to see Lotus turn a profit in all that time.

As reported in Automotive News Europe (ANE), Bahar's suspension is said to be temporary, but leaves the diminutive sports car manufacturer bereft of leadership, although three managers from Lotus's owners have stepped in to take the reins in the meantime.

The future for Lotus was already looking shaky under the ultimate control of DRB-Hicom, but the new owner has denied that it has appointed KPMG to sell Lotus to a Chinese buyer, according to the report. That suitor is believed to be the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, although SAIC denies the suggestion. A spokesman for DRB-Hicom reportedly told the ANE that the business was in stasis and it was business as usual for the 1000 employees at the Lotus head office.

Bahar has run Lotus since 2009, after leaving his role as head of sales at Ferrari. His time at Lotus has been punctuated by controversy, promising a massive sales increase and a significant expansion of the company's model range in a short space of time — but most recently taking the highly unusual step of distributing a forthright press release by means of viral marketing. It's this press release that is believed to be at the core of DRB-Hicom's investigation.

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