The man behind the launch of the Citroen DS brand is tasked with continuing Lotus's turnaroundFormer PSA Peugeot-Citroen president Jean-Marc Gales has been named as the new chef executive officer of Lotus.
Lotus owner Proton, which itself is controlled by Malaysian automotive firm DRB-HICOM, appointed Gales to work alongside current chief operating officer Aslam Farikullah. The Malaysian, who is also a Lotus board member, has been running Lotus for the past two years since DRB-HICOM sacked the controversial Dany Bahar.
Gales, a 51-year-old from Luxembourg and an industry veteran of several automotive firms including PSA, Daimler, General Motors and Volkswagen, has been appointed for his “strong technical and managerial expertise and leadership”, according to Proton boss Dato’ Abdul Harith Abdullah.
Gales served as PSA president between 2009 and 2012. His achievements there included the worldwide rollout and implementation of Citroen’s DS brand, and a restructuring of PSA’s entire sales value chain.
Most recenetly, he has been running the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), where he was again credited with streamlining and restructuring the group’s operations.
“Jean-Marc will be able to drive the Lotus transformation plan and further enhance Lotus' business and capabilities,” said Abdullah in a statement.
After Bahar exited Lotus, taking his ambitious five new model plan with him, DRB-HICOM bosses have kept their counsel on Lotus’s present and future.
However, in a rare interview with Autocar in January, Farikullah revealed the Norfolk firm had cut costs by around 50 per cent and expanded sales both at home and in emerging export markets such as China.
The quality of the models has also improved, and DRB-HICOM is investing in development of new models and recruiting more staff to support increased production in a bid to return to profit.
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