It finally happened. Lotus CEO Dany Bahar has reportedly been fired by parent company DRB-HICOM effective immediately after being suspended for "conduct" last month.
That "conduct" he was suspended for is apparently taking lots of money while never making a profit. Of course, in our mind, his questionable "conduct" was being terrible.
It wasn't just that Dany Bahar famously squared off with us in Los Angeles when we dared question his desire to build fatter cars. It wasn't just that he was spending all his time courting celebs instead of buyers. It wasn't even his crazy outbursts.
What made Bahar terrible is that he had no idea what he was doing. His vision to turn Lotus into a Ferrari was poorly timed, poorly planned, and poorly executed.
So, yes, I'm happy Bahar was fired. I've been calling for his dismissal since they first revealed the company's ridiculous plans. Lotus is a car enthusiast's brand and, while Ford's CEO has demonstrated you don't need to know shit about cars if you know about business, it's clear Bahar knew little about anything.
Not that knowing anything could have helped him. Our contempt aside, it's impossible to ignore that Lotus is rarely anything close to profitable. Bahar was a massive failure, but few people would have been successful in that position.
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