HANGZHOU, China: Group Lotus gets a new boss as CEO Jean-Marc Gales makes way for Feng Qingfeng, who was the vice president and chief technical officer of Geely Auto Group.
In a statement, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group (Geely Holding) announced that Gales had chosen to leave for personal reasons and will instead take on a new role as chief strategic advisor to Lotus chairman Daniel Donghui Li.
Geely Holding, which acquired a controlling stake in Group Lotus in 2017, thanked Gales for his contribution to the company over the past four years.
In June 2017, DRB-Hicom Bhd and Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group signed a deal where the latter acquired 49.99% of car manufacturer Proton and 51% of luxury sports car brand Lotus in a deal worth RM1bil.
Li, who is also chief financial officer of Geely Holding, said, “Jean-Marc has stabilised and turned Lotus to profitability for the first time in the iconic brands history with new industry leading products and unique business models since joining the company in 2014. Lotus is poised for the next phase of growth under Feng Qingfeng’s leadership, where its expertise in lightweight materials and sport cars-engineering will form part of the wider expansion of Geely ‘s automotive portfolio. At the same time I will welcome Jean-Marc‘s council as chief strategic advisor to myself and the board of directors.”
Feng said, "I am honoured to have been appointed to lead this iconic British sports car group. With Geely’s global synergies and total support I am confident that Lotus has an exciting opportunity to achieve its full potential as a luxury sports brand, based around its engineering legacy and its future product pipeline.”
In 2017, Group Lotus sold 1,600 sports vehicles, an increase of 10% versus 2016, produced at its plant in Norfolk, England.
In 2017, the company showed a profit for the first time in history.
