I am bullish on Lotus, which is historically a dangerous thing to put in writing. The British automaker has bounced around from owner to owner, and has had historically strange leadership. The current version of the company has a stable parent company and seems to be listening to its customers, which is the thing that small car companies are often weirdly bad at doing.
The Morning Dump is going to end the week with a series of stories that wrap up a lot of what’s been going on in the last seven days or so. Lotus is slowing its EV development to focus on making gas-powered cars. Lexus is pausing development on a new electric platform, because it probably doesn’t need a lot more than what it has now. Ferrari, on the other hand, is defending the honor of its electric car.
Ending TMD on a high note is always the goal on Friday, and I’m going to hit G10 with the announcement from Mitsubishi that a legend is returning.
Lotus Initially Considered Making Electric Powertrains Perform Worse
There’s a version of this article where everyone gets upset at the Lotus CEO for not understanding why some customers might not be interested in electric cars. I don’t want to do that, because Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng has been there for eight years, and in that time the company has produced a car I very much like (the Emira), one that’s at least technically impressive (the Evija), and one that’s maybe not for me but seems good anyway (the Eletre).
Also, Qingfeng seems to be listening to customers and gave very honest answers to an Automotive News Europe reporter. It’s a little refreshing, sadly, to see a CEO acknowledge that his initial view of the world has broadened and changed.
Why has it hard to convert luxury buyers to electric?
Certain customers simply enjoy the thrill of driving a car with a powerful engine, even with some lag in the power delivery. They somehow just don’t like the smoothness of EVs. We have even had some crazy ideas to make the electric motors run more like a combustion engine.
It must be frustrating for an engineer like yourself. Since the beginning, the automotive industry has been trying to make engines run smoother.
Initially, this made no sense to me as well. However, gradually, I began to get it. A smooth powertrain is good for those people who use their car daily for commuting. However, those who purchase performance cars make that decision in the pursuit of driving thrills, of entertainment. They just want to have fun. Before I raced on a track, I found it difficult to understand. However, the moment I put my hands on a racecar, I felt the pleasure and the thrill that driving a big engine that could grant you.
I get that, too. I know people who bought EVs after owning cars with crappy CVTs and they marvel at why anyone would still want a gas-powered car. For commuting, an EV is hard to beat. On the race track, an EV might still be hard to beat from a pure performance standpoint, but it’s easy to overcome in terms of pure experience.
He’s an engineer, and engineers want to usually make the best and most efficient version of something [Ed Note: In my experience, this is a danger with some engineers in leadership roles. Customers are not rational about cars, which is why making the most efficient, highest-performing vehicle at the expense of something as fluffy as, say, styling, doesn’t make sense. -DT]. The goal of a Lotus has always been, to some extent, achieving the most from a platform. Electrification allows you to reach incredibly efficiency, it’s just at a cost that’s too high. It’s therefore nice to see the company trying more analog solutions and committing to bringing back the V8.
There’s a lot in the interview I found interesting, and this definitely caught my eye:
Is the new supercar going to be called Esprit?
Let’s just say there’s a logical legacy connection. When the Esprit went out of production [in 2004] it had a V-8 engine, and it’s something people have asked us to bring back ever since. It’s something that is still in the hearts of minds of many of our customers.
Hell yeah. The other bit that stood out was that Lotus said the 10% tariff on British cars imported to the United States was something the company could live with, but that the slow decimation of the car industry and the related supply chain means that it’s a lot harder to produce cars there than in China.
Ferrari Really Wants You To Know The Luce Is A Hit
As you can see in the podcast above, I have a lot of feelings about the Ferrari Luce. So does the CEO of Ferrari, who feels strongly that he needs to defend the product.
“There is strong interest, including from new clients,” Vigna said during an automotive event in Modena, northern Italy.
The automaker showed the new model to 1,600 customers on Monday and Tuesday at the launch in Rome and order books opened on Wednesday.
“We’ve already received bank transfers, clients who were there want it,” the CEO said, adding Ferrari would provide precise figures about orders in July, when releasing its second quarter results.
I’m not mad. Please don’t put in the newspaper that I’m mad.
Lexus Kills Its Next Gen EV
Remember the Lexus LF-ZC concept? I didn’t, either, and I wrote about the damn thing. According to Bloomberg, it doesn’t matter because it ain’t happening:
Toyota Motor Corp. halted development of a next-generation electric vehicle for its Lexus brand, citing weak demand and the elimination of US subsidies amid a broader review of new projects.
The LF-ZC, which had been expected to go on sale in mid-2027, was set to include new technologies such as gigacasting and more cost-effective batteries with faster charging speeds. Those features will be carried over to other vehicles, a spokesperson for the Japanese carmaker said.
Ok, cool.
Mitsubishi Is Bringing Back The Montero, Bringing Back A Midsize Pickup To The US
Let me clarify here, a little, because I’m extrapolating a lot from a couple of sources. First, the thing that’s reported, via Hans Greimel, which is that Nissan will build a version of a truck for Mitsubishi in the United States:
The new entry will be built by Nissan at a U.S. factory, according to a person familiar with the plan. Mitsubishi did not detail a launch timeline.
But the Nissan Frontier midsize pickup is expected to get a redesign around 2028 as part of Nissan’s rollout of a new frame-based vehicle architecture that will underpin the Xterra SUV and other products built at its Canton, Miss., plant.
That was pretty much expected. Less expected was the return of the Montero. Why do I think that’s happening? Mitsubishi announced that it was bringing back the Pajero which, again, not a surprise:
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (hereafter, Mitsubishi Motors) announced that its all-new cross-country SUV will be named Pajero and will be unveiled at a world premiere scheduled for autumn 2026. The model was discontinued in overseas markets in 2021, making this its first return to the global market in five years.
First launched in 1982, the Pajero1 was developed as a recreational vehicle (RV, now widely known as an SUV) with a new concept that combined the off-road performance of a full-fledged four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle with the comfort of a passenger car. Across four generations, the model has become one of Mitsubishi Motors’ most iconic cross-country SUVs, with cumulative global sales of more than 3.25 million units in over 170 countries and regions worldwide.
Here’s where it gets interesting, and it’s just a footnote:
-
Sold as the Montero in some markets
Yes! Like in the United States. It was sold here as the Montero. Could the Montero be coming back? One can only dream.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
I’d never seen the video for Barry White’s “Let The Music Play” and it’s mostly just him walking around his nice house with his dog and playing piano. It looks like a great way to spend the weekend. I hope you’re weekend is as serene and enjoyable as this video.
The Big Question
Do you know the CEO of the company who built your car/all your cars? Who are they?
Top photo: Lotus
Lotus is great don’t worry about supporting it. Questioning people who don’t know what they are supporting based on no knowledge of the CEO is brave and I support it whether you agree with my decisions. And I can’t wait until next Tuesday, 3 days from now to see my comments on the site.
The simple reason why the unfortunately-named “Pajero” has been sold as the “Montero” in much of the world is that “pajero” means “wanker” in Spanish. A “paja” is a straw, and “hacerse una paja” (to make oneself a straw) means exactly what you think it does, and a guy doing it is a “pajero”.
Ah, Matt, I don’t like your CVT slander here. Be better.
You are the only person on the sight that has anything good to say about CVT. Your handle betrays your bias. But if you get KIA to compensate my neighbor whose CVT Transmission that went out 100 miles after the warranty and then the dealership refused to fix it even if he paid for it I’ll broker a peace agreement instead of constantly posting how they screwed a guy over with 7 kids and only one car. That compensation should be around $8,000.
That’s not a Jatco Xtronic, kind of your neighbor’s fault for buying an inferior product to the gold standard
That Lexus deserved to not live it’s ugly. They will figure out how to do it when the time is right.
I feel like most of the western automotive engineers I know drive stick and want control. But appreciate electric cars and realize they are the way forward so driving manual cars while it’s still sort of normal. But I could see Chinese automotive engineers not in that same head space and wonder why anyone would drive a ice car let alone a manual until going on track.
Probably know of some but do not know them. I was in the same room as Bill Ford once and I have a Expedition from his era. I have a Ghosn era Leaf , a Marchionne era Ram, and a Lutz era Suburban. No idea about Toyota or other brands ceos.
Barry White. Those are some EPIC collars.
But there’s something really cool about Barry’s voice.
Barry was unique. He had a baritone range and a Bass tone. This combination is nick-named a Barrytone as a result.
Johnny Cash sang lower notes than Barry every was recorded to do regularly. Barry sang higher notes regularly than Johnny Cash. Yet, there Johnny had a baritone tone that made him sound like he was singing higher than Barry.
Barry’s unique tone made him a classic. He sounds SO emotional because as he hits notes that are fairly high even for a true tenor, his voice still has that meaty bass tone in there. It’s 100% unique and 100% Barry White.
Barry’s remarkable. Go to youtube and search for Tim Storms. He’s a low bass. In interviews, he sounds like he should have a singing voice that is higher than Barry White’s. He’s got a deep speaking voice, but not Barry White Deep. However, in singing, you need subwoofers to hear him sing. Actually you don’t hear his voice, you feel it. Du
I know nothing technical about music, but that was fascinating. What I do know about Barry White’s voice is that it was somehow ideal for studio recording. Even on not-great speakers, it sounds like he is there in the room with you.
You can get the same response if you sing in the shower
My Europa was made under Mike Kimberly, very old school Lotus guy. His son is a police officer and turned up the last time I got hit by a car while cycling, we had a nice chat about Lotus while waiting for the ambulance. Small world.
I met Dany Bahar a few times. Terrific hair, amazing public speaker, absolutely hypnotic. Utterly terrifying.
He tried to have my personal Elise sold, assuming he owned it. So did Jean Marc Gales. At least they had some idea of who I was, if no idea why anyone working at Lotus would be daily driving an S1 Elise.
.
The last time you got hit by a car while riding a bike? Maybe look for new travel areas. You may have the right of way but you are the one going to the hospital. Make good choices.
I am very aware of who goes to hospital. Least romantic Valentine’s Day ever: a date in A&E where we shared a vending machine chocolate muffin.
My new commute is now 10 miles of dedicated cycle path, a mile through some woods, and only a mile of sharing the road with cars (mostly 20mph limits).
Oh my. This requires significant follow up details and expansion. It sounds like you have an interesting life, sir.
I’m trying to write up the good bits, and they’re getting published here.
The rumour was that both Bahar and JMG had bonus clauses in their contracts about car sales. Certainly they sent people out all over site to find old engineering cars to sell. The CEO’s office looked out over the main car park, so they could both see my car.
somethings are just better analog. like driving for pleasure, and sex. you’re just not going to get the same enjoyment if you go all digital.
I’m taking this to mean 2 out of 1600, since he used clients, plural. Or maybe they blackmailed some others into it since we know Ferrari will refuse to sell you a car unless you bought the previous one, no matter how bad it was.
TBQ: My truck was made under Mary Barra. The rest of my stuff is old enough that I have no idea who would have been CEO at the time.
The Luce is An Car: Ferrari flavor and it’ll probably sell okay for that reason. But since we’re in the clown timeline it would be really funny if Nissan unveiled a performance version of their Ariya with similar wheels and styling.
i would LOVE that to happen
Not trying to be a jerk here, but to me TMD logo looks like it says Morning DUMB. Might need a little more separation between the P and the circle.
I can’t unsee that now.
I had a similar reaction, agree with you on the solution. It’s almost there as a good logo!
Seeing as I’ve never owned a car built after 1988, it’s likely all the CEOs around back then are all playing in a different state of being now. And since I’m generally disappointed by every current manufacturer’s offerings, I don’t want to know the current “leadership.” If the Slate and Telo succeed, that might change.
Among the domestics, Joe Cappy, CEO of American Motors from 1986-1987, is still kicking. He continued under Chrysler as head of Jeep-Eagle through 1989
All of my Jeeps were ‘84 and older.
He would have just been VP of Marketing at that point
Your original point is valid; he was a CEO pre-1988 and is still alive, so that’s one I missed.
TBQ: No. I’ve never met the CEOs of Subaru or GM. I do not know them.
Pajero Evos are below 30k. I just wish CA wasn’t so difficult to register a properly imported car.
I really liked the points made on the Luce podcast. I hope to see more episodes! and audio quality was great.
I’ll probably never own a Lotus, but they sure are fun to look at. There is something visceral and engaging about an engine bouncing off redline and the momentary pause-then-snap of acceleration between gears. I could see why people care more about that than cutting a second off of their fun weekend laptimes.
I might own a used Lexus EV someday, yet I really can’t find it in me to care about them cancelling yet another suppository-shaped EV giga-casted in ways that make it obscenely expensive to repair.
I think this is the website where I read that gigacasting can (if designed with repairability in mind) be cheaper to repair.
“Mitsubishi is bringing back a legend”
Okay, fess up everyone: who else thought they were restoring the Eclipse to a proper sport coupe like it belongs?
I would have preferred “Acura is bringing back a Legend”…but was also hoping to see a proper Eclipse. Or Starion.
Acura or Honda is never doing another E-segment sedan because the Accord is already big enough.
3000GT
It was my first hope at the headline. I confess.
My tip to Lotus. Don’t style your flagship in house. Go to an outside firm the way the Esprit was originally done. Lotus makes great cars, but the styling is too fussy and derivative.
But…Don’t get Ives to do it either!
I’m sure Ferrari will sell dozens of them.
It will almost certainly spend considerable time as Ferrari’s best selling BEV.
I can’t say I’ve made the acquaintance of many CEOs, much less the one who ran Mercedes-Benz in 2009.
But I understand he has quite the moustache.
That video makes me happy. Thank you.
As an owner of too many cars from different brands and a 43 year gap between the oldest and newest I don’t know and really don’t care to look it up. Yay this x rich person was running the company when one of my cars was built Whoopty do Basil
The Luce may be Ferrari’s Cayenne. The purists hated it, but there’s a shitload of them out there on the road. We will know when they show up on buy here, pay here lots.
Maybe if it wasn’t an EV. The number of people that want an EV and want to pay $600,000+ for a vehicle has got to be pretty low.
They also have to not want to get more performance from Porsche or Lucid at less than half the cost.
The Cayenne was seen as an affordable every-day Porsche that the purist might have initially hated, but ultimately recognized as a way to keep the 911 around longer.
But it’s $600,000. The purists will hate it. I laugh at it. Some mock it. ….but we will never see one of these for plebian money. I say these will always be 6 figures+. Plenty of Ferrari fools to make sure the 6 of them they sell will retain some value.
What would even be a good, new price for the Luce? 80-90K? Even at that price, I think this thing is uglier than the competition.
Maybe, but two issue there:
From a branding perspective, Porsche has less mystique behind it because of the Cayenne, Macan, and other commuter vehicles in their lineup.
This is not about price either. For the longest time, “Lotus” conjured up images of raw sports cars with optional AC that many owners skipped out on. Now, it’s a luxury EV brand for Geely.
Ferrari will follow the same footsteps. Oh great, they’re making more money. Let’s enshittificate everything we love for the sake of money.
The rest of my wife’s family has Nissans (2 Murano’s and a Pathfinder) and it’s almost incomprehensible to me that in a few short years we might join them with a new Xterra and a MT Q50/Skyline thing.
Time will tell.
Yeah sure Ferrari has already seen bank transfers and the Luce is a huge hit claims Ferrari. Also there were 2 million preorders for the Cybertruck. Show us sales or get out! But in all seriousness I sure the Luce will sell fine because Ferrari and the rest of us will wonder why someone would spend 600k on it.
If I understand how this works, people are buying the Luce because they want Ferrari to sell them something better and this is how you butter them up.
That seems to be the consensus, and a brand with a reputation like Ferrari can likely put out cars that are a miss and they will do ok because they still carry the Ferrari name, but if it becomes a pattern the Ferrari name gets damaged and this is no longer a viable strategy.
Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng eloquently explained why Ram and Dodge needed to bring the Hemi back.
I’d like him to eloquently explain why if ICE is the future he made the Powertrain Design department redundant last year.
Only kidding, they had no idea who’s lives they were ruining, HR didn’t even have a copy of my job description.
My last week there I was asked to show someone who kept their job how to run CATIA. He actually asked which button to press to make it do a drawing.
Christ I hope I’m not going to stay this bitter for long, it’s exhausting.
I don’t blame you for being bitter. I’d be too.
I think I’d stand outside his window and hold a sign that says, “Miss me yet?”
Every year on my anniversary of starting at Lotus I’d buy cakes, loads of cakes.
On my 25th anniversary I wasn’t allowed on site because of the redundancy, so I bought a single Viennese finger, went to as close to HR as I could get while staying on public access ground and took a selfie holding the finger, well, you know how I was holding it.
It got a few laughs in the redundancy chat.
Nice! 🙂
“Do you know the CEO of the company who built your car/all your cars? Who are they?”
Well my car is a 2017 Ford C-max Energi… so that was sold when Mark Fields was CEO at Ford.
However, the C-Max hybrid/Energi project was one that was approved by and executed under Alan Mulally