#DanyBahar

Michael Banovsky of RM Auctions has been on a MK1 Lotus Elise kick. And why not? Canada’s more relaxed importation laws mean that owning a MK1 is a legal proposition, and the lucky guy has got the resources of one of the world’s best auction houses at his disposal.

I still remember the day my parents bought me a copy of the iconic Justification for Higher Education poster. I had been nagging them for a while, and when I finally got the poster, it took immediate pride of place in my childhood bedroom. Having matured, I recognize now that the imagery depicts a lifestyle unlikely to be the preserve of the highly educated, but instead that of a lottery winner. Didn’t matter then, and it doesn’t matter today; the now ratty old poster followed me to college and again to my grown-up domicile.

A report in The Independent revealed that Lotus owes supplies nearly $37 million and has even asked for tax payment deferments to help manage its cash flow.

With no less than three outlets reporting on the supposed death of the Lotus Esprit yesterday, one could be forgiven in thinking that Lotus was jettisoning the last of the Danny Bahar era and returning back to its roots as a maker of pure, uncompromising sports cars. It turns out that the reputable news outlets that reported on the matter failed to do any fact checking with Lotus. Also, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

Dany Bahar, the disgraced former CEO of the money-losing British sportscar maker Lotus, sued Lotus and its Malaysian parent DRB-Hicom for wrongful dismissal. According to Bloomberg, Bahar wants 6.7 million pounds ($10.6 million) from Lotus for alleged unlawful early termination of his employment. The media got wind of the lawsuit after DRB-Hicom made a filing at the Kuala Lumpur Bursa.

Lotus’ new owner, Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom, has revised their future model plans, reducing the scale of former CEO Dany Bahar’s ambitious 5-car lineup.

Two years after Lotus presented a grandiose, multi-car lineup at the 2010 Paris Auto Show, the company will not be participating in this years festivities at the Porte De Versailles.

My biggest fear with the seemingly inevitable departure of Dany Bahar was having to read the contempt and gloating of the automotive media’s self-appointed product and management experts, whereby they claim vindication for shitting on Dany Bahar’s vision to do something about Lotus and their lack of profitability and his desecration of sacred “brand values”.

Dany Bahar has been dismissed effective immediately by Group Lotus following an investigation into Bahar’s spending practices.

Lotus CEO Dany Bahar’s 14 day suspension is set to expire on Monday. We have no idea what will happen next. He may get the boot, taking his ambitious five-year product plan with him. Or he may not. Putting the pieces together since Lotus was taken over by DRB-Hicom has painted an interesting picture, while still leaving the future of Lotus up in the air.

A news story from a UK-based paper in Norfolk confirmed that Dany Bahar was suspended from Lotus following a “complaint about his conduct”.

Thank god for social media. Not only does it subject me to the various armchair CEOs and their plans for the future of Lotus, but it also alerts me to when an unknown Lotus PR wag goes completely off the reservation, and publishes a hate-filled invective on Facebook that looks like an angst-filled letter penned by a 19 year old boy to his ex-girlfriend. And you know what? I like it.