Lotus gets a new director. Matt Windle takes over from Phil Popham, who is leaving the top position after just two and a half years and leaves the British brand.
In September 2018 it was announced that Phil Popham was in charge of Lotus. Now, however, he is already leaving, after a relatively short period. According to Lotus, Popham (photo 2, left) wants to work on ‘personal projects’ and is therefore not only leaving his post as Managing Director, he is even leaving completely. The replacement comes from our own house; Matt Windle is currently still executive technical director at Lotus. The 49-year-old is now moving up one place. In turn, Windle is accountable to the highest boss at Lotus: Group Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng.
The Changing of the Guard takes place at an important time for Lotus. Under Popham, a series of new models have been worked on, which should be shown to the world under the guidance of Windle. It may well be the most important chapter in decades for the brand. The Elise, Exige and Evora are calling it quits after this year, while the already unveiled hypercar Evija gets three newcomers in addition. In addition, Lotus is working with Alpine on an electrically powered A110 successor for the French brand. A Lotus twin brother may also emerge from that project. Enough to look forward to, so.