Geely Man Becomes New CEO of Lotus

Lotus Cars CEO Jean-Marc Gales has stepped down with immediate effect, and will be succeeded by Feng Qingfeng, vice president and chief technical officer of Geely Auto Group.

Gales, who left due to personal reasons, will become the Chief Strategic Advisor to Lotus Chairman, Daniel Donghui Li in a part-time role, and also join UK-based classic car dealer and restorer JD Classics as the new CEO.

According to Daniel Donghui Li, chief financial officer of Geely Holding and Lotus Cars chairman, Gales 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, in just 3 years.

“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,” he added.

Feng, the newly appointed CEO of Lotus Cars 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.”

Group Lotus sold 1600 sports vehicles last year, which was an increase of 10% versus 2016. 2017 was also the year the company made profit for the first time in history.