Lotus CEO Suspended

DRB-Hicom Bhd, the Malaysian owner of Group Lotus plc, has temporarily suspended Lotus CEO Dany Bahar for unspecified complaints about his conduct. The action followed an operational review of the company by outside consultants.

DRB-Hicom bought a controlling stake in Malaysia's struggling Proton Holdings Bhd carmaker, which owns Lotus, in January. Media reports since then have suggested that the British sports car maker which hasn't made a profit in at least 15 years likely will be sold.

But after Bahar's suspension on May 25, Proton stated that DRB-Hicom does not intend to sell the British company. Bahar joined Lotus from Ferrari in 2009 and has spearheaded a plan to add at least five new models and quadruple the company's annual sales to 8,000 units or more by about 2015.

Proton and DRB-Hicom say they are reviewing Group Lotus' finances and business plan. Bloomberg News says the companies hired consulting firm KPMG to evaluate Lotus.

Last year Bahar told Autocar that Lotus would need more financial help than Proton could provide to expand its lineup and pay for the cost of meeting global emission and safety regulations. The company secured a 270 million (€338 million) loan a year ago to help pay for some of its product development.