Malaysia’s Proton Holding, the parent company of Lotus, has named former CEO of the PSA Peugeot-Citroen Group Jean-Marc Gales as the new chief executive officer of its British sports car unit, approximately two years after it fired previous boss Dany Bahar over alleged misconduct.
Gales is a 51-year-old executive from Luxembourg whose resume includes several senior positions in Daimler AG, General Motors and Volkswagen AG, before running PSA between 2009 and 2012 where he restructured the sales value chain and introduced the Citroen DS lineup.
In 2012, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (“CLEPA”), where Proton says, he “established a lobbying strategy with the European Parliament and European Commission, and helped define the Industry Research & Innovation Strategy and Roadmap for 2025”.
At Lotus, he takes over the seat of current Chief Operating Officer of Group Lotus plc Aslam Farikullah, who will remain as Member of the Board of Lotus Cars Limited.
Proton CEO Dato’ Abdul Harith Abdullah made the following statement about Gales:
“This is an exciting time for Lotus, and Jean-Marc’s appointment could not have come at a more appropriate time, especially taking into account our plans for Lotus. We believe that with his strong technical and managerial expertise and leadership, Jean-Marc will be able to drive the Lotus transformation plan and further enhance Lotus’ business and capabilities.”
By John Halas
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