Lotus Appoints Matt Windle As New Company Managing Director

Lotus Cars has appointed ex-engineering director Matt Windle as its new managing director, succeeding Phil Popham who will step down from his position as CEO.

Windle, 49, who has more than 30 years of experience in the automotive field, started working at Lotus as CAD designer in 1998, before moving on to other companies, such as Caterham, Volvo, and Tesla. He rejoined Lotus in 2017, and as part of his new role, he will lead the British automaker into its next chapter.

“It is an honor to be appointed managing director of Lotus”, Windle said. “Of the many manufacturers I have worked with over the years, Lotus has been the one closest to my heart. I have a history with the company dating back more than 20 years, and I really know my way around the business. This period since 2018 has been the most exciting of my career and the scale of the global opportunity ahead of us is both inspiring and all-consuming.”

Welcoming Windle as the new Lotus chief, Popham, who will remain with the firm until the end of March 2021 to aid with the transition, said: “Matt is an excelling fit for the senior leadership role at Lotus. He has been an excellent colleague to me since I joined the company, and is a popular and very effective member of the Lotus Executive team. He’s a long-standing ‘Lotus Man’ and I’m proud to welcome him as my successor. We will continue to work closely together in the coming weeks as I hand over the reins and pass the baton on to the next phase of the Lotus story.”

Under the new leadership, Lotus will continue its plan of completing the Evija. Windle will supervise the development of the electric hypercar, which uses four electric motors that generate over 2,000 HP. The exotic machine needs under 3 seconds to sprint to 62 mph (100 km/h), has a 200+ mph (320+ km/h) top speed and an estimated range of 250 miles (400 km).

Windle will also see the completion of the new sports car, known internally as the Type 131. Both models will be put together at the new factories in Lotus’ Hethel, UK headquarters.