Lotus’ new CEO Dany Bahar may be seen as an amateur in the industry, but the man now has 20 months as the head of Lotus under his belt and is looking to make some big moves.

Bahar, who quit his top marketing job at Ferrari in 2009 to become CEO of Lotus Cars, has embarked on an ambitious program to greatly expand and revamp Lotus’ product portfolio. He is looking to reposition the brand as a competitor to Porsche with a target of annual sales around 6,000-8,000 by 2015.

So how is Bahar going to do this and what are the big moves we’re talking about? At a recent roundtable discussion with journalists, Bahar said that Lotus cannot develop the range of cars that meet emissions and crash regulations on its own. He is considering linking up with a global automaker, such as Toyota, through an alliance or even a sale. Separately, Bahar said that Lotus could be spun off and publicly traded.

In the meantime, Bahar said that Lotus continues to work on its range of premium sports cars that were shown at the 2010 Paris Motor Show in concept form. Also in the works is a tiny city car and a luxury sedan that would compete with the Porsche Panamera.

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- By: Omar Rana

Source: Inside Line