Lotus acknowledges having laid off too many employees in 2014

Matthew Carter took over at the helm of Lotus at the beginning of last year during the extensive restructuring the team underwent following Eric Boullier’s departure to McLaren.

He then embarked on a thorough reassessment of the team’s foundations in order to put the accounts of a team, which had accumulated numerous losses over previous years despite on-track successes, back in order. For instance, during the 2012 season, the Enstone team, which finished fourth in the championship, had to contend with a loss of over 75 million euros.

Close to minority shareholder Andrew Ruhan, Matthew Carter then implemented a plan for drastic staff reduction, as he admits to Autosport: « I came in and there was a huge gap between income and expenses. We implemented a very drastic cost-cutting plan, laid off many people. We reduced costs wherever we could. »

Last year, Gérard Lopez, the owner of the team, assured that this plan had no impact on the team’s operations and that the departure of nearly 90 employees was mainly linked to the change in engine regulations: « I know that some teams have 700 people. Not us. We are 470, which is still significantly more than at least half of the teams. If you look at it from the glass half-empty side, you tell yourself: “They are lost, they’ve lost so many people.” But from the glass half-full perspective, we still have more than 150 people more than the majority of the teams. So, it’s a matter of perspective. It’s probably less tumultuous from the inside than it seemed from the outside. »

But it must be acknowledged that the team experienced a disastrous year in 2014 from a sporting perspective, as they were never able to replicate the performances of 2013, where they had clearly established themselves as the second force on the grid (at least by the end of the season). The team’s CEO admits that their restructuring probably went too far: « In fact, we probably went too far last year. We cut too many heads. In hindsight, we were understaffed in the race team last year. So we didn’t have a chief race engineer. We also reduced our staff in the areas of aerodynamics and design. »

The reverse process has therefore been initiated this year, with the recruitment of new arrivals, which was facilitated by the disappearance of Caterham and Manor’s struggles to survive. Moreover, the leader also wants to rely on his program for developing young graduates that has made the team successful in the past: « Gradually, we have restocked our personnel in these areas. We have also relaunched our program for young graduates. During the Renault years, we had a good program. We moved away from it a bit from 2011 to 2013, but we have reintroduced it and have recruited some very good young engineers and aerodynamicists. From my point of view, they do not cost as much as experienced people. So it is about bringing in people while also controlling costs. »

Ultimately, Matthew Carter hopes to present a balanced or slightly deficit report, as Lotus must contend with a number of exceptional charges, including the penalty owed to Renault for terminating its contract at the end of last season.

With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr