After almost a decade on this site, one thing that hasn’t stopped bothering me from day one, is when some individuals purposely fail to comprehend what we write and say merely to hide the truth by discrediting us. This happened with Bulleta Motors and its co-founder Mr. Ferris Rezvani who repeatedly chose to cherry pick words to create his own sentences, reality and his own meanings from our texts.
What had happened is that we were contacted by the only official authority to tell us whether Mr. Rezvani and his company had an agreement with Lotus for the supply and use of the Evora for their RF22 model, and which of course, is Lotus, with the company’s spokesperson repeatedly answering ‘no’.
The title of our piece was, “Lotus Says Bulleta RF22 is “Vapor” or In Other Words, BS“, not “Carscoops’ says Bulleta RF22 is “Vapor” or In Other Words, BS”.
Mr. Rezvani wasn’t even aware that Lotus Cars USA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lotus Cars Ltd. and tried to dish Mr. Kevin Smith’s statements and even his position as a press representative of the automaker in the States.
Now, Mr. Rezvani has changed his tune and he is talking about building the car not on new Evoras sourced from Lotus, but from the used car market.
Here’s his latest email to Carscoops:
“I think what the reason this story got out of control is because carscoops doesn’t understand that one does not need to get the chassis directly from lotus to make a coach built car. there are many advantages for not procuring direct just as Hennessy did not go direct. So when Kevin smith of lotus US says he hasn’t heard of us and carscoops calls us BS – that’s a big reach. you and your readers need to be educated and understand that once a buyer buys a car they can do what they want with it AKA coach building. We may or may not buy direct, but this has no impact on the RF22.”
Mr. Rezvani, Carscoops understands that, and it never questioned that you can buy a used Evora and use it to build the RF22 – we truly wish you the best of luck in your efforts. What we questioned was whether Bulleta Motors had an agreement with the official Lotus car company, and as it turns out, it did not. What Mr. Rezvani did is talk to a third party (not Lotus) to try to contact Lotus on their behalf. There were no negotiations – unless Mr. Rezvani means that he told a third party he’d like to buy Evoras from the factory, and that’s considered a negotiation.
Bypassing Mr. Rezvani’s dishonorable attempt at commenting in our posts using fake names (which we discovered through the use of common IP Addresses) to create distraction and slyly push readers into his way of thinking while also trying to discredit our site, he said “We work directly with lotus UK” and “We are currently in negotiations with Lotus UK on configuration setup”. Well, I talked to a Lotus representative multiple times and I can tell you that nothing of the sort ever happened.
Here’s another statement from Mr. Rezvani sent to Motorward, where he blames Mr. Smith and Carscoops again, while changing the facts of the story:
“As a coachbulider we have several options for procuring the chassis. 1) we can purchase directly from the factory – dealing with lead times, restrictions, legal registration complexities etc. or 2) just buy the car and do what we want like hennesy did with the Venom GT – allowing freedom flexibility of parts procurement.
We had just started talks directly with Lotus UK when Mr. Kevin Smith of Lotus US, being completely out of the loop started his “vapor” talk and carscoops looking for contraversy started publishing that the car is fake without ever contacting us. At no time did we ever claim that we would be procurring chassis directly from Lotus. Selling more chassis would be a great move for financially challenged lotus struggling with low Evora Sales. There is currently no agreement with Lotus UK but we did have a request to Lotus for pricing to see if it makes sense for us. However buildig the RF22 doesn’t require us to buy direct. Coach builders can buy a car and have the freedom to customize or modify as they wish. This has been the 100 year history of coach building.
I think there is some education that’s needed for those who are not familiar with the art of coach building. we have one RF22 pre sold and working on the second. The controversy has been great as it’s caused a lot of interest and people visiting our site.”
Let me repeat the highlighted part mentioned in Mr. Rezvani’s statement: “At no time did we ever claim that we would be procurring chassis directly from Lotus”. Here’s where an “oh, really” seems to be the appropriate response because that’s precisely what Bulleta Motors’ other co-founder, Ramtin Haghighi, claimed in a posting on LotusTalk, and I quote:
“Allen, At this point we are offering the car as a bulleta not a transformed lotus into a bulleta. We will be getting the chassis from lotus with VIN numbers. They are not stripped down Evora’s. The kit Car exemptions will help us skip the CARBS issues so yes they will be street legal.”
Before we let you go, one of two or three people that read our “unknown blog that nobody has ever heard of” (according to the wise words of Bulleta Motors co-founder Ramtin Haghighi), Curtiss (congratulations for being reader number four today!) told Carscoops about another ranting from Mr. Haghighi on Lotus Talk and the response he received from Kevin Smith, which you can read below.
By John Halas
From Ramtin1000 a.k.a. Ramtin Haghighi
Let me make few things clear here.
1. At no time we ever talked about any kind of partnership or arrangements with lotus cars USA or Lotus cars UK. All we said was that the car was based on an Evora chassis which was only mentioned here not on the website and not even in our press release.
2. The journalist for this unknown blog called carscoops that nobody has ever heard of until this incident decided to email Kevin Smith (PR for Lotus USA) and ask questions about partnership between Lotus and Us. I honestly don’t even know how he got the email. I’ve been trying to get his email for the past few days and nobody at the dealership wants to give it out.
3. Kevin Smith decided to comment on this without doing any kind of homework and calling it a Vapor and some student project.
4. We never thought a PR for a company like lotus would go out and start making statements to some blogger without even checking to see if we ever made any statements or allegations regarding some kind of partnership. The funny thing was that after Mr. Smith made the statement he emailed UK and found out that we made some inquiry’s by a third party a while back and in his next email to the blogger he mentioned it which got published as soon as the blogger got Kevin’s email.
5. We initially completely bypassed lotus cars usa and went directly to LCU using a third party vendor as he had more connections than we did to get some prices for buying direct.We all know how Lotus Cars USA adds a good markup to the value of the car and we just honestly tried to go to the source without getting the Lotus Cars USA involved.
6. After the first round of emails we decided to wait until the rest of the car was ready in order to reopen the talks with LCU.
7. Our third party started the process again few weeks back until this mess came out few days ago, thanks to Mr. Smith
8. I can acknowledge that the answers to those blogs by my partner was probably not best answers, but in his defense I should say emotions had played him wrong as we both have big hopes for this new car company and felt under attack by an unknown blogger and the PR for a company we are potentially using for our chassis.
9. Lastly in my thought any kind of news for lotus at this point should be valuable . This company has always been in trouble just because of things like this. Even if our company was vapor and some student project, It was still free advertising for lotus Evora. People that didn’t know the Evora now went and checked it out to see what kind of car we were using for our chassis.
KDSLotus a.k.a. Kevin Smith, Marketing & PR Communications Executive at Lotus Cars USA, INC.
ALWAYS, Please Always, Let The Facts Get In The Way Of A Good Story
This is Kevin Smith from Lotus Cars USA, Inc. While Ramtin claims he’s trying to make things “clear” with his recent 9-point post, and those before and after it, allow me to make things TRUE.
I will address each of Ramtin’s 9 points and supply you with nothing but the facts. If my following commentary comes across condescending at all it’s only because I will be totally factual, direct and as efficient as I can be in my response.
Ramtin’s Point 1) “At no time we ever talked about any kind of partnership or arrangements with lotus cars USA or Lotus cars UK. All we said was that the car was based on an Evora chassis which was only mentioned here not on the website and not even in our press release.”
FACT 1) This is an outright lie on two counts; A) Ramtin stated right on page one of this very post last Friday, 8/30 at 2:27am “We will be getting the chassis from lotus with VIN numbers.” Ramtin, you need to learn A LOT more about the automotive industry before you attempt to enter it. Lotus, nor any other manufacturer, would NEVER sell their chassis to a third party with VIN numbers on them because of the product liability exposure that would leave us open to. This would NEVER happen. B) You not only mentioned you intend to base your car on the Evora chassis here, you also have “Lotus tuned” references all over the “Specifications” section of your web site and you and your partner have repeatedly mentioned to the media that you intend to base your car on the Evora Chassis. The VERY FIRST lesson you need to learn if you want to be in the automotive (or any other) industry is DO NOT LIE because at the end of the day all you will or will not have is your credibility.
Ramtin’s Point 2) The journalist for this unknown blog called carscoops that nobody has ever heard of until this incident decided to email Kevin Smith (PR for Lotus USA) and ask questions about partnership between Lotus and Us. I honestly don’t even know how he got the email. I’ve been trying to get his email for the past few days and nobody at the dealership wants to give it out.
FACT 2) FACTS Ramtin, FACTS! The second lesson you need to learn to have a chance of succeeding in the automotive industry is be sure you have ALL your FACTS straight before you make assertions publicly. John Halas from Carscoop.com never initially contacted me, quite the contrary, I contacted John and several of the other web sites when I could no longer sit by and watch all the lies and fabrications you and your partner were spreading. Don’t bother continuing to try to figure out how to contact me, I think our lawyers will likely be in touch with you fairly soon.
Ramtin’s Point 3) Kevin Smith decided to comment on this without doing any kind of homework and calling it a Vapor and some student project.
FACT 3) Ramtin, Ramtin. FACTS man, you have to get your FACTS straight. The third lesson you need to learn to succeed in any industry, especially if you’re a PR representative for a given company, you ALWAYS, ALWAYS get all the facts first before you interact with media or anyone else. I did all of my due diligence and gathered all the FACTS I needed before ever reaching out to any of the web sites and entering into this situation. I learned the following from my Group Lotus, Lotus Cars Ltd and Lotus Racing colleagues in the UK: A) You, nor your partner, have EVER had any DIRECT contact with anyone within Group Lotus and its divisions in the UK. B) Your and your partner broke the news about your intent to build your car upon the Evora chassis last Thursday, 8/29 and claimed here on LotusTalk and elsewhere that you’d do so by acquiring Evora chassis direct from Lotus with VIN numbers(!). C) You had a third party, not affiliated in any way with Lotus, make a FIRST INQUIRY (nowhere nearing the beginning of a “negotiation”) with a mid-level Lotus employee in the UK about the possibility of purchasing Evora chassis. Let me repeat this, it’s important so it can sink in on you a little bit, you and your partner made public news about your intended car being based on the Evora chassis on Thursday, 8/29 and your third party helper made the FIRST inquiry to a mid-level Lotus UK employee FIVE DAYS LATER on Monday, 9/2! D) I’ve been in the automotive industry over 27 years and I’ve seen A LOT of wanna-be car companies come and go in that time. I refer to an intended car as VAPOR at any time up to the point where there’s at least ONE running prototype and a solid plan in place to be able to acquire all of the components to enable its production. E) I NEVER referred to your enterprise as a “student project”, that flowery prose is attributable to one of the web sites covering this non-story. Again, you MUST get your facts straight man!
Ramtin’s Point 4) We never thought a PR for a company like lotus would go out and start making statements to some blogger without even checking to see if we ever made any statements or allegations regarding some kind of partnership. The funny thing was that after Mr. Smith made the statement he emailed UK and found out that we made some inquiry’s by a third party a while back and in his next email to the blogger he mentioned it which got published as soon as the blogger got Kevin’s email.
FACT 4) FACTS RAMTIN, FACTS. Please re-read all that I’ve written directly above and then re-read your own LotusTalk post from last Friday, 8/30 at 2:27am on page one of this string. Again, so it has a chance to sink in, you claimed “We will be getting the chassis from lotus with VIN numbers” on 8/30 and your third party helper made the FIRST INQUIRY about the Evora chassis on Monday, 9/2.
Ramtin’s Point 5) We initially completely bypassed lotus cars usa and went directly to LCU using a third party vendor as he had more connections than we did to get some prices for buying direct.We all know how Lotus Cars USA adds a good markup to the value of the car and we just honestly tried to go to the source without getting the Lotus Cars USA involved.
FACT 5) Ramtin, another important lesson you need to learn to have a chance to succeed in any industry is you need to know the structure and the nomenclature of the entities you endeavor to do business with. A) Lotus Cars USA, Inc. IS “LCU”. B) It’s IMPOSSIBLE to go “directly” to (the entities you really mean at Lotus in the UK beyond LCU) while “using a third party vendor”. Using a third party vendor is the exact definition, in this case, of going indirectly. C) Lotus Cars USA, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lotus Cars Ltd. in the UK, which is a division of Group Lotus, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Proton, which is owned by DRB-Hicom. The boards of Lotus Cars Ltd., Group Lotus, Proton and DRB-Hicom expect Lotus Cars USA, Inc. to generate a profit just as EVERY business should endeavor to do. D) Ramtin, you have an awful LOT to learn about the automotive industry. Since Lotus began about 65 years ago it has invested billions of man-hours and billions of dollars in engineering and developing all of the fantastic Lotus road and racing cars that true driving enthusiasts have been able to enjoy. All of our intellectual property and investment through these several decades culminates, thus far, in the best road-going Lotus we’ve ever conceived, engineered, developed, marketed and sold – the Evora. Do you really believe we would do all of this just so we could then sell the fruits of our labor to you at a discount?!?!?! Reality is, if and/or when Lotus ever decides to supply its technology to another company we charge a hefty royalty fee on top of the price for each component we sell. Why would we want to sell you our chassis at any price, only to have you TRY to build it into a potentially lighter, more powerful and much more expensive variant of an Evora. If, and/or when Lotus decides it wants to offer a lighter and more powerful variant of the Evora, we’ll do it ourselves – thank you very much!
Ramtin’s Point 6) After the first round of emails we decided to wait until the rest of the car was ready in order to reopen the talks with LCU.
FACT 6) I assume at least you’re consistent and by “LCU” you really mean one of the divisions of Group Lotus in the UK that you’ve NEVER even had any direct contact with?
Ramtin’s Point 7) Our third party started the process again few weeks back until this mess came out few days ago, thanks to Mr. Smith
FACT 7) FACTS Ramtin, FACTS. The FACTS really do matter in this or any other industry. I didn’t start this “mess” a few days ago, you and your partner did when you infringed upon Lotus’ trademarked names and utilized Lotus’ copyrighted images on your commercial web site and shared them with the media as your own. You and your partner compounded the “mess” by spewing forth lies and fabrications and slandering a Lotus employee to anyone who would listen and/or cover it.
Ramtin’s Point 8) I can acknowledge that the answers to those blogs by my partner was probably not best answers, but in his defense I should say emotions had played him wrong as we both have big hopes for this new car company and felt under attack by an unknown blogger and the PR for a company we are potentially using for our chassis.
FACT 8) Ya think?!?! Again, a critical lesson for you to learn before participating in any industry is to be certain you have all of your FACTS straight, true and consistent before going public with anything. Also, don’t compound your shortcomings on the above by spewing forth more lies and fabrications and digging a deeper hole for yourself.
Ramtin’s Point 9) Lastly in my thought any kind of news for lotus at this point should be valuable . This company has always been in trouble just because of things like this. Even if our company was vapor and some student project, It was still free advertising for lotus Evora. People that didn’t know the Evora now went and checked it out to see what kind of car we were using for our chassis.
FACT 9) Consistency, accuracy and, thereby, credibility of message is CRITICAL for any business enterprise in any industry. Lotus has continued to survive and thrive in this hyper-competitive industry for 65 years now while hundreds if not thousands of other true and wanna-be car companies have fallen by the wayside. If by “valuable” you’re referring to infringing on Lotus’ trademarks and copyrights and spewing forth lies and fabrications about some form of business relationship you’d like to have with Lotus to try to leach off of the intellectual property and corporate equity we’ve been able to build up through billions of man-hours and dollars over the past several decades….then, nah, Bulleta Motors is NOT VERY VALUABLE TO US AT ALL. To the contrary, you and your partner’s actions over the past week have been damaging to our brand and confusing to our potential customers. Lotus certainly does NOT need your form or “free advertsising”.
I’ve been a “car guy” as long as I can remember. I grew up around cars, restoring them, racing them and earning my living through them. The unfortunate thing is, Ramtin, had I met your and/or your partner at a car show or somewhere we’d probably get along great because I have a true appreciation for and share the kind of enthusiasm you appear to have for cars (you’d have to be a car enthusiast to want to get into this crazy industry). You and your partner just have an AWFUL LOT more to learn before you should invest too much time or money trying to succeed in this industry. It’s FAR MORE COMPLEX than you or many of the participants on Lotus Talk that haven’t worked in the industry can imagine. I truly hope you’ll open your mind and take to heart my comments above and can benefit from them.
PHOTO GALLERY
