Future of Lotus

[C8RKH]

I wonder about two things top do with the below:

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/blog/the-porsche-718-gts-bombshell--ph-footnote/41676

1. Have Lotus and Geely woken up to this?
 

2. Could this be a future purchase for me in Convertible Boxster form?  (no matter how much shocked you think you are, I guarantee you will never be as shocked as me for writing that!)

[blindside]

36 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

Could this be a future purchase for me in Convertible Boxster form?  (no matter how much shocked you think you are, I guarantee you will never be as shocked as me for writing that!)

😓 No, please no.........

 

[The Pits]

You have to hope that Lotus are paying attention to the car maker they aspire to emulate. If so it should help the improve the chances of future 6 cylinder, manual sports cars no end.

Can't see who would go for a new 6 cyl GTS when the choice is between saving a lot on a used 981 or spending a bit more for a GT4 but 4 cyl Cayman sales really must have been dire for Porsche to reverse their plans. Pretty dumb if you ask me to take away your car's USP in the first place but there you go.

[100th_Idiot]

21 hours ago, C8RKH said:

I wonder about two things top do with the below:

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/blog/the-porsche-718-gts-bombshell--ph-footnote/41676

1. Have Lotus and Geely woken up to this?
 

2. Could this be a future purchase for me in Convertible Boxster form?  (no matter how much shocked you think you are, I guarantee you will never be as shocked as me for writing that!)

Isn't this Porsche waking up to the market and Lotus by acknowledging that their 4 cyl sojourn was a mistake?

[NedaSay]

I think it is fair to say that Porsche is also producing new EV vehicleS that do allow them to offset  a fair chunk of their CAFE obligations... And with their people carriers doing their job - the Cayenne hybrid is selling like hot cakes and the Macan upcoming EV version will assuredly do the same as the Taycan - they are now free to go back to 6cyl. I think they also noticed that in terms of emissions and fuel consumption a tuned to kingdom come turbo 4cyl is much more stressed than a NA 6cyl, the gains are not massive if they ever are gains when you try to get high HPs. Hence the decision to leave it at 4 liter cap, this mill a detuned GT3 mill, less stress, less emission and slightly nicer on gas than the GT4 so CAFE acceptable now that they have EV.   

Hopefully the upcoming  Lotus ICE sportcar has been package protected to receive both a V6 and a 4cyl. I can see how a 4cyl can serve a purpose as an entry level model while the V6 would still have the top end role to play. There is a rational to  bring  a new V6 sport car to market as there is a rational to bring a 4 cyl and and EV.  Hopefully the powers that be  are fully aware of this.

[The Pits]

V6 car was an attempt to get something to market sooner. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if they canned it only to see what Porsche announced last week!

SUVs are considered to be the largest contributor to the increase in transport emissions since 2010. The tide could well turn against them (fossil fuel ones anyway), just as Lotus bring theirs out. Seems to me Lotus should be paying more attention to what’s going on in the world then what’s going on in Stuttgart.

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, The Pits said:

V6 car was an attempt to get something to market sooner. Wouldn’t be at all surprised if they canned it only to see what Porsche announced last week!

SUVs are considered to be the largest contributor to the increase in transport emissions since 2010. The tide could well turn against them (fossil fuel ones anyway), just as Lotus bring theirs out. Seems to me Lotus should be paying more attention to what’s going on in the world then what’s going on in Stuttgart.

More environmental impact from having your heating on for too long and too warm in the UK than from cars, SUVs included.  Cars are but a tiny problem of the global issues facing us yet are seen by the "environmentalist eco warriors" as an easy target.

Just recently we had a group of "young activists" climbing up the oil platforms docked in Dundee in protest. Wee middle class twits protesting about the environmental impact. Then it seems they were all "dropped" off by the mummies and daddies in their 4x4 RangeRovers and then picked up again in the same.  It's about time these complete and utter wasters were called out for the oxygen thieves and hypocrites they really are.

Lotus should not look at Stuttgart, it should focus on building the cars it's customers want to buy. Even at future atmospheric sales of 10,000 cars per annum the environmental footprint of Lotus compared to any major manufacturer will be tiny. Insignificant even as their total annual output would be the equivalent of a day of the others (even Porsche makes about 7000 cars per day)

[swindon_alan]

 

[The Pits]

Transport accounts for around 30% of carbon emissions as I'm sure everyone here knows. Transport emissions have continued to increase over the last 10 years despite the introduction of 5m electric cars and many more hybrids. The rise of SUV sales is considered to be a significant contributor to the continued rise, not hard to believe when the average family car is now in excess of 2 tons.

Regardless of anyone's personal views, conspiracy theories or wishful thinking on climate science it is a huge and unavoidable issue for car makers. The government is now considering bringing forward the current plans to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2035. If they move it to 2030, you can all do the maths. In light of that, going full electric for Evija was a no brainer. It may struggle in Valkyrie's shadow as a 2020 hypercar (along with everything else) but it makes a lot sense as a concept to pave the way forwards for future Lotus cars. 

[swindon_alan]

@C8RKH conversation with brainwashed twenty something middle class daughter:

"The government don't want us to use cars"

"You will never get people to give them up, it is too convenient"

"Don't you want to save the planet?"

"Ok, tell you what, you make a start. Scrap your car and walk to work or get the bus"

"No way, they would take me about an hour, I can drive in fifteen"

It's always about other people having to make changes, which is N/A to those demanding them.

[C8RKH]

@swindon_alan - yup. Have had similar conversations.

I was presenting on a 2030 vision for energy & utilities last week and one guy proudly jumped up and said he had an EV. I asked him why he paid roughly twice the price of a comparable car in petrol or diesel. He said it was an easy decision as the car is very fast, eco friendly and he wanted to do his bit for his children.

I asked him if he had researched before buying. Yes, he proudly spouted all the literature bluff re how green it was.

I told him he had missed my point, the research was around how eco friendly the car was. He looked puzzled. So I asked him what he knew about cobalt, lithium and rare earth metals and the damage the mining does? I asked him what would happen when his battery died as currently we have no volume commercial processes for recycling them. Pointed out we were creating an environmental time bomb from a growing mountain of batteries. Etc etc.

He didn't seem too bothered.

[swindon_alan]

Nope, NHP again. Not his problem. Renewables are the same, solar panels with their horrid contents, wind turbines that slaughter birds (how eco friendly).

 

[swindon_alan]

A real world example of the above. We had a six turbine wind farm installed a few miles away from us a few years back to the massive celebrations of the local greenies.

Today it is very cold, tonight it will get down to below zero around these parts. The air pressure is around the highest I have ever seen, 1050mb, which means a high is overhead.

I've just driven past the wind turbines, of course there is no wind, no blade movement and no contribution to what must be a high energy requirement situation.

Rubbish.

[The Pits]

And the relevance of this to the future of Lotus is....?

[NedaSay]

Slightly more related : https://www.europeanceo.com/profiles/phil-popham-is-helping-lotus-get-into-gear/

The latest piece on Popham... Is it me or Popham gets more press than the company itself... And it is more of the same all the time ; still talking about Vision 80, getting the company into gear and still no info on product other than Evija and the fact Lotus will go where it hase never been before. Just so we're clear that means SUV and luxury sedans even if Popham said himself to EDP a few weeks ago... Hello smoke screens!

 

Do we know if Lotus is attending Geneva this year? It would make sense to showcase Evija to the public and not just the happyfew.

Edited January 20, 2020 by NedaSay

[Bibs]

I don't believe that Lotus will be in Geneva this year. 

[NedaSay]

8 minutes ago, Bibs said:

I don't believe that Lotus will be in Geneva this year. 

Shanghai?!

[C8RKH]

3 hours ago, The Pits said:

And the relevance of this to the future of Lotus is....?

The relevance is in whether you follow the herd or do what you believe is right. Hmm. What would Colin have done?  Me thinks he would have found his own, different path....

[Stubox]

This is Lotuses 72nd year so I suspect the awaiting masses will need to brace themselves for some 72nd anniversary special models dressed in the F1 Lotus 72 colours of red and gold?

You would also hope there would be something at Goodwood ‘for the drivers’ , or at least maybe ‘for the dealers’ to help move the current stock and maintain sales through to the ‘new’  product, because  without an energised and robust dealer network you’re fubarred, 

Or maybe we just settle for a new font ? 

[The Pits]

It’s OK folks Uday Senapati’s ‘incredible 2019’ included ‘reviving sales of the current range’. The ‘brand is back on track’ already thanks to their amazing marketing activities too. Phew, what a relief, I thought  for a minute there it was just some more empty sound bites from Phil Popham. Did he mention Lotus DNA again by any chance? 🙄

[C8RKH]

The wheel was an incredible invention because we had nothing before it.

Bit like Uday's 2019? To be fair, not been much to shout about outside of the Evija.

[The Pits]

If they have revived sales of the current range it wasn't in the UK. Desperate times for the UK dealers currently. We've lost Leven already, I fear more will follow. Hate to see Uday's idea of a tough year!

[stephenwhyte]

11 minutes ago, The Pits said:

We've lost Leven already, I fear more will follow. Hate to see Uday's idea of a tough year!

Leven has been bought by the Cambria Group so in reality the future of Lotus in Scotland is actually brighter than it was. To be fair though Leven actually did a good job with their Lotus site. It was their other sites that caused their downfall sadly😢

[Neal H]

I had a ‘marketing’ email from Lotus last week. First one ever. Progress?

[Spinney]

I’ve been a Lotus customer many, many times since the late 1960’s but I’ve never once received any marketing communication from them. 😤

Mercedes, on the other hand....................