Future of Lotus

[tim_marra]

Autocar scaping the barrel again. The image looks like that matchbox car from a few years ago.

[jonwat]

Danny must be so proud. 

[Spinney]

4 hours ago, Jeanvm said:

Hello?? plans to launch a £2 million-plus electric hypercar who's going to pay that? I have to rob a bank or become a friend of dubious men.

My problem is I’ve spent far too long being friends with dubious women. That’s obviously where I’ve been going wrong!😂

[AK70]

Well, interesting move.... electric hypercar to catch the attention, than bring an SUV somewhere  

a  n  d

for the rest of us, the only real news  a new Evora (maybe named Esprit?! )  Exciting news this is.. 😉

So no new Elise or Exige in the foreseeable future or forever.

 

 

[scotty435]

I am bored, missing the weekly special editions at least it gave people something to moan about 🤐

[Nathan Pitman]

1 hour ago, AK70 said:

So no new Elise or Exige in the foreseeable future or forever.

Or... if it ain’t broke and the people still want a sub set of cars which are raw?Maybe they are just going to leave the Elise and Exige as they are and keep iterating on what clearly still has appeal. 

[Spinney]

That’s an interesting point about regular announcements of special editions or updated models. Since being interested in a new McLaren earlier this year, before settling on the Evora, it seems a month doesn’t go by without I receive another email from them announcing something new. Of course they aren’t all entirely new, most being an update or revamp of an existing model. 

My point being it doesn’t seem McLaren get continual moaning or negative comments from their fan base so I’m not sure quite why Lotus do. Ok I’m well aware we need some entirely new models as soon as is practical but at least JMGs regular announcements kept the brand alive and ticking over, albeit in a small way and it did give us fans something to talk about. 

I would like to think that in time, Lotus will be just as proactive, in terms of marketing, as McLaren are with their fan base. 

 

[C8RKH]

5 hours ago, Nathan Pitman said:

That front cover alone is demonstration of that.

Yeah but that yellow suppository on the front cover looks totally shite!  Sorry, but looks like a cheap Hot Wheels car from the bargain basket in Pennyland...

In fact is this Hot Wheels car not the same one with photoshopped mirrors, roof and spoiler? Even the wheels are the same lol!  

[tim_marra]

That's the model I was thinking of, not by matchbox as I said above . Well remembered Andy.

[KAS-118]

I agree - that concept looks 🤮

Whereas this one looks ❤️

....oh 😳

 

[NedaSay]

Bugatti Chiron rival!? it will take a whole lot of carbon fiber and a propulsion system that is as good as the Bugatti and probably the new Tesla roadster which will be mush cheaper.

Is it just me or is this thing an utter fluff piece, the only thing I'd like to see here is an interview of the Phil Popham with a roadmap. But Lotus is not really big on roadmap. JMG had one and did not quite follow it, he delivered some products early (3Eleven) while other never went into production (Evora roadster) and some were a no no until they became a yes (Exige 430 Cup). But we sort knew we where getting at least one variant per model per year if not more.  

 

 

[C8RKH]

3 hours ago, tim_marra said:

That's the model I was thinking of, not by matchbox as I said above . Well remembered Andy.

Lol, I still play with it hahaha!

[Jeanvm]

2 hours ago, KAS-118 said:

I agree - that concept looks 🤮

Whereas this one looks ❤️

....oh 😳

 

totally agree, give me thousands pictures of this and I don't get bored .

[mdavies]

Mostly been said, but my twopence worth.  For a top end model to function as a halo, surely it has to have some traceability, however diffuse, to the range they actually expect people to buy. Even if this Omega actually gets built of sale, surely it fails, an irrelevance in that respect?

I will not be surprised if it emerges only as a technology demonstrator, a "proof of engineering capability", in tiny numbers for a few museums; potentially "held awaiting the next generation of batteries” to extend its 130 mile range - driven carefully, else 65 miles - before being released.

Even if in its own terms it is “successful” - how judged? - it could bring scorn from competitors: What’s the problem, Lotus, afraid to do something real world to compete with the high end models of McLaren/Ferrari/specialists. Hiding behind barely/not there tech, and £2.5 million a throw?

Unimpressed.

[geartox]

6 hours ago, Nathan Pitman said:

Or... if it ain’t broke and the people still want a sub set of cars which are raw?Maybe they are just going to leave the Elise and Exige as they are and keep iterating on what clearly still has appeal. 

I hope so. raw, real, light and fast. 

[tim_marra]

2 hours ago, C8RKH said:

Lol, I still play with it hahaha!

Well confessed. What about the toy car though? 

[NedaSay]

7 hours ago, Nathan Pitman said:

Or... if it ain’t broke and the people still want a sub set of cars which are raw?Maybe they are just going to leave the Elise and Exige as they are and keep iterating on what clearly still has appeal. 

Leaving the Elise and Exige as they are is pretty much dooming them to sell in very small numbers. It is not wrong per say but for the sake of generating a profit for the company, I would rather have them both being brought into "modernity" using a shorten VVA platform, still keeping them raw, but eligible to be sold worldwide. Evora can get to 1250kg with a V6 deleting the V6 and replacing it by a 4cyl would save almost a 100 kg, while a shorten car would be essentially lower mass and using cast alloys would save another chunk of weight, essentially that car would be easily sub 1000kg. I believe that was JMG's plan ; with the Exige being worked on first and the Elise coming farther down the road, while at the top end, the Esprit would follow or predate the new Exige launch and slot above the Evora. From what I understood the evora, like the elise was set to remain in production a little while longer.

Then there were talks about two new sports car in aluminium and a full carbon halo car... I thought at the time that the two new sportcars were Exige and Esprit, and the carbon car could be a new extreme take on the "Eleven" moniker... After all the Eleven has mostly been a racecar first.

Now asking  £2m for a super exclusive track car, It's been done before. We are talking of a super limited production run. but this  £2m thing will have to justify its hypercar status. They will need to get the thing exactly on point in terms of chassis, body (easy enough) and powertrain (Drive-E Hybrid V8 or Tesla roadster level of EV propulsion system?) all the while respecting the ethos of what is a Lotus and going after a crowd that has only heard meh to terrible stuff about the company.

Regardless I hope it doesn't look like that Autocar render. 

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by NedaSay

[Spinney]

Don’t worry, Autocar are notorious for getting their ‘artists impressions’ of future cars wildly wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised if even Lotus themselves have no idea yet how it might look so Autocar certainly wouldn’t know. 

[Likuid]

11 hours ago, NedaSay said:

 

Regardless I hope it doesn't look like that Autocar render. 

 

I wouldn't worry about that. Its obvious the matchbox car concept they released years ago. I remember seeing this drawing then. They probably just Googled "lotus concept". Either that or asked Lotus for a futuristic looking concept and they just gave them that.

[NedaSay]

Like it or not the future is coming 

This spy shot would be of a Lynk & Co SUV Coupé but hum it could just as well be a pic of the Lotus SUV disguised as a Lynk & Co or more likely the Lynk & Co sibling of the upcoming Lotus SUV. 

Click for more conjecture and picture:https://www.carscoops.com/2018/11/lynk-cos-latest-prototype-stylish-suv-coupe/ 

Edited November 25, 2018 by NedaSay

[lotuscar]

Welcome...

[clivef38]

That looks sooo different to all the others.  LOL

[jonwat]

This week's Autocar has articles on 70 years of Lotus & Exige S2 buying guide.  

[au-yt]

For my 2 cents worth,The new Esprit will be the car they release alongside the SUV

I make this observation on the fact that the Evora has only just gone into the US market and they need to recoupe the investment on homologation.

My guess Mr Geely didn’t buy a stake in Daimler Benz for no other reason than for there engine tech. So my guess is Esprit will be a hybrid with Mercedes Twin Turbo some thing and integrated electric motors.

[Steffen_Leitgeb-LSWGmbh]

Pininfarina also shows an E supercar and they want to start production and sales of E supercars from now on.
Out of that I expect the 1000 hp+ e-power package and its drivetrain is available from some company and Lotus should do fine developing a chassis and body which works well.
So the 2 mio GBP supercar as a trackday car should be relatively easy to achieve. It will boost the image of Lotus, helps massively on communication, introduces Lotus cars to many new customers.
This will be positive for all Lotus owners and for the actual Lotus sales too. I am very positive about such an idea - even it sounds mad first. But it is a perfect PR tool.