Lotus unveiled five new models at the Paris Auto Show. What are they thinking? Drive Cult finds out.
“We’ll take you all on!” That’s what Lotus’s message seemed to be for Porsche, Aston Martin and Ferrari at the Paris Motor Show where they simultaneously unveiled five new models to be put into production over the course of the next five years.
It was a statement of intent unlike anything ever seen from Lotus. Each of the five new models is aimed directly at the biggest movers and shakers in the supercar establishment. The man behind the curtains of this grand plan is Dany Bahar, Lotus CEO and former Vice President of brand management at Ferrari. Bahar faces some pretty big obstacles, if this lineup is to become a production reality.
Lotus appears to be abandoning its core philosophy of “adding lightness” with this new lineup. The Elise name still has a place in Lotus’s plan, but it will no longer be the minimalist lightweight roadster that we know today. One the most difficult obstacles that Lotus will face will be convincing those currently loyal to the brand that this is the right direction for the company, and that Colin Chapman is not bouncing off the rev-limiter in his grave.
Another obstacle will be funding. Ever since Malaysian car company Proton purchased Lotus, they’ve remained fairly hands-off in the day-to-day operations of the company, allowing them the freedom to produce small lightweight sports car that people had a hard time getting in and out of. Now the Malaysians seem to be changing their strategy and they want to see returns on their investment. Bahar seems like a good choice to make this happen, but serious questions remain over whether or not Proton’s pockets are deep enough to actually put these cars into production.
While it may be easy to question Lotus' new direction, it's a little more difficult to fault the cars themselves. There's cohesive design language to each of them that's somehow unique and familiar all at the same time, and the small - medium - large hierarchy of the mid-engine models makes perfect sense. Lotus seems to want to offer something for everyone.
Lotus Elise
The Elise has been Lotus’s go-to car for well over a decade now, and it still has a place in Lotus’ plan, albeit in a very different way. At a hair over 2,400 pounds, the 2015 Elise will still be a lightweight by grand car-scape standards but not by Lotus standards since the current Elise is pretty much the only car you can buy today that weighs under a ton. A more well-appointed interior and additional safety features account for the extra 400 pounds.
Power will still come from a Toyota 2.0 liter four-cylinder engine and with forced induction will produce as much as 320bhp. 0-60 will come in 4.3 seconds. Lotus hopes keep the price around $55,000 which will put it in Boxster/Cayman territory.
Lotus Elan
The Elan name will see a resurrection in Lotus’s lineup, but this time it’s got the Porsche 911 in its crosshairs. Power will be provided by a mid-mounted supercharged Toyota-sourced 4.0 liter V6 producing 450bhp. Combined with a weight of 2,850 pounds, this means the Elan will hit 60 in about 3.5 seconds.
Carbon fiber will be used extensively in its construction and the properly racy cockpit will feature swathes of the stuff, along with a pair of paddles on the steering wheel shuffling a dual clutch gearbox.
The Elan will go on sale in 2013 and will cost $118,500. Lotus promises that that some sort of Kinetic Energy Recovery System will be optional, but details about this system are somewhat scarce.
Lotus Esprit
The Esprit was that car that everyone thought Lotus was going to unveil at Paris, and they were right. It just turned out that they unveiled four others along with it! The 2013 Esprit will be powered by a mid-mounted supercharged version of the 5.0 liter V8 from the Lexus IS-F which produces a healthy 620bhp.
With a 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds, a top speed over 200mph and price of $175,000, Lotus is throwing the Esprit into a big scary pond filled with Ferrari 458 Italias, Lamborghini Gallardos and McLaren MP4-12Cs. The same KERS system available for the Elan will be available for the Esprit.
Lotus Elite
Here’s where things start to go a bit haywire in Lotus’s grand scheme. The Elite is a 3,600 pound 2+2 grand tourer with a folding hardtop and is probably the most un-Lotus-like Lotus ever. Think of it as a stopgap between the Ferrari California and the Aston Martin DB9.
It’s powered by the same supercharged V8 found in the Esprit, but this time it produces 611bhp and sits behind the front axle. 0-60 comes in under four seconds and top speed should be just shy of 200 mph.
Read more about the Lotus Elite here.
Lotus Eterne
You’d have to go back to 1990 and the Lotus Carlton to find a Lotus with four doors, and that was quite a car. The Eterne, however, is a very different car to the Carlton. With this model Lotus has taken aim at the Aston Martin Rapide, Maserati Quattroporte and Porsche Panamera.
The 620bhp supercharged V8 is used again, as is the optional KERS system. All this go means that the Eterne will be quick, but a greater focus will be given to interior opulence and ride quality than to outright performance. Lotus plans to have it on sale by 2015 at a cost of $190,000.
Drive Cult Thoughts
It makes sense from a business perspective. Lotus can't afford to continue shuffling along churning out yet more Elise and Exige variants, while around them the sports car industry reinvents itself, in the face of ever-tightening safety and emissions regulations, with one-piece carbon tubs, energy regeneration systems, turbine power systems and the like. They either have to step up and become a volume manufacturer with quality products, or risk disappearing altogether, as TVR did before them.
- Martin Spain
The Elan, Esprit and Elite are all launched directly into very competitive markets with established names offering extremely good products. Entering these segments will mean virtually all of the sales will have to be conquests from the formidable likes of Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin. To make matters worse, by the time these cars actually make it to market the competition will have been reinvigorated with a new Porsche 911 for the Elan to contend with, and a new Lamborghini Gallardo and the McLaren MP4-12C for the Esprit.
- Matthew Lange
Proton have lot of cash, but you can build cars far more easily than you can build a reputation or dealer network. Also to tool up and buy materials for five models is only feasible if you can sell an awful lot of cars very quickly. What's under these new Lotuses? I bet there's only one or two chassis underpinning the range. How else could Porsche support all the variations of each of their models? I also don't think all five new cars will make it to the dealer's floor. I'd guess three or four.
- Chris Ratcliff
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