HETHEL, England — Lotus reportedly has approved for production a new performance flagship model, known internally as Esprit, with projected specific output on par with that of the Audi R8 V10.
The previous-generation Esprit was phased out of production five years ago, leaving a gap in the Lotus product portfolio above the recently launched Evora.
According to Britain's Autocar magazine, the new Esprit — which may be given a different name — is intended to boost Lotus's brand image and status and is part of new CEO Dany Bahar's seven-year strategic plan for the company.
The basic building blocks of Bahar's strategy are the four-cylinder Lotus models: Exige, Elise and Europa. The Evora will be slotted above, with the new Esprit at the top of the pyramid as "the ultimate expression of the brand," according to Autocar.
The publication said Lotus is working on eight hybrid and electric vehicle projects for other manufacturers and is pitching the Evora platform as well in a package it calls the versatile vehicle architecture, or VVA.
Inside Line says: Lotus is willing to custom-tailor the Evora architecture or develop a bespoke platform, as it has done for Tesla. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent
Add A Comment »