New Lotus family is coming

Four new models for revamped brand will see reborn Seven, Esprit, plus two hybrids.

Auto Express Car Reviews

The Seven, Esprit and hybrid Coupe (pictured left to right) will be joined by a four-door hybrid Panamera rival at the Paris Motor Show.

Text: Michael Taylor / Photos: Poblete

26th July 2010

British legend Lotus is turning its back on the past and planning a bold new future!

Sources have confirmed that the company will use October’s Paris Motor Show to unveil four new concepts – which will break new ground for a brand known for lightweight, economical sports machines.

The Seven is reborn

First to hit production in early 2012 will be a modern take on the Lotus Seven – a move which could ultimately prove the biggest risk of them all. Sources claim the car is heavier and more comfort- oriented than the original – and even runs such performance-sapping measures as air-con.

And in a potential source of embarrassment for a firm so proud of its engineering expertise, the car was not even conceived, designed or developed at its HQ in Hethel, Norfolk. Instead, the front-engined, rear-wheel-drive, open-top model will be heavily based on an aborted Spanish sports concept, thought to be the IFR Aspid, and may even be built in Spain. A high price of £60,000 will put it directly in the firing line for models such as the Porsche Cayman S and Audi’s RS5.

A new Esprit for 2012

The second, and most talked-about, concept will be the reborn Esprit, also due in 2012. The rear-drive supercar has been an on-again, off-again project at Lotus for more than six years, and was put on hold by former CEO Mike Kimberley to fast-track the Evora programme that was judged to be more urgent.

The mid-engined V8 turbo supercar will shun expensive materials such as carbon fibre in favour of bonded aluminium. This brings weight penalties, although it should help keep the price to a minimum.

Two new hybrids

Yet the big surprise at Paris will be a pair of heavyweight, front-engined hybrids – a four-door hatch in the style of the Porsche Panamera and a two-door coupé. Both will use the modular chassis that debuted in the Evora 414E concept at March’s Geneva show. They are expected to use hybrid powertrains based around the Lotus-developed three-cylinder unit, which has been designed to act as a range-extender in electric cars.

As a consequence of this wholesale change in philosophy, the firm has already committed to ditching its entire European dealer network. Lotus informed all of its Continental and UK showrooms via legal letter last week that their contracts would be terminated in two years.

Some understandably disgruntled dealers have since expressed concerns that the concept-car onslaught in Paris will take the brand away from its roots.

Before the raft of new models arrives, Euro V emissions rules will spell the end of the Toyota 1.8-litre supercharged unit used in the Exige and Elise – although this won’t affect the 136bhp 1.6 Elise or 3.5-litre V6 Evora. Further threatening the bottom line, Lotus’s production contract with Tesla expires at the end of this year.

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13 Comments

Lotus are mad

Who will pay £60k for a Seven and the hybrids are a waste of space. When will Lotus learn to stick to their knitting?

By hywelt1 on 3 August, 2010, 9:17am

£60,000 for a 7? Are you serious? That will be a VERY short queue.

By lairdfp on 3 August, 2010, 9:18am

"British legend"
i don't think so.

By toycollector on 3 August, 2010, 9:42am

Whilst even 30k is too much for a Seven,air con in a vehicle that small is an absolute necessity, living here in Rome it's almost unthinkable to drive my MX5 with the roof down after 9 oclock in the morning during the summer months.

By malrdaw on 3 August, 2010, 12:01pm

An education for toycollector

An education for toycollector who questioned Lotus as a "British Legend"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Cars

By billylabonga on 3 August, 2010, 12:49pm

Nice bit of photoshopping by autoexpress

By koupekid on 3 August, 2010, 1:14pm

Arreviderci Lotus?

Are Lotus about to go out with a bang? Only time will tell. Colin Chapman must be turning in his grave :(

By sgtgrash on 4 August, 2010, 1:38am

Shunning its history

This smacks of funding problems to me. An out scourced design for the seven? for 60k? sounds like a slow death. Purists want an in house seven, cheaper, with most of the originals DNA. Hopefully, The Esprit will fare alot better. Looks like they are looking to take on the better equipped competition, losing some of the raw edginess that Lotus kept to, when weight was the number 1 enemy. I hope they strike the right balance here, and also keep the price sensible, in light of the competition ( no pun intended).

By pocketpiston on 4 August, 2010, 11:55am

Hello?

If you want a Seven, there's two companies producing them much better than this. £60k for a car that is a poor copy of the original, albeit wearing the right badge... is a bodge.

As for electric - when a Tesla gets a pasting from the media you know you're wasting R&D following that.

The only car shown here that has a future is the white Elise. Many would be happy to have this 'scaled down Lambo' which actually looks very nice.

Keep it simple and do what you do well - Lotus was good at that.

By craiglife on 9 August, 2010, 11:22am

Mike Taylor, Your Having a Laugh

Are you sure you didn't mean £60K for an Esprit ?. Now that is more believable.

By LANMAN on 20 August, 2010, 12:04am

The begining for the end for Lotus.

Lotus should be trying to emulate Apple only for cars rather than trying to become the next TVR.

Watch this space but not for much longer !!!

By the2beard on 21 August, 2010, 2:19pm

For those saying a 60k Seven wont sell then how about the £115k Caterham Levante that sold out instantly?
Not saying I agree with a 60k Seven but saying it won't sell just because you won't buy is insane. The design wasn't outsourced - it was an independant company that fell into trouble and Lotus appears to have bought the design.

The problem with the Esprit market is that in the 80k+ Supercar arena toys are everything where as in the esprit days sports cars were generally less equiped making it more acceptable for the Esprit to lag behind. There's only so much you can do before resorting to carbon and then the costs shoot up. Personally if the new Esprit can compete with the Audi R8 then it'll be a success - thats the car it needs to be priced at and to beat.

By Ads_Green on 28 August, 2010, 7:13am

Fingers crossed

The 'reborn' seven idea is terrible - why pay 60K when Caterham and Westfield have developed this model as far as it can be for a fraction of the price? And why use a foreign design for such a lotus icon?
I'm not sure about the hybrid idea - but I suppose some expertise could be used from their links with Toyota and Tesla.
As for the Esprit, I'm a bit biased here as I fell in love with James Bond's Esprit when I was a kid. The concept looks fantastic but can Lotus really pull off a supercar in terms of the reliability and build quality modern car buyers expect? I hope so as we all know the car will be fantastic to drive.
Fingers crossed things work out for a Brit car manufacturer with such a great heritage.

By gavsmit on 16 September, 2010, 8:11pm

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Pictures

New Lotus family is coming