Lotus Esprit.
Matt Campbell
There will be six new Lotuses by 2017 insists company. British sports car maker Lotus says its ambitious plan to offer six all-new models over the next five years is on track.
The niche manufacturer surprised the motoring world in 2010 when it unveiled its "New Era" plan - a completely new range of models it says are destined to be introduced during the period from 2013 to 2017.
Naysayers have suggested that Lotus wouldn't be able to meet its grandiose “New Era” targets, but the UK brand’s head of public relations Alastair Florance says everything is going to plan.
“We needed to make a statement, more than just to trickle out [new concept models]. We needed to make a change and we needed it quickly. The only way we could do that was to kind of demonstrate the audacity of the New Era plan was to show off all the new cars at once.”
Lotus claims the new models will be phased in from 2013.
The V8-powered Esprit – a Ferrari 458 rival expected to start at about $300,000 – is due to go on sale in March 2013, followed by the Elite, a less hardcore 2+2 seater Grand Touring version of the Esprit, about six months after.
That car will likely be joined by the new Lotus Ethos, a city car likely to be built by Proton that is said to boast some high-tech and high-performance Lotus goodies.
In early 2015, an all-new version of the lightweight Elise and a new four-door model called the Eterne are scheduled to go on sale, with the last model, the 911-rivalling Elan super coupe, now rescheduled for a 2017 release (previously 2013).
In Australia, Lotus has been struggling from a severe downturn in sales, with just 18 vehicles being sold in the first six months of 2011. That figure was made all the more painful by a zero sales figure for the month of June, while overall sales have dropped by more than 35 per cent in comparison to 2010’s results.
The number of cars sold so far in 2011 by Lotus is two cars fewer than ultra exotic brand Lamborghini, and a staggering 52 vehicles less than Ferrari. Even luxury brand Bentley has outsold the British sports car maker with 30 sales to June 2011.
While its position in the local market has dropped off significantly, Lotus wasn’t in quite as much strife in its home country and other nations in Europe, which were showing steady sales. But when asked why Lotus needed to change so fast, Florance spoke frankly about the future of Lotus if it weren’t to keep up with its rivals.
“To survive with a small ultra-niche enthusiast car, the Elise, isn’t business-viable. It’s a car that is very successful for us volume-wise, but as a business, we haven’t really turned in a profit for the last fifteen years.”
Florance says the significant investments that have been made in the company by its Malaysian owners Proton has meant that the brand can focus on getting back up to the status and performance levels that it once enjoyed.
“In the last eighteen months, Proton have got behind the New Era plan for Lotus, and have recognised that this is the best opportunity to return Lotus to its rightful position,” he says.
“In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the way things were referenced was: Porsche; Lambo; Lotus; Bentley; Ferrari; and Aston Martin – we were all pretty much in the same boat. Great brands; great heritage; fantastic passion; superb technology. And all those brands – other than Lotus – had a huge amount of investment put in, and look where they are now,” Florance says.
“And look, Lotus was left out. But now there’s the chance, and it’s the time to return Lotus to where it was,” he says.
Florance acknowledges that putting out five all-new models will be a challenge for the brand, but he says he’s supremely confident that the brand will be able to achieve its goals.
“That’s where we’re going to – it’s happening very very quickly, but the world seems to be very receptive to where Lotus is going.”
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