Five years after the debacle set into motion by then CEO Dany Bahar, Lotus is finally beginning to find its footing again. Bahar stood in front of a crowd of journalists at the 2010 Paris Motor Show and introduced five new models, all of which ended up as vaporware. Soon after, Bahar was politely asked to leave and Lotus has been pretty stagnant ever since.
Current Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales has been at the helm for about nine months now, and during a recent chat with our friends at Top Gear, he laid out long- and short-term plans for Lotus that offer good reason to be optimistic about the future of the company.
In the short term, and on the heels of the recently unveiled Evora 400, Gales says Lotus will introduce an Evora Roadster, which should be sales booster, in about two years. The Evora’s sophisticated aluminum platform still has plenty of life left in it, and it will also spawn a few new track-oriented derivatives. "The Evora tub meets regulations until 2020 and we will likely stay with aluminum beyond that,” Gales told Top Gear. “It’s similar weight and strength to carbon fiber but one-third of the cost."
Gales says there’s also been a decent amount of demand for a successor to the 2-Eleven track-day car. He promises the new car will be both lighter and more powerful. Using the same 400 horsepower V-6 from the Lotus 400 and weighing less than 2,000 pounds, he promises it will be the fastest road car around the Nürburgring. You definitely can’t accuse the guy of not being ambitious.
Continue reading to learn more about Lotus’ future models.
Lotus Plans Evora Roadster And 2-Eleven Successor originally appeared on topspeed.com on Thursday, 26 February 2015 11:00 EST.
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