Lotus Re-Launches Itself

Lotus's five-car launch of a range of sports cars spanning from 300 to 620 horsepower was one of the Paris highlights. The new cars signal Lotus's intention to reinvent itself, transforming from hardcore niche player to full-line, luxury-supercar grandee. It's a staggering turnaround plan, backed, Lotus says, by a billion-dollar investment. The new cars will be launched between mid-2012 and mid-2015.
2013 Lotus Esprit Front Three Quarters View
First down the pipe will be the 2012 Esprit, a mid-engined supercar powered by a V-8 making 550 horsepower in standard form, up to 620 in R trim. The motor is Lotus's heavy rework of the Lexus IS-F engine. The UK maker added a supercharger, and a new injection system, and revised the internals so it can rev to 8500. Direct gas injection is used for clean emissions at lower power, and at WOT it switches to port injection. Performance is claimed to match the Ferrari 458 and Porsche 911 Turbo, its key rivals. Not to mention that other new British supercar, the McLaren MP4-12C. But Lotus says it will undercut the Ferrari and McLaren because it recognizes that its brand is not as strong.
2013 Lotus Esprit Dash View
The Esprit's transmission is a seven-speed DCT, and Lotus also is working on an optional mild hybrid system. It uses regenerative braking to recharge a battery pack, and an 'e-boost' button on the steering wheel switches on an electric motor between the engine and transmission, giving a 50-horsepower helping hand. The system also allows idle-stop. The batteries are located in the structural tunnel between the seats, so the center of gravity is mostly unaffected.
As with all the cars in the new range, the Esprit utilizes Lotus's patent aluminum frame. But, for the first time in a Lotus, glass fiber is no longer used for the body panels. Instead, aluminum is used for the skin, because it gives better panel gaps and surface finish, as expected by buyers in this category. The Esprit uses carbon fiber side panels, and aluminum doors, roof, and front and rear ends. Lotus claims 3300 pounds dry weight. A convertible will be offered with standard and R engines and the hybrid.
Lotus Eterne Front View
Lotus also plans a front-engined pair of cars with the same 550/620-HP engine. The CY2014 Elite (see separate story) and CY2015 Eterne will rival the Ferrari California and Aston Martin Rapide, respectively. The two share a platform and powertrains, but the Eterne has a longer wheelbase at 196 inches overall. In both, the structure, panels, and suspension are all aluminum. The Eterne is the first four-door Lotus, and is said to be almost as spacious as a Porsche Panamera, and as good-looking as the Aston Martin Rapide.
To reinforce its low-consumption brand value, Lotus also plans hybrid options for the Elite and Eterne. But these front-engined cars will use a different system from the Esprit's. It's a full hybrid setup with an epicyclic transmission embodying two e-motors motors, and AWD. It's an adaptation of the Lexus LS600h system, showing how close the technical relationship is between Lotus and Toyota. Gas mileage is said to improve by 40 percent.
2014 Lotus Elan Front Three Quarters View
If the longitudinal V8-engined Esprit tackles the 911 Turbo, Lotus is fielding a late-2013 transverse-V6 car called the Elan as a rival for the 911 Carrera and Carrera S. It will run a 4.0-liter supercharged direct-injection version of the existing Evora engine, for 400HP (base) and 470HP (R). The Esprit's mild hybrid system will also be available on the Elan, as will a convertible body. The Elan will in effect replace the Evora, although at a higher price and power, so the Evora will continue as long as there are buyers. Lotus acknowledges that the Evora has failed to attract new fans from outside the brand, because it doesn't have the required sense of luxury, and ingress/egress difficulty is often cited by consumers who go back to Porsche.
So while the Elan uses the basic Evora tub, it will be modified for better owner convenience. Aluminum panels will help the quality impression. But Lotus insists the largely carryover chassis will maintain the Evora's frankly sublime handling, steering, and ride.
2015 Lotus Elise Front Three Quarters
The final new model is the new Elise, due in mid-2015. This one gains around 450 pounds over the present featherweight, and many thousand dollars in cost. It uses a 2.0-liter Toyota-derived four, with either supercharging or turbo-"we still have time to decide," the engineers say-for 300 (base) and 350HP (R). Porsche engineers have hinted they will do a four-cylinder Boxster next time around, so having a four-banger shouldn't handicap Lotus. And the mild hybrid system will be available in the new Elise, for class-leading economy as well as performance. The new Elise will come as a convertible and a hardtop (as will the Esprit and the Elan), aimed square at the Boxster and Cayman. But Lotus promises there will also be lightweight, bare-butt variants of the Elise to keep the track-biased hardcore buyers in the fold.
All the new models will share a digital dash, featuring a 12-inch TFT screen and virtual graphical dials and displays. Graphics will be different for the different models. In the Eterne, they will emphasize the navigation, while the Esprit driver will be able to call up track maps and a lap timer. Another shared technology across models is adaptive-damped suspension.
Each model will have a different interior, emphasizing lightweight materials in the Elise but more luxurious finishes in the Elite and Eterne.
2015 Lotus Elise Dash
So what has caused this storm of activity from the quiet little British sports-car maker? It was do or die, the management says. Owner Proton had gotten to the end of the road with Lotus' previous method of operation, which had lost money for the entire 15 years as a subsidiary.
So it engaged Dany Bahar, who had previously run sales, marketing and branding and commercial matters at Ferrari. Bahar realized that 15-20 years ago, Lotus was a leading Formula One constructor, and its Esprit Turbo and V8 were at the forefront of entry-level supercars. James Bond drove an Esprit. Lotus as a brand was on par with Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin. But those automakers' owners invested heavily, and Lotus's owners did not.
2015 Lotus Elise Interior
With more than $1 billion from Proton and the bankers, this new roadmap is designed to put Lotus right and replicate their growth. Bahar wants to sell 7000-8000 cars a year by 2015, across the five models, which he regards as conservative, and says the company will be at break even by then even if sports car markets don't recover from today's flattened level.
Lotus Eterne Front Three Quarteres View
But even with that investment, Lotus needs expertise. Up to last year it had almost no marketers on staff, and a paucity of production experts for cars of the planned level of complexity and luxury. So Bahar has engaged 23 senior people in these disciplines-plus design and product development experts-from Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, and AMG Mercedes.
It has also engaged a panel of part-time advisors including Bob Lutz, Burkhard Goeschel (ex product and purchasing chief at BMW), and Tom Purves (ex-CEO Rolls-Royce and previously CEO of BMW North America).
Even if it's been done before-Aston Martin built fewer than 50 cars in 1991-it's a staggeringly audacious plan.