With an RM7 billion investment from its new owner, Geely, Lotus is gearing for its upcoming plans to broaden the appeal of the British sports car brand. Before the unveiling of a new-generation platform for the Elise, Exige and Evora, Lotus has confirmed that they have a new model up their sleeve for 2020.
According to AutoCar UK, Lotus Cars CEO, Phil Popham has confirmed that the new model will be based on a heavily revised existing Lotus platform which retains Lotus’ famed driving dynamics but with the added ergonomics and connectivity. “There’s this one car, then the new platform,” Popham said.
It is likely that the new car will be based on the Evora, banking on the “Touring” credentials the car already has. Moving forward, the company will be focusing on its new SUV and new-generation platforms which is said to take three to four years to complete.
Popham also added that since Lotus is now part of a large and well-resourced group as Geely, the sports car brand can leverage on the Group’s expertise and bring down the production cost and time as well as improve the quality of future sports car models. Currently, Lotus cars use too many parts and their cost is also “too high”, a reason for Lotus’ inconsistent build quality.
