Lotus news

Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding, the same company that owns Volvo, has announced it is buying a 49.9 percent stake in struggling automaker Proton and along with it a controlling stake in famed British sports car builder Lotus.

Volvo's Chinese Parent Company is Buying Lotus » AutoGuide.com News

 

I think/hope this will be good for lotus. Volvo is doing well under them and look at jaguar/range rover under tata. Best shape they've ever been in. Just hope the chinese money doesnt result in lotus trying for the behar plan again.

Lotus suv maybe? That could be interesting. Small, nimble, light, and most importantly low. All biased for asphalt instead of dirt. A better alfa stelvio that doesnt weigh 2 tons

 

I think it will be good for lotus. Looking forward to refreshed car designs...

Robb

 

I agree. I sincerely hope they will expand the dealership and service infrastructure. My 2017 Evora 400 is feeling like an orphan. Lotus West Covina no longer service the car...

 

What happened to West Covina's service dept??

 

Lotus and China are both great at making fragile, poorly constructed products. I see great synergies here

 

Worked out great for volvo.
Gales seems to know what he is doing at lotus. They can start with new versions of the core products and grow out from there. The Volvo 360hp 4cyl motor would make one quick elise.

Service in the USa shoudl probably be handles by licensed Indies to get the coverage they need. The whole country can probably be serviced by 3 dealers and a series od track drive events where peopel get to try the cars, because to drive one is to want to own one if youre a driver.

BTW a modern toyota powered lotus is far from fragile, its one of the very few cars thta can run on track reliably without breaking for years, straight out the box.

What they do have is crude build quality.

What lotus does have is a niche it owns, they make a small light relaible "exotic" car for 50-100k which is driver centric. No one else does that. You kinda have to get into Porche GT3 lambo, ferrari mclaren price ranges to get back to driver centric exotics, and even then its not the same.

Some new cars/platforms with great build and styling, decent dealrs and service and Lotus will start to grow. What they dont need to do is spend a fortune trying to out porche porche or out ferrari ferrari. They are not there yet, they have a great core to grow off of and develop brand cachet, then once there is brand cachet you can do poseur cars becasue thats the criteria in that market brand cachet..

meanwhile there are 20+k track capable street cars sold per year, Lotus should be a big player int hat market. Lotus also has a unique niche in selling factory developed reliable sorted track only cars, for reasonable price that have great operating costs.

Engaging to drive on road and trackday giamts slayers are the future of sportscars.

Gt cars like ferrari makes are another matter.

 

How do you like the evora?

Look on lotus talk for a good indy.

I have never taken either of mine to dealer, just too far away.

 

Are there any F'Chatters with insight into how this may affect Lotus plans and production? For example, I never heard any followup regarding the Evora convertible, and it was the chairman himself who said it would be a 2017 product.