The CEO of Lotus has confirmed that the brand known for no carpet, exposed linkage, no gram left behind sports cars is building an SUV. Oh, and it's probably going to be based on a Volvo.
Why is Lotus building something so far off the brand's core values? That's an easy answer. Money. Go after the Cayenne and follow Porsche down the road of massive profits to fund hacking another pound off of the Elise. Imagine what the company could do with a budget? Just look at the latest 911 GT2 and GT3 RS, plus the mid-engine 911 racer for some ideas.
The budget to build the new crossover comes from the recent purchase of Lotus by Zhejiang Geely Holding. The same company that owns Volvo.
Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales didn't say flat-out that the new crossover would be borrowing from the Volvo parts bin. What he told Automotive News Europe was that "we are going to heavily use a mix of new and proven Geely family modules and combine them to create an aesthetically beautiful performance crossover." But with the Geely parts bin being mostly Volvo, that's where the new Lotus crossover will come from.
When will it arrive? About four years. The design hasn't yet been finalized. Gales said that it will not be the same design language as the sports cars, but that you should be able to recognize it as a Lotus. Gales said it would be Porsche Macan or Cayenne sized.
If you're worried about the brand's sports cars, there are two new ones on the way, set to be announced later this year and arrive in 2020.
[source: Automotive News Europe]
Why is Lotus building something so far off the brand's core values? That's an easy answer. Money. Go after the Cayenne and follow Porsche down the road of massive profits to fund hacking another pound off of the Elise. Imagine what the company could do with a budget? Just look at the latest 911 GT2 and GT3 RS, plus the mid-engine 911 racer for some ideas.
The budget to build the new crossover comes from the recent purchase of Lotus by Zhejiang Geely Holding. The same company that owns Volvo.
Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales didn't say flat-out that the new crossover would be borrowing from the Volvo parts bin. What he told Automotive News Europe was that "we are going to heavily use a mix of new and proven Geely family modules and combine them to create an aesthetically beautiful performance crossover." But with the Geely parts bin being mostly Volvo, that's where the new Lotus crossover will come from.
When will it arrive? About four years. The design hasn't yet been finalized. Gales said that it will not be the same design language as the sports cars, but that you should be able to recognize it as a Lotus. Gales said it would be Porsche Macan or Cayenne sized.
If you're worried about the brand's sports cars, there are two new ones on the way, set to be announced later this year and arrive in 2020.
[source: Automotive News Europe]
