2007 Lotus Exige on 2040-cars

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Lotus to add 2 new sports cars by 2020, SUV by 2022

British sports carmaker Lotus will bring two new sports cars in 2020 with an SUV right behind them in 2021 or '22, becoming the brand's first all-new vehicles since it began production of the Evora back in 2009.CAR Magazine reports the news in an interview with Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales. Of the two cars, he said only that one will be a replacement for an existing car, with the other likely to be a limited-edition, track-focused car slotted above the Evora. It'll base the cheaper of the two on an evolution of Lotus' bonded aluminum chassis, while the other will get a new carbon-fiber chassis and become the brand's new performance flagship. Chinese automaker Geely, which also owns Volvo, purchased a majority ownership stake in Lotus last year, adding what's hoped to be a measure of stability and badly needed investment to years of ownership changes and endless re-iterations of existing models. With Geely money backing the operation, it's likely these two vehicles will be more likely to come to fruition than the last batch of ambitious concepts from the company, which included a new Esprit, Elite, and Elan. Those never progressed beyond the concept stage. The company soon after revealed the Evora GT430 as its fastest, most-powerful road car to date, with a 0-to-60 time of 3.7 seconds, and it put the same supercharged V6 in the Exige to bump up horsepower to 430 and increase torque to 325 pound-feet. Meanwhile, Lotus is ending production of the 3-Eleven this year, and Gales has previously said the company was developing a new Elise for 2020, so it's likely that's one of the new cars. The Elise and Exige were withdrawn from the U.S. back in 2011. The new vehicles will benefit from technology from Geely's network of suppliers, and Geely is also apparently hiring new Lotus staff and investing "millions" in Lotus' production lines. Lotus said its sales were way up in both Europe and the U.S. during its last fiscal year, and while the brand still lost money it narrowed its financial losses and said it expected to be profitable before tax for the current fiscal year.Related Video:

Lotus spotted testing more extreme Elise on the Nordschleife

If we had a nickel for every version of the Elise that Lotus has rolled out over the years, we might actually have enough spare change to buy one ourselves. And we're not even talking about the entire separate models (like the Exige and Europa) that Lotus has based on the Elise's platform or the other automakers' cars (like the Tesla Roadster and Hennessey Venom GT) that have used the same. And now Lotus appears to be testing another one.
Spotted lapping the Nürburgring, what we're looking at here appears to be the track-bound Elise S Cup R, but our intrepid paparazzi by the side of the track tell us it's missing the switches for the battery isolator and fire extinguisher. In their place, this Elise is wearing an even bigger rear wing as part of an altogether rather aggressive aero kit - not to mention a rockin' matte red wrap.
All of these telltales make us think Lotus has something extreme in the works, and we could find out what exactly it is as early as the Paris Motor Show in October, so stay tuned and watch this space.

Lotus Evora 400 arrives in December for $89,900

It's been three months to the day since Lotus revealed the new Evora 400. And if you've spent the intervening time pining and wondering just how much you'd need to set aside to put one in your driveway, you need wonder no longer. The British sports car manufacturer has just released pricing for the new-and-improved Evora 400, which will retail at Lotus showrooms in America for $89,900. Now that's a fair bit more than it was charging just last year for an Evora ($68,400) or the Evora S ($78,480), but for all that extra scratch, you get a lot more. The 400-horsepower model packs 55 more horses than the Evora S, weighs almost 50 pounds less, features a new diff, carbon-ceramic brakes, bodywork and interior, and benefits from returned electronics, suspension, gearbox, and more. (Buyers will also be able to opt for an automatic transmission, upgraded interior trim, appearance package, forged alloys and painted calipers, all at additional cost.) The result of all those upgrades – costly as they are – is a 0-60 time of just 4.1 seconds, a top speed of 186 miles per hour and a lap time around the company's test track at Hethel clocked at 1:32 – a full six seconds faster than the existing Evora S. If that sound enticing, North American deliveries are set to commence in December. Related Video: Show full PR text Lotus announces prices for Evora 400 · Prices start at GBP72,000 (UK) · High level of standard specification · Fastest and most powerful production Lotus ever · Deliveries from August 2015 Lotus Cars is delighted to announce the prices of the new Evora 400. The latest supercar from Lotus combines high performance with the legendary Lotus benchmark handling and is lighter, more efficient and dynamically better than ever, providing a purer driving experience. UK prices will start from GBP72,000 (for other markets, see table below). For this price the car benefits from a high level of standard specification including 370 mm composite two piece brake discs from AP Racing, a Limited Slip Differential, automatic air-conditioning and infotainment system including satellite navigation. In addition to this, the options list includes automatic transmission at GBP2,000, Alcantara or Leather trim upgrades at GBP2,500 and metallic paint at GBP900.