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Leaked patent images show forthcoming Lotus SUV

Upon discovering leaked patent images of a Lotus SUV, the proper response is, "It's about time." Not because we've been insomniac with anticipation of a people-hauler from Hethel, but because we've had at least three years to prepare. Make that ten years if you start the clock from when Lotus blitzed the 2006 Paris Motor Show with the seven-seat APX concept in 2006. The APX first brandished the company's Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA). An evolution of that VVA - which can withstand a 3,520-pound curb weight - still supports the Evora. In 2015, when Malaysian carmaker Proton owned Lotus, Lotus CEO Mark Gales announced an SUV already in development that would be "the fastest and most agile" of its kind, and target the Porsche Macan. Now, with a new owner, better sales, and much bigger profits, we get a clearer view of what this slow-cooked, swoopy Lotus van might bring. The front clip, center roof channel, what look like bulging rear wheel arches, and the taillight treatment establish Lotus ties. The side view stands as notable for its rear window treatment and high-altitude fuel filler cap, both design elements echoing the 1974 Lotus Elite and foreshadowed by Gales two years ago. Tech rumors posit a Toyota-sourced four-cylinder engine and a 1,600-kilogram curb weight objective. That's 3,520 pounds in US speak, yet with a new car range in the works and more Geely-funded tools to choose from, the SUV won't use the aged Versatile Vehicle Architecture. If Lotus succeeds at the scales, the SUV would subtract roughly 1,000 pounds from a Porsche Macan. As Gales told Top Gear earlier this month, "[W]hat an Evora is to a 911 our SUV needs to be to a Cayenne." Intended for global export, Lotus plans to manufacture the SUV in China, and we're likely four years away from an on-sale date. Although we're promised the family offering will handle "like nothing else," it won't be a sports car, and only Lotus sports cars are welcome at Hethel. Related Video:

China's Geely says it has no plan to buy Fiat Chrysler — as FCA stock leaps

HONG KONG — Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile denied media speculation on Wednesday that it planned to make a takeover bid for Fiat Chryslerk Automobiles (FCA), the world's seventh-largest automaker. Geely was one of several Chinese carmakers cited in by Automotive News, which said representatives of "a well-known Chinese automaker" had made an offer this month for FCA, which has a market value of almost $20 billion. "We don't have such a plan at the moment," Geely executive director Gui Shengyue told reporters at an earnings briefing, when asked if Geely was interested in Fiat. He said a foreign acquisition would be complicated, but he did not elaborate. "But for other (Chinese) brands, it could be a fast track for their development," Gui added. However, a source close to the matter said FCA and Geely Automobile's parent firm, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, had held initial talks late last year, without disclosing their nature. The source confirmed Geely was no longer interested in FCA, noting that the parent company had only three months ago announced its first push into Southeast Asia with the purchase of 49.9 percent of struggling Malaysian carmaker Proton, a deal that also included a stake in Lotus. Geel's denial failed to dent FCA's stock. The price of its Milan-based shares has jumped more than 10 percent to a 19-year high since Automotive News first reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources, that FCA had rejected the Chinese offer as too low. FCA stock on the New York Stock Exchange rose sharply on Monday from $11.60 to $12.38 and on Wednesday was trading at $12.84. FCA declined to comment on Wednesday. FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne has repeatedly called for mergers as a way of sharing the costs of making cleaner, more advanced cars, but he has repeatedly failed to find a partner and retreated from his search for in April, saying FCA would stick to its business plan. He has also spoken of spinning the successful Jeep and Ram divisions off from FCA. Europe's largest carmaker, Volkswagen, and General Motors have both said they are not interested in talks with FCA. On Wednesday, Geely Automobile reported a doubling of first-half profit, above expectations, as cars designed with Sweden's Volvo won over domestic consumers. Volvo is a unit of the Zhejiang Geely group, and has recently announced it will share its technology with Geely.

Lotus F1 team $186 million in debt

The Lotus F1 team has fallen on some hard times. Majority-owned by investment firm Genii Capital and having little to do with the British automaker with which it shares its name, the Enstone-based outfit has been widely reported to be in serious financial trouble. The extent of those difficulties were until now unknown, but a new report from Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reveals that the team is in the red to the tune of £114 million - equivalent to $186 million at today's conversion rates.
The lack in cashflow is widely believed to have been the impetus for Kimi Raikkonen's departure from the team in order to return to cash-rich Ferrari, and was one of the major factors in selecting Pastor Maldonado to replace him instead of a more proven and accomplished driver of Raikkonen's caliber. Maldonado brings with him major sponsorship funds from Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. In speaking with the German publication, however, Lotus F1 chairman (and Genii co-founder) Gerald Lopez revealed that the lion's share of the team's debt - £80 million or $130 million - is with Genii Capital itself, a negative balance that isn't likely to affect the team's day to day. That leaves about $56 million which the team owes to outside parties, including Raikkonen, who has yet to receive the full pay he was contracted for.
The team has opted to sit out the first test session of the Formula One season at Jerez. Its 2014 chassis isn't ready and, given the relatively cold temperatures at this point in the year, the team wouldn't expect to learn much about tire performance and degradation. As far as the new engine goes, Lopez says that any knowledge gleaned by Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Caterham at the test session will ultimately be shared with Renault and through it back to Lotus as well. Lotus engineers helped develop the new KERS system with Renault regardless, so the team already has the energy-recovery data it needs. The team will instead prepare for the second test session in Bahrain, by which point it aims to have its new car ready to kick off the season. Lopez says that it has secured the funding to offset its costs for the season ahead, and that it is working to pay down its debt.