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What has Lotus got in store for us in Geneva?

In its latest announcement, Lotus has reported a substantial increase in sales over the past nine months of this fiscal year to date. That's good news for the once troubled niche automaker, but the interesting part was hidden further down the release. After detailing the jump in sales by 54 percent worldwide, Lotus announced that it "is revealing an exciting new car at the important Geneva International Motor Show in early March 2015." While little in the way of details were confirmed, the company said that "the product will remain true to its core pillars of lightness, performance and driving purity by embodying all of them in a most desirable package." Sounds pretty Lotus-like to us, but just what form it will take remains to be seen. Given that the Malaysian-owned British automaker has scrapped all of its ambitious new projects, the overwhelming likelihood is that whatever it is preparing to reveal in Geneva will be based on one of its existing models: the Elise, Exige or Evora. The last we heard, Hethel was planning a revision to the Evora, convertible and even crossover versions of the same, as well as an even more hard-core version of the Exige to take the place of the extreme 2-Eleven track car. The announcement refers to the Elise S Cup that was the company's most recent reveal, but seems to indicate that the Geneva show car will be something different. 19 January 2015 Lotus sales up 54% world-wide for the first nine months of the financial year · 81% sales increase EU overall · 88% increase in UK · 143% increase in France · 139% increase in Germany · 29% up USA; 50% up Canada · 24% up Asia and Middle East · 130% sales increases in China; 125% in Japan · Lotus Motorsport shows 19% increase · 163 dealers, 25 more than nine months ago, 50 more in pipeline by the end of 2015. · Exciting reveal in Geneva Announcing that overall sales are up by 54% in the past nine months provides tangible proof that the forward strategy established by Lotus Cars is working. In volume terms, the increase of 551 cars over the previous year, to a total of 1,565, is an excellent result for the British sports car maker. Lotus has enlarged and strengthened its representation globally, with 25 new dealers enrolled across a number of territories in the past nine months, with another 50 new dealers joining Lotus by the end of 2015.

Lotus electric sedan due in 2023 to take on Porsche Taycan

Lotus took a massive step towards the mainstream when it released the Eletre (pictured above), an electric crossover developed with volume in mind. It will continue walking in this direction by launching its first sedan, and a recent report suggests the model will be aimed at the Porsche Taycan. Known as the Type 133 internally, and referred to as a four-door coupe, the sedan will join the firm's portfolio of so-called "lifestyle" EVs. It will borrow some styling cues from the Eletre (pictured above) but it won't be merely a scaled-down crossover. "There has to be some continuity and family identity," explained Peter Horbury, Lotus' senior vice president of design, in an interview with British magazine Autocar. "Families aren't made up entirely of triplets or quadruplets. Every member of a family can have their own character," he added. While the Type 133 — a name that won't make the leap to production; the Eletre was called Type 132 — won't be as basic as, say, an Elise, it will be positioned as a driver's car. Gavan Kershaw, Lotus' director of attributes and product integrity, told Autocar that the engineering team benchmarked the Porsche Taycan during the Eletre's development process and the lessons learned will be applied to the Type 133. Like its taller sibling, the sedan should feature a long list of technology features, including an air suspension system and rear-wheel steering. Powertrain specifications haven't been released yet, but the fact that the Eletre and the Type 133 will be closely related underneath the sheet metal gives us some idea of what to expect. Power for the first Lotus crossover comes from a pair of electric motors that zap the four wheels with around 600 horsepower. The battery pack's capacity checks in at over 100 kilowatt-hours, and an 800-volt electrical architecture enables fast-charging technology. Lotus pegs the Eletre's maximum driving range at 373 miles on the testing cycle used in Europe. It's reasonable to assume that the sedan, which should be lighter and more aerodynamic, should be capable of going further on a charge. Lotus is expected to unveil the Type 133 in 2023. The model will be built alongside the Eletre in Wuhan, China. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Lotus Type 130 electric hypercar confirmed for July 16 reveal

Lotus just formally announced that its electric hypercar will be revealed on July 16. It's called the Type 130, and it's confirmed for production at Lotus headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk. The name is derived directly from the production quantity, as Lotus is capping the car at just 130 units. This project is coming together at a rapid pace, as Lotus also says the first customer deliveries will happen in 2020. Meeting time goals for the production of EVs has proven troublesome for some manufacturers, so we'll see if Lotus is able to deliver in the next year and a half. The British sports car company has Chinese backing in the form of Geely now, so the funds to make this car happen appear to be there. Lotus says that it's had several hundred people express interest in buying the Type 130 since its confirmation at the Shanghai Auto Show. Of course, with only 130 slots available to buy the vehicle, we'll see how it all shakes out once Lotus announces what we expect will be an extravagant price tag. Hypercars, and especially electric hypercars, are never cheap. Lotus released a teaser photo that tells us next to nothing, but it is a photo of the car. The teaser video below is a bit more interesting with the "Hand Built in Britain By Lotus" emblem and the electric charge port hidden off to the left. It has an automatically closing door there, which doesn't exactly feel like Lotus' style. If something can be done mechanically to save weight, that's typically the path taken. We won't prejudge the car too harshly, though, as this represents an entirely new take on Lotus vehicles. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.