Lotus's rich history is marked by a lack of stability. In times of glory, this team won seven Formula 1 championships, while as far as the company is concerned, since the death of Ing. Colin Chapman in 1982, there have been three different owners, with their crises and lack of constancy. Lotus was held by General Motors, Romano Artioli (Bugatti) and Proton today.
To return to Lotus's successful and thriving course in the 1970s, they managed to count on Michael Kimberly as CEO, who already held this position at Lotus between 1983 and 1991.
Kimberly proposes to carry out a five-year plan to completely change the current situation of the company. During that period, at least four completely new cars will be manufactured, one of them the renewed Lotus Esprit, which will be something like the company's flagship product.
The next Lotus Esprit, according to Kimberly, will amaze with excellent performance making it a totally unique vehicle, above its direct rivals. The Esprit will be in a position to compete in the market with vehicles such as the Audi R8, the Ferrari 430and the Porsche 911. The price of the Esprit would be around $130,000.
The Esprit will feature a modern, lightweight aluminium architecture. The ultimate goal of that work is that it can be used by the brand for other products, reducing costs and ensuring a fully optimized product.
The new Lotus Esprit will maintain its configuration as a central engine car, but there is still no precise data on the impeller. What is known is that it is almost certain that the engine will be provided by a third party, avoiding the very high development costs. Rumor suggests it could be a BMW 4.800 cm3 V8. Yes, it is certain that the Esprit will have a power of about 500 horses.
Lotus plans also include the intention to manufacture a coupe 2 + 2 in the style of the old Excel model. Another of the new cars would be a mid-range sports car, equipped with a 6-cylinder engine located between the current Elise and the future Esprit.
Lotus's intention is to launch two new vehicles on the market in 2008 while the Esprit development is completed, which will have to wait until at least 2009.
© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —
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