It’s been more than a decade in the making, but it looks like we can finally get a new one Lotus before 2021 is out. The company is putting the finishing touches on it next and last sports car on gas, which is scheduled to debut in the summer, before production gets underway in 2022. Exciting times.
On the other hand, any Lotus currently for sale will be discontinued this year. Say goodbye to the Elise, Exige and Evora – a trio that the British manufacturer wore much longer than expected or deserved. The news was confirmed in a press release today.
The Evora went into production in 2009 and is notably the only current Lotus model that you can still legally buy in the US. The Elise has of course been around for much longer. The “Series 3” Elise – the latest – was released in 2010. Although under the slightly facelifted skin, the Series 3 is really just the second generation Elise dating back to 2001. Hell, it even evolved from some Opel and Vauxhall variants I had completely forgotten about it until now.
Mind you, Lotus’ inability to move on from the Elise, Exige, and Evora did not stem from a lack of effort. There was that time when the automaker came to the Paris Motor Show 2010 with five proposals for new performance cars, and a very un-Lotus supermini called the Ethos (or “City Car” if you look at the license plate).
Lotus was led by Proton at the time, and no part of that vision of the brand’s future came true. Then-CEO Dany Bahar was impeached two years later, allegedly for corporate fund abuse, and Proton was swallowed up by Malaysian manufacturing conglomerate DRB-Hicom.
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Nothing really started to change until 2017, when Geely acquired a majority stake in Lotus. The 2,000 horsepower Evija hypercar was the first product of Lotus’ next era to break cover – you can see it on the right there in the shadowy photo above – and those three shrouded cars will presumably replace the ones leaving this year. Per press release:
To recognize the upcoming family of performance cars, Lotus has released an image that refers to the new generation of products that will follow Elise, Exige and Evora, entering their final production year in 2021.
Under one of those covers is presumably that new pure combustion model, which presumably starts at around $ 75,000. Lotus CEO Phil Popham teased that this vehicle will have “a real focus on usability” and that it is designed so that owners “can live with it every day”.
Then there is the car mentioned in this release, code-named Type 131. This appears to be different from the aforementioned $ 75,000 Lotus; Trainer seems to think the Type 131 is the spiritual successor to the Esprit, which will be powered by a hybrid V6 powertrain and will start at a “price set in the low six digits,” putting it in the pecking order above the Evora will be placed. Also, don’t forget that long-rumored SUV that wasn’t included in this family photo.
Geely has grown Lotus significantly over the past four years to meet these challenges. The UK automaker reports that 670 employees have joined its ranks since it fell under new corporate ownership, and plans to add another 250 people in the coming years. If there was ever a time for Lotus to change, it is now.