Lotus Elise to End Production This Year, New Models on the Way
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It's something new and refreshing... I think they could sell a good number of them for the first couple model years. But, ultimately, the little Lotus will never have the same kind of broad appeal as a Porsche and soon enough everyone who wants one will have one and the sales will probably flatline.Wait, this thing is actually coming to America?
3.5 V6 with a 6 speed. It's a shame we probably won't see many of them, as most people in the market for a sportscar still flock to the Cayman.
I'd probably get the V6. Kind of wish they offered it with the upcoming GR Corolla engine rather than the pricey AMG unit. It could also get a manual probably too.
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MagpieRacer
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Found myself behind an Emira in camouflage tonight as it pulled from a junction near my wife’s work, sounded bloody glorious and looks fantastic in person, from the rear at least. 
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Lotus Electric Sports Car Teased Ahead Of Release… In 2026
Lotus is providing an early glimpse of its purely electric performance machine that will slot below the Evija in four years' time.
www.motor1.com
After the Elmira, the Lotus Type 132 (SUV) will come this spring. After that, there's the Type 133 (four door sedan), Type 134 (small SUV), and the Type 135 (sports car). All of these cars will be electric. The first three EVs will be produced in Wuhan, China while the sports car will be built in Hethel, England
Today, they teased the Type 135 which will come out in 2026.
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Henry Catchpole drives an Elmira verification prototype
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It's Official: Lotus Type 132 Electric SUV To Be Called "Eletre" | Carscoops
Lotus will be sticking with their traditional "E" naming convention for their first SUV
www.carscoops.com
Lotus Eletre, to be revealed on March 29
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The Eletre is out. Looks like a cleaner and more organic Urus from most angles, though I must admit that the side profile looks nice in the extra images available from the Lotus site.
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I present to you the Lotus Elite (courtesy of Autoweek)...so they've tried a few unusual ideas before.
Though the Electre is probably the first time I've seen a Lotus and thought "well, that looks derivative".
These cars do limited off-road work after the press release sets are striked. If an electric vehicle is to have any sort of range for 4-5 hours of semi-sedate highway driving, you need all that floor space for the batteries. If you want a small electric vehicle right now, you're anchored to the sub-200 mile ranges.
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I know this is basically a near-production concept, but does this make McLaren and Bugatti the only manufacturers not to offer SUVs now?
GilesGuthrie
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Colin Chapman would have done this 15 years ago, once he'd seen the success Porsche had with the Cayenne. Yes, he liked compactness and lightness, but he also liked having a functioning company. It's not "a sad day for Lotus enthusiasts" when they see the company they support taking action to become a more viable operation.
As long as it ends up being a good car (looking at you, Maserati Levante), this is a good move for Lotus.
Keef
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Speaking of which, the fact that Bugatti never put that sedan into production and don't have an SUV yet is really strange. I can't really figure out why that company still exists. Their development cycle is basically non-existent and they don't seem too interested in making buckets of money by selling the most gloriously fast luxury sedans and SUVs on the market.
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I've always seen VW's purchase of the Bugatti name as a halo brand that would cast a positive light on the rest of the portfolio. Neither as a money maker or much of a loss maker, although i've never studied the figures to know whether that's true or not.
I was really surprised that the Chiron wasn't a hybrid when released, considering it came out after the 918 and LaFerrari. To me it shows that the parent company is happy to allocate them a budget, but are not bothered about further funding the brand to push anything new or revolutionary, which seems to be missing the whole point of a halo brand.
Hypercars were a Romano Artioli era Bugatti thing whilst the Ettore Bugatti era was all about innovation.
Lotus's whole raison d'etre appears to historically be about just financially keeping afloat. If it means having to go down the electric and SUV route then i suppose that's what it must do.
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MagpieRacer
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Followed the Emira road test mule thing again today, they've been putting some serious miles on that thing locally, every time I go out I see it, but actually got to follow it back to the Lotus factory today. Definitely the V6 version, sounded wonderful, I let him out of a junction to go ahead of me and he gave it full beans with a little bit of a slide, very cool. Looks pretty nice in its black, blue, white and yellow test livery.
I saw it a couple weeks ago as well, but in convoy with a lot of other machinery, Porsche Cayman, GR Supra, GR-86, Alpine A110, BMW M2, clear to see where they're aiming. That was one heck of a convoy to go past.
I saw it a couple weeks ago as well, but in convoy with a lot of other machinery, Porsche Cayman, GR Supra, GR-86, Alpine A110, BMW M2, clear to see where they're aiming. That was one heck of a convoy to go past.
McLaren
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Doesn't seem like they see the need to. They already make buckets of money selling out their production line years in advance to an extremely loyal ownership base. They could pump money into a SUV/sedan, but their clientele seems really entrenched in the idea of the company being the most famous, exclusive auto brand in the world. There are $3m+ Chiron owners who will gladly spend another $3-5m on an additional Chiron or other exclusive model. See last year: there were 150 orders & 40% were previous owners.
I think @TheCracker basically hit the nail on the heard. No need to deviate from something that clearly works & is doing better each year that makes VAG look good with guaranteed income off the brand. I would suspect now that Rimac is involved, the next Bugatti will follow Veyron/Chiron formula with a new mix of hybrid/electric power, creating another car that boasts wild performance numbers with reliability & easy to drive.
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Keef
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@McLaren @TheCracker from a business standpoint I agree with both of you but not from a public opinion standpoint. You mention "making VAG look good" but to my eyes the essence of Bugatti has shifted rapidly the past couple years from "engineering marvel" to "irresponsible and unimaginative plaything" which doesn't seem like a good look in 2022.
What defines this exclusivity that wealthy buyers are looking for? Is it merely the fact that nobody else can get a thing, or is it that nobody else can get it and they want it? If nobody cares about or wants an exclusive thing then it doesn't really matter if one person has it, does it? Eventually the perception of exclusivity for that product will shift as it's no longer desirable by the masses, it's just expensive for the sake of being expensive. Buying things like that doesn't make you cool, it turns people against you. From a business perspective it seems like a bad move to become a company that most people hate. Combine that with a lack of innovation and irrelevancy and insolvency will surely follow. I mean, if Bugatti's next car is a hybrid then they'll be nearly 10 years behind their own investor Porsche lol. I don't think Bugatti is in the business of being utterly unimpressive, yet that's the space they currently occupy. Hell, they'd probably garner more respect if they attempted to create and sell actual products like Lotus is doing here.
What defines this exclusivity that wealthy buyers are looking for? Is it merely the fact that nobody else can get a thing, or is it that nobody else can get it and they want it? If nobody cares about or wants an exclusive thing then it doesn't really matter if one person has it, does it? Eventually the perception of exclusivity for that product will shift as it's no longer desirable by the masses, it's just expensive for the sake of being expensive. Buying things like that doesn't make you cool, it turns people against you. From a business perspective it seems like a bad move to become a company that most people hate. Combine that with a lack of innovation and irrelevancy and insolvency will surely follow. I mean, if Bugatti's next car is a hybrid then they'll be nearly 10 years behind their own investor Porsche lol. I don't think Bugatti is in the business of being utterly unimpressive, yet that's the space they currently occupy. Hell, they'd probably garner more respect if they attempted to create and sell actual products like Lotus is doing here.
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McLaren
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SP3, Monza, Valkyrie, Essenza, Bolide, BT62, GT Mk.II, Senna GTR. There's a growing market for these cars that aren't any more responsible & imaginative than Bugatti's target line.
They want cars other people bid for. To them, a Bugatti represents a highest level of supercar they can use an status symbol. Whether or not we agree with them doesn't matter to the manufacturer; what does matter is that they fill out their order books years in advance which clearly indicates there's a strong desire.
I have a suspicion owners of Bugatti wealth aren't that bothered.
Except most people clamor over them. Look at car shows where a Bugatti might as well be the Charizard of supercars. People aren't hating Bugatti any time soon.
They're likely going to look towards Rimac to help build the next car. Porsche is also looking to work with Rimac. I don't think either side is that bothered.
Yeah, I think that's really going be your sole opinion. Bugattis remain impressive feats of engineering; no one has still quite matched what they built with the Veyron & improved upon with Chiron in terms of power, reliability, luxury, and usability in 1 package. That's been part of Bugatti's charm & remains so.
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