Future Lotus models to be ‘very different’ from current models, electrification on the cards – company CEO

British sports car maker Lotus will unveil a new 10-year plan in 2018, which is set to include electrification of its models, according to a Top Gear report. “We will always make sports cars. We make the most agile sports cars, the ones most about light weight. But we need to adapt to changing homologation laws. The sports cars we show in the next three years will be different to the ones we’re building now,” company CEO Jean-Marc Gales said.

The first new-era Lotus under Geely stewardship will arrive in 2020, and though different, it will retain the hallmarks the Norfolk marque has been famous for. “It will definitely be different. But we will always be the benchmark in light weight, aero and handling,” Gales said.

“We will always be (producing) sports cars, they are so important for us, they are part of our DNA. We will have a deep look in our shareholder’s parts bin and see which parts we can use for our sports cars,” the CEO added.

“An SUV is definitely on the cards as well, something that will be lower, wider, a lot lighter and much better handling than existing SUVs or crossovers,”, said Gales. The model won’t come at the expense of the hardcore, lightweight performance specials such as the just-launched Exige Cup 430.

“We will make them as long as we’re allowed to make them,” Gales said, foreseeing production of these models to be possible until legislation or parts supplies make it unfeasible to continue. However, Gales pointed out “we do not want to become a Caterham and build the same car for 30 years.”

Gales noted that production will stay at a rate of 1,500 to 1,600 cars annually for the next two to three years, and gradually increase after that. Last year’s production run of around 1,500 cars equated a revenue of around £100 million (RM550 million), with each customer forking out approximately £60,000 (RM329,876) per car.

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