Lotus's five-year plan: Esprit delayed, new 2+2 fro 2008
Lotus boss reveals his five-year plan
New Lotus CEO Mike Kimberley has completed his audit of the company and has instituted a number of changes as part of a Proton-approved five-year plan: the Esprit replacement is delayed until December 2009, a new mid-range 2+2 is to be introduced in December 2008, a Lotus version of the Proton Satria hot hatch is to hit the streets in May 2008, and Lotus Engineering is to be ‘reactivated’ and will recruit more ‘top end’ staff.
The further delay to the Esprit’s introduction is seen as essential by Kimberley because its production and manufacturing costs were rising to unsustainable levels for a company the size of Lotus. A major rethink of parts sourcing is now underway, together with a look at other elements of the car. ‘We’ve signed off the overall shape,’ admits Kimberley, ‘but the interior is being reconsidered. And I don’t think it yet has enough performance or sufficient Lotus DNA. We shouldn’t be looking to tackle the 911 or Corvette head-on, we need to aim more towards Ferrari and Lamborghini in terms of status.’
While the development of the Esprit continues at a slower pace and with fewer team members, Lotus is to use the cost savings to develop a new mid-range model with occasional rear seating. The car will be designed, developed and produced in time to fill the notional December ’08 launch slot originally assigned to the Esprit.
Codenamed Eagle, the 2+2 will have ‘a mid-mounted V6 and fabulous performance’ according to Kimberley. Utilising existing Lotus construction techniques – extruded and bonded aluminium to keep weight low – the Eagle will have a stretched cabin to accommodate a pair of rear seats.
The interior styling will also be very different to existing models and Kimberley promises ‘a full range of variants and advanced options such as paddle-shift transmission.’ The Eagle will be engineered for all global markets, unlike the Europa that is limited to Europe.
Meanwhile Lotus is already working on an ultra-high-performance version of the latest-generation Proton Satria. This will be more extreme than the last Satria hot hatch that Lotus had a hand in developing and will have sufficient Lotus DNA that it will get to wear the badge, much in the same way the Lotus Cortina did.
Kimberley regards Lotus Engineering as an intrinsic part of the business, but admits that ‘it was under threat for a while’. While his decision to invest in personnel will hearten the Engineering team, having to make 200 workers redundant from manufacturing – the result of a large decline in US sales – will have hit wider morale, although it’s hoped all the job losses will be voluntary.
The Lotus five-year plan has many other facets, but Kimberley is most animated on the subject of the new cars, believing that their diversity will provide the company with a broad-based business platform that won’t be reliant on one car or one market for success.
