Lotus has plans to release their new next-generation Esprit at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show and more details were recently released on their next sports car. The base model Esprit will be a hybrid, sporting a 100-hp electric motor and a naturally aspirated V8 engine.

Other variants of the Lotus will be more race inspired, ditching the electric motor and hybrid tag for more weight savings and additional horsepower. More details on the other models weren’t released, but we can expect a more pure driver’s car and everything “unnecessary” will be removed from them, as well as an abundant use of carbon fiber. Unfortunately no specs were released on the naturally aspirated V8 powerplant either.

The new Lotus Esprit will go on sale in Europe starting in Summer of 2013 and will mark the beginning of Lotus’ five-year, five-model plan.

[Source: Topspeed]

Lotus and its parent company, Proton, will be releasing their City Car to rival the new Aston Martin Cygnet and will be a production version of the Ethos concept originally seen at the Paris Auto Show. The vehicle will first be offered as a Proton, with the Lotus version coming at a later date with a higher price tag.

Lotus will be making additions to the car, hoping to make the electric vehicle offer performance not seen on any other small cars. It will be about $3,125 (£2000) cheaper than the Aston Martin Cygnet, so pricing is estimated to be around $45,300 (£29,000).

The Ethos Concept featured a 1.2L, three-cylinder Lotus Range Extender engine that had a peak torque of 177 lb-ft with a top speed of 105-mph.

GALLERY: Lotus City Car

[Source: Topspeed]

Lotus will offer the Exige in 2012 as a track-only car in America, despite killing off the street-legal Elise and Exige due to air bag laws and the discontinuation of the car’s 1.8L Toyota 4-cylinder motor.

The 2012 Exige for North America will be based on the Exige S and get a 3.5L supercharged V6 from the Evora making 345 horsepower. 60 mph comes up in 3.8 seconds and the car is good for a V-Max of 170 mph. Standard equipment should include a roll cage, harnesses, bucket seats, an electrical cut-off switch and other features that will make it legal for competition use.

The Exige is expected to carry a base price of around $85,000-$90,000, but we’ll have to wait for an official announcement from Lotus for more info.

[Source: DuPont Registry]

General Motors is reviving negotiations that were scrapped back in 2007 with Lotus parent company Proton Holdings, Malaysia’s biggest auto manufacturer. Both brands are looking to form a manufacturing venture in the Southeast Asian country.

A collaboration between the two parties would probably be mutually beneficial, with GM getting access to Proton’s production in Southeast Asia while Proton would be able to take advantage of GM’s technologies to boost their exports.

Proton Holdings is a government-linked company (GLC) with the majority of its equity owned by a government-owned company named Khazanah Nasional Berhad. Ever since an unsuccessful relationship with Mitsubishi ended in 2004, the Malaysian government has been seeking a partner for Proton.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Saab’s sob story saga might be coming to an end, though the information surrounding their pending acquisition is murky at best.

Rumors swirled quickly around the media yesterday that the Bank of China, fourth-largest by market value had planned to acquire just under 50 percent of the company. Those reports are now being corrected— it’s a bank in China, but not the Bank of China. Regardless, this investment could be the savior Saab prayed for after GM flatly rejected their previous partnership with Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. and Pang Da Automobile Trade Co.

Pang Da operates dealerships in China, while Youngman manufactures Chinese vehicles under the Lotus brand.

According to GM, that partnership would jeopardize their own interests in China because they supply both parts and the 9-4X crossover, which would then be unfairly accessible to the Chinese companies.

Saab hopes the new deal will keep GM satisfied while allowing them to finally be rid of their debt, which includes unpaid salaries and bills.

“The discussions include a short term solution to enable Saab Automobile to pay November wages and continue reorganization. The outcome of the discussions is still uncertain,” Saab said to Automotive News.

Saab parent company Swedish Automobile originally hoped for Pang Da and Youngman to take a combined 53.9 percent share of Swedish Automobile, but nothing in Saab. The two companies pushed instead for full ownership of Saab.

Gallery: Saab 9-4X

[Source: Automotive News]

The Evora GTE is the most powerful Lotus to date, making 444 horsepower with a 3.5-liter v6, but track-bred performance isn’t quite enough to make it pop.

Instead Lotus signed a deal with rapper/producer Swizz Beatz to collaborate on a special line of cars that have hiphop swag. This isn’t the first time an automaker resorted to the rap community for extra buzz, as Funkmaster Flex and Ford had a tie-up earlier in the decade.

Lotus chose the Alvin Ailey’s Opening Night Gala to show off their chrome-adorned special edition Evora GTE. Aside from serous horsepower, the car gets an automated manual transmission and carbon fiber throughout the body, good for shaving off anther 231 pounds.

Lotus Cars USA made the public announcement that former Ferrari CEO Maurizio Parlato is the new CEO of their U.S. operation.

Parlato has actually been with the company for a few months, but Lotus spokesman Kevin Smith told Automotive News Lotus hadn’t made the announcement until recently because they had been too busy appearing at auto shows.

Parlato’s move to Lotus is part of an effort by the company to improve their market share. The switch actually took place mid-September, though the official announcement didn’t come until November 16.

Before coming to Lotus, Parlato ended a 20-year career with Ferrari on January 1, 2010, of those 20 years, he spent seven as CEO.

Smith said Lotus is looking to strengthen their dealer network in the U.S. in anticipation of increased sales.

“[Parlato] is a welcome addition to the team,” Smith said. “He’s brought in a lot of energy already and great contacts in the industry.”

[Source: Automotive News]

The 2007 Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen is making a comeback to the sport after a two-year break.

However, its not like he was sitting at home doing nothing for the last two years. Raikkonen dabbled in WRC rallying, and also tried his luck in the NASCAR Truck Series. But it’s F1 where his star shined the brightest, where he had won 18 races and 62 podiums while racing for McLaren and Ferrari. His only championship win came at the wheel of a Ferrari.

Raikkonen’s return to F1 was in the rumor-mill for several months, but many speculated that he will drive for Williams. But the 32-year old from Finland will return with Lotus GP (known as Lotus-Renault GP for the 2011 season). On this occasion, Raikkonen commented: “My hunger for F1 has recently become overwhelming. It was an easy choice to return with Lotus GP.”

Raikkonen who first entered F1 in 2001 with Sauber, raised many eyebrows in the paddock when he scored a point in his debut race. He moved to McLaren a year later.

Will Raikkonen’s return be heroic or will he suffer from the same fate Michael Schumacher has been dealing with during his comeback? Only time will tell.

Little development has been revealed by Lotus since they first announced their line-up revamp at the 2010 Paris Auto Show. However, sources report Lotus has got all hands on deck to make sure its dedicated in-house V-8 will be complete by late-2013.

The engine is designed to serve duty in the mid-engined Esprit as well as the front engine Elite and Etern, we expect the output to produce more than 550 horsepower in the naturally aspirated Esprit form and perhaps even a more extreme version tuned to 620 horsepower in the future.

In terms of the Esprit’s chassis, Lotus claims that the modular chassis will allow engineers to fit front, middle and rear sections as needed without making complex changes so that the platform can accommodate the Elite and Eterne too.

GALLERY: Lotus Esprit

[Source: sensethecar.com]

There used to be a time when any car company hoping to succeed in business would open up shop in North America. While North America remains one of the key markets for car companies, the new focus is on emerging markets, with China as the number one choice.

Group Lotus is the latest to enter the Chinese market, with a showroom in the trendy Chaoyang district of Beijing. While this is the first official dealership for Lotus in China, a further 10 showrooms are expected to open in this country in 2012.

At the launch, many Group Lotus execs such as Clive Chapman (son of the late Colin Chapman, founder of the company) and Dany Bahar (Group Lotus CEO) were present, along with President and CEO of Lotus China, Li-Chen Zhang.

On this occasion, Zhang said: “This is the first showroom that the Lotus brand has set-up in China since entering the Chinese market on June 15 and it’s a very proud day for all of us who believe very strongly in the brand. We truly believe the Chinese market will completely embrace the Lotus philosophy of performance through lightweight and innovation through clever design. We sold around 300 units before we even opened the showroom so the initial interest and orders put forward indicate that our faith in the brand is well placed.”

At launch, Lotus will be selling six models in China, namely the Elise R, Elise SC, Evora, Evora IPS, Exige S240 and Exige S260. The Evora GTE road car and T125 race car will follow soon after.

GALLERY: Lotus China