Lotus Ditches Lightweight Philosophy As It Pursues Volume Manufacturing
We can already hear the cries of “sellout” from enthusiasts across the world. Lotus announced that they were abandoning their “lightweight and simple” design philosophy in favor of increasing volume and building more technologically advanced, luxurious and upmarket sports cars.
Proton, the Malaysian owner of Lotus, pledged in 1996 to make Lotus profitable within 5 years. Having failed to achieve that goal, the company has chosen a new direction. New models will feature advanced features like dual-clutch gearboxes, active suspension systems, hybrids and other alternative powertrains. Proton is hoping to increase sales from between 2000-2500 cars per year to 6000-8000 cars per year within five years.
True aficionados of the brand will be relieved to know that the current lineup will remain in place and untouched by the changes, but new models will adopt the brand’s new philosophy. If you want an Exige 240S, better get it now.
[Source: Autocar]
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I had plans on buying a lotus because of what it was. But now I hope proton and lotus go out of business if this is going to be their future business model. This is like buying a long established local pizza restaurant and then rewriting the entire menu and cookbook. Then adding insult to injury and taking pizza off the menu and replacing it with fish and chips. As sad as it is, businesses like this often go out of business with in a year or two after their buy out and revampment of the original product and/or business model.
"Lotus enthusiasts" will never own a Lotus so who cares what they think?