Lotus Esprit Still Set For 2012, New Elise For 2011

[Mark H]

Despite taking a hit from the credit crunch, Lotus is marching ahead with its plans to debut an updated Elise and a new Esprit in the next few years. The Europa-based Dodge Circuit EV, though, could be a goner.

 

According to AutoCar, the new Esprit is still on track for a 2012 launch and will take advantage of the new Evora's flexible architecture. In fact, the Esprit is expected to be wider, longer version of the Evora, stretched out to fit a mid-mounted V-8 in the back. The origins of such a V-8 are currently unknown, and though Lotus has been using Toyota engines lately, the company has said that it is not an exclusive relationship.

 

The new Elise, meanwhile, will likely be a thorough update of the current car rather than an all-new car and likely won't be based on the new Evora. If all goes to plan, the updated Elise could debut by the end of next year, but even if it does, sales aren't expected to begin until 2011.

 

For its part, the Evora will be adding a convertible model in 2012 to compliment the recently debuted hardtop model. The convertible Evora may even be marketed as a different model, as the convertible top will replace the rear seats. As of right now, the convertible is expected to debut before the Esprit, as it will be the cheaper of the two cars. If the economy rebounds before 2012, though, Lotus' production is believed to be flexible enough to change the order in which the cars are launched.

 

In other Lotus news, it has been revealed that a project with Fiat tuner Abarth for a variant of the Evora has stalled, likely due to the state of the economy and the market. AutoCar also reports that the Europa-based Dodge Circuit electric sports car has been killed, which is surprising since Chrysler is touting the car in their latest ads. Lotus is reportedly looking for a new partner for a Tesla-like operation with Chrysler gone. Lotus' plans to double production to 8000 vehicles per year by 2011 is also in jeopardy and the company is reportedly looking at producing only 4000 to 5000 vehicles per year by 2011 due to the problems facing the economy.

http://wot.motortrend.com/6537711/auto-new...dead/index.html