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On the heels after local Volvo S90s will now be Chinese-made, Lotus brand will also be made in a Geely plant in China. Not surprising, both Volvo and Lotus are owned by Geely --------------- BEIJING/SHANGHAI: The Chinese owner of Lotus plans to start producing the British sports car brand in China for the first time with the opening of a new 9 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) factory in Wuhan city, company job advertisements and government documents showed. The previously unreported plans are Zhejiang Geely Holding Group's first move to shake up the British brand since its purchase of a majority stake in 2017. The move is in line with Geely's ambitions to build more up-market cars and throw off its reputation for copycat designs and shoddy quality. For Lotus, it could mean greater production volumes and new models such as SUVs to boost sales. "For Geely, going high-end can help it take more market share," said Alan Kang, Shanghai based analyst at LMC Automotive. "Geely needs to do that to better compete with global brands." Lotus cars are currently built in Norfolk, England. Geely and Lotus said in a joint statement that while Norfolk was Lotus's manufacturing home, a key part of the firm's strategy to revive the brand was expanding the brand's manufacturing footprint globally. "Details on additional locations and models will be confirmed in due course," the company said in an e-mail to Reuters. The planning authority of Hubei province, whose capital is Wuhan, last month approved Geely's plans for the plant. The factory will be able to manufacture 150,000 cars annually, according to a document posted on the authority's website. The Wuhan Development Zone, where the factory will be based, said in a statement posted on its website last month that production at the plant would include "Geely's Lotus project". The Wuhan Development Zone did not respond to Reuters' request for comment. The documents did not say when the plant would start operations. The facility is approved to build all-electric battery cars, electric hybrids as well as combustion engine cars like Lotuses. Job advertisements on Geely's website show the automaker is looking to fill at least 20 Wuhan-based roles for the Lotus project. LUXURY AMBITIONS While is not clear what portion of the new Chinese production line would be devoted to the British brand, greater production volumes would be consistent with Geely's stated ambition to grow the market for Lotus by broadening its line-up. Geely sold only 1,630 Lotuses globally in 2018. Lotus currently produces models such as the Evora and Elise. James Bond famously drove a Lotus Esprit in 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me", and Lotus once boasted a Formula One team until it was sold to Renault for just one pound in 2015. But in a major break with the past, two sources familiar with the matter said Lotus would likely make luxury SUVs instead of sports cars during the Wuhan plant's initial phase. One of the sources said Geely wanted to emulate premium carmakers like Porsche , whose luxury SUV models were selling well in China. The share of luxury SUVs in China's overall passenger car market grew from 4.07 percent in 2014 to 5.01 percent in 2018, according to data from consultancy J.D. Power. Geely has forecast flat sales this year after the Chinese auto market contracted for the first time in more than two decades in 2018. The company has made waves in the auto world with its US$9 billion purchase of a stake in Germany's Daimler AG and its US$1.8 billion acquisition of Sweden's Volvo. It bought 51 percent of Lotus from Malaysian automaker Proton in 2017. Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/british-lotus-cars-to-be-made-in-china-at-new-geely-plant-11133856

http://www.sgcarmart.com/new_cars/newcars_...p?CarCode=10833 Abt $30k cheaper than GTR Abt same capacity. Not so common and look a bit like Ferrari. Also not so beng looking. GTR many uncle driving.

Back in the Geneva Motor Show last year, British automaker, Lotus, introduced the world to its potentially fastest handmade convertible ever, the Exige S Roadster. Based on the company's new Exige S coupe, this roadster looks mostly identical to its coupe counterpart. However, the rear spoiler has been disposed of and there's now soft top roof available. Weighing no more than 1,166kg, this roadster will let you feel the wind blowing your hair at a speed of 233km/h, thanks to its supercharged 3.5-litre V6 engine. Mated to either a six-speed manual transmission or the automaker's Serial Precision Shift (SPS) transmission system, the engine can provide the power of 345 horses in addition to 400Nm of torque. The Lotus Exige S Roadster will get you going to 100km/h in no longer than 3.8 seconds, from a complete standstill. And, to complete your comfort, you can choose a sporty or a comfortable enhanced plush interior. As Lotus is readying the 2013 Lotus Exige S Roadster for order, the automaker has also announced the prices of its latest roadster for 3 regions - UK, European Union, and Japan. With Japan being closer to us here in Singapore than the other two, I think we can assume that the price tag of the roadster there won

A special edition car made or designed by/for celebrities are not common nor is it something new. There have been a few examples such as the Paul Newman R30 Skyline. But the difference between the Paul Newman Skyline and this two special edition Lotus Evora S is that the Evoras are one-off items specially designed for charity purposes. The Freddie Mercury Evora S was specially made for the birthday (05 September) of the late former Queen frontman who passed away on 24 November 1991. To honour the occasion, Lotus donated a one-off Lotus Evora S which will be auctioned off during a commemorative event. The auction proceeds will go to the Mercury Phoenix Trust. The striking white sports car features red and gold racing stripes as well as an interior which was influenced by one of Freddie Mercury

Lotus has recently released the Lotus Evora GTE. The Evora GTE is basically a road going version of the Lotus Evora participating in the GTE racing series and it is going to be the most hard core Lotus Evora one can buy and drive on the road. But somehow, I have a feeling that this Evora will be the one Lotus fans (or fanatics) in and around this region will be buying. Aside from the Lotus Evora IPS (Automatic) that is. The reason is quite simple. While the Evora GTE will be like a Porsche 911 GT3 RS in terms of character and spirit it has what most of the rich and wealthy love in South East Asia, an AMT or Automated Manual Transmission. This, aside from the Evora IPS will be the Evora that everyone will think of buying over the standard 6 speed manual Evora. The other point that will attract people to this Evora over the other Evora models is that the supercharged 3.5liter V6 engine makes 438hp, has lightweight centre locking alloy wheels, lots of carbon fiber in its construction enabling a 105kg weight loss and lots of pedigree. This car was actually made for the Chinese market and Lotus has decided to market it everywhere else. Quite obvious actually since this hardcore Lotus comes with something a lot of people want. Power and the option to let the car shift by itself. Especially useful in traffic jams. In short, I predict that the Evora GTE will sell well especially in our part of the world and that large country of burgers and fries, the U.S of A

Sometime in early August I happened to bump into some chaps from Lotus Cars Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. They were in the midst of acclimatizing the Lotus Evora IPS for our tropical weather and they were ind enough to inform me of some of Lotus' future plans as well as the Lotus Evora IPS itself. The 2011 Lotus Evora IPS (Intelligent Precision Shift) is Lotus' first automatic since the 1980s and it is basically the entry level Evora with its 276bhp V6 engine (courtesy of Toyota) coupled with a 6 speed torque convertor automatic transmission instead of the usual 6 speed manual. It has been on sale over in Europe but it is still being tweaked for the tropics. The guys from Lotus had informed me that they just completed a round trip from Kuala Lumpur to Kuantan and back. The main focus of attention is the new automatic transmission unit whereby they have to ensure everything works well in our hot and very humid local weather. It gave me a chance to give the Evora IPS a once over and from what I can tell, the car is easier to live with than its Elise, Exige and to an extent, the Lotus Europa. It is a properly sized sports car for most people (including larger sized guys and gals) and is well equipped without that totally spare, track day special look of the Elise and the Exige. With the automatic transmission, you can actually use it for your commuting to work too. The only drawback is that if you like to have your morning coffee on the run it may be a problem as it somehow still lacks cupholders. The Lotus Evora IPS is also part of Lotus' plan to capture the North American market. They seem to love automatics and this should jumpstart sales over there. Even track day favourites like the Elise and Exige which seems to be selling decently well in this region gets sidelined because the Americans aren't too bothered to shift gears by themselves. Anyway, Lotus seems to be back on track especially after announcing their business plan at the earlier Paris Motor Show. The Lotus Esprit is confirmed for launch and will eventually get its own bespoke Lotus designed and engineered V8 engine instead of an engine from Toyota. It will be back to the good ol' days of the 1990s Lotus Esprit V8. A period when Lotus still made their own engines instead of going into survival mode. I was informed of this personally by one of the guys whom I had a chat with that day. It has been 15 years since Proton took over Lotus and this is basically the first time they seem to be serious in turning Lotus into something special. I suppose they blokes over there finally realised that there should be some serious return of investment instead of just sticking 'Suspension by Lotus' badges on normal Protons. The other piece of news was that the upcoming Lotus Elan is put on hold as it is too close in size and purpose as the Evora. The Evora itself is fairly new in the market and Lotus intends to keep it around for a few years longer albeit with a facelift that should make it look similar to the new Lotus styling that you can see in the new Esprit and Elan pictured herein. I suppose this is logical as the haven't actually sold too many of them around yet. Now add the fact that the Lotus Evora IPS is still fresh and still undergoing tropical weather testing , the Lotus Elan should be one of the last of the new Lotus Concept cars to be launched

Wow today I was driving though kallang KFC and saw these 3 cars parked there...some sort of gathering?

[extract] Quite a surprising bit of news here. Lotus has basically given its seal of approval to Mansory, that crazed performance car tuner that can turn a Panamera into a vivid blue and canary yellow monster or a Rolls Royce Ghost into a really ghastly being. The photos you see here is of a Mansory badged Lotus Evora were taken from Lotus' website and it also stated that this is

[extract] Lotus has unveiled photos (and specs) of two new Lotus Evora models ahead of their public debut at the upcoming Paris Motor Show. One of the models is the Lotus Evora IPS (Intelligent Precision Shift), which is Lotus marketing talk for something so dull and common called the

The 2010 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance which will happen on the 15th of August is where Lotus will reveal another one of its new products. This unveiling of the Lotus Evora Cup GT4 race car is the second official press preview of a new specialty Lotus after the ground breaking totally track only T125 (no going to the market for groceries with this baby - a trackday car only for the track and nothing else). The car is part of its masterplan to have Lotus automobiles involved in multiple levels of motorsport like it did during the good old days under founder, Colin Champan. It seems Lotus seems to have suddenly dug up a large motorsport budget ever since their entry into this year's F1 and the development of new track and race cars under this new business plan shows that the budget is pretty large. Of course not Ferrari large, but quite impressive as the T125 capitalizes on the same parts, or similar parts that the F1 program utilizes. The same could be said for the Evora Cup GT4. The base car is still an Evora but it would utilize parts from Lotus' regular suppliers. The Evora Cup GT4 is powered by a 4liter V6, up from the 3.5liter 276bhp Toyota V6 of the stock Evora. This provides 390bhp and the horses are transmitted to the road via a 6 speed sequential gearbox. The fibergrlass body has also gone under the scalpel of race car body experts Dallara to optimize all aerodynamics of the car. This car was basically built for Lotus to compete in the GT4 European Cup racing series and will compete against cars like the Aston Martin N24 Vantage and the Maserati GranTurismo Trofeo. To further make building the car even more economical Lotus intends to run its own one make race series for the Evora Cup GT4. More paying customers spread out over more cars is always a good thing for a company as small as Lotus.

Lotus has just formally introduced a new 400-plus horsepower sportscar concept. That news in and of itself would be enough to pique our interest, but the rest of the car's spec sheet makes the Evora 414E Hybrid an astonishingly intriguing concept vehicle. As you surely surmised by now, this two-seat sportster is a hybrid, specifically an extended-range electric vehicle that features a pair of rear-mounted electric motors and a 1.2-liter three-cylinder gas-powered engine. Why not fully electric? According to Lotus: With regard to the total lifetime CO2 emissions of the vehicle, including the energy required to manufacture and run it, the range extender solution has a lower overall CO2 footprint than a fully electric car of comparable performance and operating range running with a larger battery. That 47-horsepower gasoline engine never actually sends power directly to the Evora 414E Hybrid's wheels. Instead