Lotus to make Porsche Macan rival
British sportscar maker will diversify with crossover to rival Porsche's small SUVLotus will make an SUV says its CEO, Jean-Marc Gales, in an interview with British car magazine Autocar.
Speaking of the new unnamed sports crossover Gales said the Macan rival would be “a real Lotus” and when it goes on sale around 2019 will be the “world’s first lightweight SUV”.
In the interview Gales said the all-new SUV will be made in a new facility in south-east China, although Gales was adamant that manufacturing and design work would still be UK-based at its Hethel, Norfolk HQ.
Globally, sales of the Elise, Exige and Evora have increased 55% to just over 2000 cars last year and, according to Gales, sales should break 3000 cars this year.
The new crossover will be part of a joint venture with Lotus and its parent company Proton and Goldstar Heavy Industrial - the Chinese engineering company.
Gales said with the arrival of the SUV before the end of the decade global Lotus sales will push above 10,000 unites.
When the SUV arrives it will follow Lotus’ tradition of having a name beginning with ‘E’.
Lotus’ CEO said its new SUV will be both lighter and faster than rivals like the Macan with better handling.
It’s not the first time Lotus has explored the idea of a crossover vehicle. In 2006 the British carmaker unveiled the APX concept (pictured) at the Geneva motor show. The APX (aluminium performance) crossover demonstrated its lightweight aluminium knowhow developed with the Elise. Powered by a 224kW 3.0-litre V6, the seven-seat SUV weighed in at 1570kg but could sprint to 100km/h in 5.4 seconds, hit 245km/h and average 8.7l/100km.
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