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Carsales Staff20 Apr 2015
NEWS

Lotus SUV backed for Australia

But it would have to be light, fast and handle says local boss

A possible Lotus SUV mooted by the company's new global chief has been backed by the Australian distributor as long as it offers the lightness, performance and handling the sports car specialist has built its reputation on.

Speaking at the recent Geneva motor show, Lotus Cars CEO Jean-Marc Gales (pictured), told the media that a Lotus SUV would make sense as a future model.

Gales, the former PSA Peugeot-Citroen president, took over loss-making Lotus last year and has started rebuilding after the traumatic era of Danny Bahar, the former Ferrari exec who had laid out a dramatic and ultimately failed expansion plan for the legendary UK brand.

Gales told Reuters that a Lotus SUV would be the next all-new model from the brand, which is currently focussed on developing new versions of the existing Elise, Exige and Evora sports cars.

"We would do an SUV that is very light, very fast on the track and has outstanding handling," he said. "I'm a bit torn between an SUV and a four-door sports car - but in the end I can see that the SUV has the bigger market."

A Lotus SUV would certainly make sense in Australia, where SUV and prestige and luxury sales are booming and there has long been a market for performance cars.

"I can see where he is coming from and it does make commercial sense," said Glenn Sealey, general manager of independently-owned Australian distributor Lotus Australia.

"Whatever he does with Lotus it will be in the mantra of the next product will be lighter and better performance. And I think that is important.

"All these models [coming from Lotus in the future], every car the kilos have been shaved off and the performance has been upgraded. Whatever Lotus does it has to be light-weight, fast and have fantastic handling.

"If you can put that into an SUV then that would be a cracking car."

Sealey made the point that performance SUVs were becoming more common, but they usually added weight along with horsepower.

"You have got some interesting cars floating around," he said. "You have the BMW X6 M at one end of the scale and that is certainly not light weight, but is trying to put a performance take on to an SUV.

"At the other end of the scale you have something like a Porsche Macan S, which is an interesting take. It's closer to the concept, but not light weight.

"I think what Jean Marc is talking about is a vision for Lotus," Sealey added. "I think the task today is to extract the most from the existing range and get the business to a level of profitability."

Lotus, which is owned by Malaysian conglomerate DRB-HICOM, has lost more than $400 million in the last two UK financial years. It sold just 1200 cars globally in 2014, is aiming for 2000 in 2015 and 3500 in 2016.

Under Gales the business has shed workers from its Hethel factory and HQ and gone on a development program focussed on lightening and improving the performance of its cars, highlighted by the arrival in Australia in early 2016 of the 911-targetting Evora 400.

"The best thing for the many Lotus fans in the world is for Hethel to make money," said Sealey. "And that is one of the good things about what Jean-Marc is doing.

 "He has settled the business down and we are now starting to see multitudes of new products coming through.

"He is certainly going to make that business a leaner fighting machine. Really in the mantra of [founder] Colin Chapman, what he is doing to the cars he is doing to the business. He is making it lighter, more performance-based and more appealing to the market."

Lotus' volume growth plans do not impact on Australia, where sales are expected to stay around current levels (under 100 per year) for the five dealer network. Instead the targets for growth will be the USA and the Middle East.

"Lotus as a brand is never going to go out and do the sorts of volume that Porsche is today, nor does it appeal to the broad market in the way a brand like Porsche does," said Sealey.

"Lotus concentrates on those people that really enjoy their driving, and that's where the brand sits today and that's where it will sit in the future."

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Written byCarsales Staff
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