Lotus is planning a complete change in the philosophy of its products

If you look at the current range and at the one from the last decade and a half of this British manufacturer, you will see that its very few models had characteristics that reflected very well the way its founder, Colin Chapman, understood cars. The Elise and the Exige have represented masterful ways of building cars that are extremely light and simple. But that is going to come to an end.

The chairman of Lotus and Proton (the Malaysian brand that owns the former), Datuk Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh, has given a conference in which he explained the steps the automotive group will take in the coming years, with which he hopes to bring Lotus to profitability within five years or so under the new slogan “The luxury sports car of tomorrow, today”. And what do those plans consist of? You can find them after the jump.

According to the chairman of Lotus, to return to profit it will be necessary to increase sales from 2,000-2,500 units a year to 6,000-8,000, in addition to increasing the number of countries in which it is present from 30 to 55. One of the main measures that will achieve this will be the arrival of a new city car in the Lotus range, which will share a platform and technology with the one the Proton will have, and which will be based on the EMAS Concept (photo above) designed by Giugiaro that was presented in Geneva this year. However, the version with the British badge will have finishes of higher quality, something like the Aston Martin Cygnet and the Toyota iQ.

Other changes at Lotus will be, as we mentioned at the beginning, those affecting future models of the brand (since Elise, Exige and Evora will keep their concept). To start with, they will come loaded with technology such as seven-speed dual-clutch transmissions, active aerodynamic elements, continuously variable dampers, and hybrid and range-extended versions, or information displays on the dashboard (Heads up display).

This expanded equipment will translate into a price increase to between £80,000 and £110,000 (more than 97,000 euros and 134,000 euros). Likewise, more complex and expensive manufacturing techniques will be used to improve the quality of the products. And this new direction that Lotus is going to take has a fairly clear goal: to aim directly at brands like Aston Martin and Ferrari.

It is no coincidence that Lotus has secured professionals such as the former design director and former sales and business development director of the Italian firm, Donato Coco and Andreas Prillmann, or from the marketing and network development department of Aston Martin, Andreas Schlegel. It seems that whatever Lotus is going to present in Paris may leave even the most skeptical astonished.

Via | Autocar