Photo: Lotus
Remember how Lotus told amid its F1 team sale earlier this year that car operations are going nice and smooth, with huge demand worldwide? Well, the British company might've been bluffing if you take into consideration the automaker will cut a quarter of its workforce (325 employees) due to financial losses. Moreover, U.S. operations might take a hit as well.
According to an insider report published by C&D, it's possible for Lotus to drop the Evora in the United States after the 2014 model year inventory will be sold. But why so, you might ask. As it happens, the British sports carmaker convinced safety higher-ups and ultimately got a 12-month reprieve from the federal requirement to fit smart airbags to the Evora.
But that period is nearing its deadline and a Lotus dealer group from the States told the previously mentioned publication that the manufacturer won't re-engineer the model to meet the new automotive safety standards. If this bit of info is on the money, we have a sneaking suspicion that this happened because of mounting money problems. That's such a shame, all things considered, more so when you take into account that a recent report indicated an SUV and a D-segment sedan are in the pipeline.
Until Lotus will shift from specialty manufacturer to mainstream automotive marque, U.S. customers will be left with a scarce lineup coming in the form of track-only Elise and Exige variants. Nevertheless, Lotus has recently launched the most hardcore Elise ever and it's currently working on a Porsche Caymans GTS-rivaling Exige S as well. But staying true to Colin Chapman's ideals won't save Lotus from extinction.
But that period is nearing its deadline and a Lotus dealer group from the States told the previously mentioned publication that the manufacturer won't re-engineer the model to meet the new automotive safety standards. If this bit of info is on the money, we have a sneaking suspicion that this happened because of mounting money problems. That's such a shame, all things considered, more so when you take into account that a recent report indicated an SUV and a D-segment sedan are in the pipeline.
Until Lotus will shift from specialty manufacturer to mainstream automotive marque, U.S. customers will be left with a scarce lineup coming in the form of track-only Elise and Exige variants. Nevertheless, Lotus has recently launched the most hardcore Elise ever and it's currently working on a Porsche Caymans GTS-rivaling Exige S as well. But staying true to Colin Chapman's ideals won't save Lotus from extinction.
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