Photo: Lotus
It seems that every other month Lotus launches yet another Elise, Exige, or Evora, each more extreme than the previous special-edition model. And that’s not the way to grow a brand that’s been financially troubled for one too many years. To this effect, Chinese automaker Geely has big plans for the British company founded by Colin Chapman. In fact, Geely intends for Lotus to rival Ferrari.
With the exception of the Macan-rivaling sport utility vehicle, Lotus doesn’t have a roadmap for the near future. And given these circumstances, Geely head honcho An Cong Hui told Autocar: “Lotus used to be ranked alongside Ferrari and Porsche, so we need to come back in that rank again.” Pardon my French, but that’s wishful thinking at best.
Geely, which proved itself a competent mothership with Volvo, doesn’t get the gist of what it means to turn Lotus around to duke it out with Ferrari and Porsche. The task is all the more exhausting for Geely considering the amount of money Ferrari and Porsche pour into research & development.
But when it comes to cash, the Chinese automaker has plenty of that to burn, and it appears that Geely is seriously thinking about pulling a Volvo on Lotus. “We are making plans; we want to bring back the heritage of Lotus to be one of the top performers in the luxury sports car segment,” further added Cong Hui, who’s been heading Geely since December 2011.
The thing is, would you spend $100,000 on a 911 or an Evora? The answer to this question is more than obvious, and through it, it’s easy to understand that Geely has to re-think the Lotus brand alongside the development of all-new, more competitive models. And speaking of which, does Lotus have any model capable of snapping at Ferrari’s heels?
In a nutshell, no. Geely doesn’t even have a V8 to its name, let alone a twin-turbo V8 on the same level as the one found under the hood of the cheapest Ferrari on sale today, the California T-replacing Portofino. On the other hand, yours truly wants Geely to succeed with bringing Lotus to new heights, especially if it means the manual transmission will soldier on.
Geely, which proved itself a competent mothership with Volvo, doesn’t get the gist of what it means to turn Lotus around to duke it out with Ferrari and Porsche. The task is all the more exhausting for Geely considering the amount of money Ferrari and Porsche pour into research & development.
But when it comes to cash, the Chinese automaker has plenty of that to burn, and it appears that Geely is seriously thinking about pulling a Volvo on Lotus. “We are making plans; we want to bring back the heritage of Lotus to be one of the top performers in the luxury sports car segment,” further added Cong Hui, who’s been heading Geely since December 2011.
The thing is, would you spend $100,000 on a 911 or an Evora? The answer to this question is more than obvious, and through it, it’s easy to understand that Geely has to re-think the Lotus brand alongside the development of all-new, more competitive models. And speaking of which, does Lotus have any model capable of snapping at Ferrari’s heels?
In a nutshell, no. Geely doesn’t even have a V8 to its name, let alone a twin-turbo V8 on the same level as the one found under the hood of the cheapest Ferrari on sale today, the California T-replacing Portofino. On the other hand, yours truly wants Geely to succeed with bringing Lotus to new heights, especially if it means the manual transmission will soldier on.
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