Lotus To Move Back Into Exotic Territory?

Look out Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and - McLaren, Lotus is wanting to join the party once again. British brands have been staking a claim for themselves in the high-end luxury once again. Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, Land Rover are a few in that category.

Now it's time to turn to performance. McLaren recently the MP4-12C and the new owners of Lotus have similarly grand plans for the future as well.

Lotus' new CEO, Dany Bahar, recently joined the company from Ferrari so it isn't something that's entirely surprising. Speaking to the Malaysian press, he commented that “Lotus was mentioned in the same sentence as Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati in the 1970s-1990s.....then, it got closed into a corner. We believe it's the right time to bring Lotus back to where it was."

There's no doubt that cars like the Esprit were in territory that is far removed from the space the brand occupies now. The most iconic Lotus car of the recent past has been the Elise, a Toyota-powered light roadster and a far cry from the exotics. There have been some models that point to higher aspirations though, like the Europa (Not sold in the U.S) and most recently the Evora.

He said taking the company back up to that league the top priority and expects it to do so over the next three to five years. Hopefully they won't overreach in doing this and fail - I'm not sure how people will respond to high-dollar Lotus vehicles after ones like the Elise. H