New Elan in Paris

[reb53]

Even more photos,

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/30/lotu ... pt-debuts/


Ralph.

[Old English White]

Hi ,
I was at that presentation , yesterday.
This was very impressive , with no less than 5 new cars on the stand.
A complete range . A kind of Ferrari-Maserati familly compilation .
It seems that the "light is right" time is over , for a while ... at least .
BTW , to get the maximum of people arround , Lotus send some pairs of youngsters , wearing a tee-shirt whit the 16:45 & Lotus logo ...
They successily give Esprit models during the day , finishing with an empty box ...



At the presentation , you were able to complete the collection...



Cool, isn't it !?!
Christian.

[nebogipfel]

The year is 2010 - The UK has moved on since the 60's.

Yes sadly

Lotus ceased to be Lotus many years ago. If that Japanese/Italian clone is a Lotus then I'm a monkey's father's brother


Now I just need to think of something beginning with E to describe it ..........

[bengalcharlie]

can not agree more. what a ugly non descriptive piece of junk! is it a nissan lambo,toyota, mazda???
lotus has lost the plot. the future is in light, small engined green cars which has always been lotus. I can not believe their marketing strategy??
A real shame!
robin

[Frank Howard]

I think they've got to stop taking advice from Naomi Campbell.

[Lotus14S2]

All cars now-a-days, not just Lotus, are designed to appeal to people who grew up with Japanese Anime cartoons.
More time is spent designing a tail light than the overall car.
It is less about aesthetics and more about doing anything to create something unique no matter how strange or ugly.
This means you can hire industrial designers very cheap, because they are all 12 years old.

[Frank Howard]

And the cars appeal to 12-year olds!

[collins_dan]

That's what happens when you hire a leadership team from Ferrari. Makes me think of the old saying, he doesn't have 20 years experience, he has 1 years experience that he has recycled 20 times. There's only room in the world for 1 Ferrari brand, any other would just be a copycat. Dan

[Fred Talmadge]

When I read that they were going to make a Super 7 with air conditioning, I knew that was the end of Lotus as I know it. The modern reality is that Lotus is just a brand to make money. I wish them well, but I'll look at them as I do any other new car with too much technology for too much money.

[crannyr]

The year is 2010 - The UK has moved on since the 60's.

Yes sadly

Lotus ceased to be Lotus many years ago. If that Japanese/Italian clone is a Lotus then I'm a monkey's father's brother


Now I just need to think of something beginning with E to describe it ..........

How about Eunuch

[elansprint71]

El Presidente (Mr)?

[nebogipfel]

The year is 2010 - The UK has moved on since the 60's.

Yes sadly

Lotus ceased to be Lotus many years ago. If that Japanese/Italian clone is a Lotus then I'm a monkey's father's brother


Now I just need to think of something beginning with E to describe it ..........

How about Eunuch

What about Effluent?

[mini64]

did they nab lamborghini's stylist?

[types26/36]

All this negativity ............ I for one like them, if top gear ever comes back I wonder what Jeremy would say
.....and here is an E word ......... "Enthralled"

[richardcox_lotus]

I also think they look great, but bear in mind that Lotus owners have gone through all this before....noticeably:

1) Launch of the (Type 14) Elite - That's not a lotus...too comfortable...too expensive....and fibreglass ??

2) Launch of the +2 - That's not a lotus...too many seats...too expensive

3) Launch of the (Type 74) Elite - That's not a lotus...too big...too expensive....

4) Launch of the (Type 100) Elan - That's not a lotus...FWD

5) Launch of the Elise - That's not a lotus...too spartan

6) Launch of anything else - That's not a lotus...not midengined....too big...too heavy...too expensive

My only concerns / sadness:

1) They are moving the products to a price point I will never be able to reach. Lotus's have ALWAYS been expensive - but this is just a huge huge jump
2) They are disenfranchising existing dealers & support networks. In the '80s they set up the scheme of "Classic Lotus Dealers" as a known contact point for classic parts via Factory support. No hint of that happening now.
3) If it does go very wrong (and it might), I can't see how the company can recover.

Just my two-pennath

Regards
Richard