Lotus non parteciperà al salone di Parigi

[p.fina]

The plan put forth by former Lotus CEO Dany Bahar was to explode the British brand into the high-dollar sports car segment and directly challenge its marquee names. The first explosion came with the surprise introduction of five concepts at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. What has continued to surprise, though, is that the explosions haven't stopped: parent company Proton has had troubles leading to a reworking of its Formula One involvement, its IndyCar effort has had a rough ride, Proton's sale to Malaysian conglomerate DRB Hicom led to a production stoppage, and while the company was reassured that it wouldn't be sold, Bahar was shown the door – along with four of those Paris concepts, as far as we can tell. Yet the company is still making highly regarded cars and going racing.

So it shouldn't be all that surprising that, according to a report in Car and Driver, Lotus won't be attending this year's Paris Motor Show at all. Lotus didn't have much to show off at the Geneva Motor Show or the New York Show as all development was halted for two months, and the new corporate owner and new CEO installed by that owner are still working through the details of its niche English property. We will hope this is nothing more than a step in the reorganization, and look forward to seeing the Hethel firm again in Los Angeles or Detroit.

[Touareg 2.5]

At the 2010 Paris Motor Show, Lotus went nuts and introduced five new concept vehicles that were supposed to be introduced over the next six years. And at the 2011 LA Auto Show, Lotus announced they would enter IndyCar in 2012 as a new engine supplier.Now, Lotus has reportedly fired 50 engineers behind four of those cars. There are also rumors that they are cancelling the IndyCar program, which is down to a single car.

The cancellation of all projects except the Esprit leaves Lotus with a business plan that is "much more realistic" than previous CEO Bahar's "basically unworkable" ideas. Lotus has also reportedly shelved plans to build its own engine and gearbox for the new Esprit and will instead source it elsewhere.

As for IndyCar, there has been nothing but negative PR for the company since they entered the championship. Development started well after competitors and a smaller budget led to an underpowered engine. What started off as a five car program now has one driver, as the other teams defected to Honda or Chevrolet power. One team is even suing Lotus because of the relationship. Results have been atrocious and speeds at the Indy 500 were so slow that the cars were black flagged after a handful of laps.

They aren't confirmed to be leaving quite yet, but it'll probably be best for both parties if they bowed out gracefully.

The good news is that Lotus can continue focusing on developing the new flagship Esprit as well as the Evora, Elise, and awesome Exige S.

Unfortunately, there is still no word on if the revised business plan also calls for the fire bombing of the warehouse where they keep lifestyle clothing.

Modificato 26 Luglio 2012 da Touareg 2.5

[Jack.Torrance]

jalopnik

- [Lotus] City Car Concept (Foto Ufficiali)

- [Lotus] Elan Concept (Foto Ufficiali)

- [Lotus] Elise Concept (Foto Ufficiali)

- [Lotus] Elite Concept (Foto Ufficiali)

- [Lotus] Eterne Concept (Foto Ufficiali)

Ad eccezion fatta per l'Esprit, nessuna delle concept viste due anni fa andrà in produzione.

Le tolgo dalla lista threads.

In pratica l'Espirit diventa un O la va o la spacca....

[Trucido]

In pratica l'Espirit diventa un O la va o la spacca....

Lotus non é profitevole e non lo era da quando é morto chapman. Campa per via del reparto R&D. In prattica le macchine sono/erano solo la pubblicitá per le capacitá ing. del gruppo. Ma col piano di ampliare e fare rogne a colloro che prima compravano servici tuoi, si sono messi belli nella m!!da.

T!

[Cosimo]

ma chapman è morto ?

[Guest EC2277]

Lotus non é profitevole e non lo era da quando é morto chapman. Campa per via del reparto R&D. In prattica le macchine sono/erano solo la pubblicitá per le capacitá ing. del gruppo. Ma col piano di ampliare e fare rogne a colloro che prima compravano servici tuoi, si sono messi belli nella m!!da.

T!

Sapessi da quanto tempo asserisco che la Lotus è un centro di ricerca e sviluppo, il quale produce anche delle automobili per pubblicizzare i frutti delle sue ricerche (codici di calcolo, tecnologie produttive…) e venderli a terzi.

[p.fina]

La Lotus non parteciperà all'imminente Salone di Parigi, ma probabilmente neppure a quello di Ginevra, in calendario per il prossimo mese di marzo. Non che ci si potesse aspettare altro, dopo le recenti turbolente vicende che hanno investito la Casa di Hethel, culminate con l'allontanamento del numero uno Dany Bahar e la conseguente cancellazione del suo piano industriale.

Il nulla dopo due anni. La notizia - confermata ieri dalle nostre fonti e diffusa da un tweet del nostro direttore - arriva proprio alla vigilia di quel Salone, Parigi appunto, che due anni fa fece da palcoscenico alla presentazione del fin troppo ambizioso piano di rilancio voluto proprio da Bahar. Dei cinque modelli annunciati, non s'è più saputo nulla, se non che a Hethel avessero cominciato a lavorare sul progetto Esprit. Il cui debutto, pertanto, ora è avvolto dalla più totale incertezza. C.D.G.

Lotus - Diserterà anche il Salone di Ginevra - Quattroruote