Lotus Announces Three New Models in Five Year Plan

Esprit Wont Re-Appear Until Late 2009

From the moment the first of the Elises touched ground in North America, Lotus has hit the ground running with its driver-centric sports cars. The brand has focused much of its effort on updating and innovating its current star, the Elise, while its been getting very serious about its racing program with the Exige. But theres one thing weve been wondering - whats next? Though the Elise and the Exige helped Lotus pull through the better part of this decade, we all know that they wont be able to successfully keep the brand afloat forever.

Esprit is still on its way, but were just going to have to wait longer for it to arrive. (Photo: Artists Rendering)

In Europe, theres the Europa S, which is, in essence, a plus-sized Opel Speedster Turbo (the mid-engined predecessor to the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice), designed to go toe-to-toe with the Porsche Cayman and Audi TT, but it wont be sold in North America.

Thankfully, Lotus has come up with an answer that depicts

Lotus needs something to plug the gap between the Esprit and these Elises. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, American Auto Press)

a bright future for the sports car maker with a new five-year plan. For quite some time now, weve known that Lotus is planning to revive the Esprit nameplate with a new high-performance, range-topping vehicle. While theres been an air of uncertainty surrounding the entire vehicle, Lotus has indeed confirmed that it will be arriving. Its scheduled date of release will be in December, 2009, roughly a year and a half after we were initially expecting it. In the interim, Lotus has announced that it will be

Europa S will have a short lifespan; itll be quickly replaced by a new model. (Photo: Lotus Cars)

releasing two models to fill the gap between its upcoming halo car, and the Elise and the Exige.

Set to be launched in May, 2008 is a high-performance model of undisclosed size or drivetrain layout. It will be sold as a Lotus, as well as a Proton, the Malaysian firm which has a controlling stake in Lotus. Seven months later, Lotus will also launch a mid-range model, which is expected to replace the current Europa S, which went on sale in the UK a few weeks back. Lotus will also continue to develop the VVA flexible platform, which it debuted in seven-seat crossover form this summer. With enough development, we could very well see Lotus popping up in different vehicle

Paired with Proton, Lotus will develop a second and third new sports car. (Photo: Lotus Cars)

categories in which its never yet performed in.

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