In the spring of 2017, 51 percent of Lotus was acquired by Chinese automaker Geely. Since that time, rumblings about some much-needed fresh product have been trickling out of Lotus HQ. Now, according to a report today from Automotive News(subscription required), two new sports cars are being prepped for 2020, with an SUV to follow. Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales told Automotive News Europe that work on the SUV has already begun and it will be released a year or two after the sports cars.
We don’t have the specifics on what the other two vehicles will be, other than the fact that they will be sports cars. That certainly fits with the brand history of Lotus, which has churned out nothing but sporty machines since its inception in 1952. While details are short, Gales has stated that one of the upcoming sports cars will replace a current car in the lineup.
That means we’ll say goodbye to the Elise, the Exige, or the Evora. Since these are all now-dated platforms, we’re fine with that notion and ready to welcome any new Lotus models into this world.
The oddball, however, will most certainly be the upcoming SUV. Patent drawings circulated on the Internet earlier in the year, and it seems that Lotus is approaching its own SUV in a manner similar to what Lamborghini has done with its Urus. This is a sharply styled four-door SUV, which basically takes the sports car proportions, adapts them into a sedan-like form, and then scales that up into a sport utility vehicle.
It’s really no surprise that Lotus would eye such a model as it hopes for a global comeback. The crossover and SUV market is the fastest growing segment in the industry. Nearly every automaker offers something that sits a bit higher and appeals to the desires of people who want a wagon but don’t know what they actually want is a wagon.
This article was originally published on MotorAuthority, an editorial partner of ClassicCars.com.
