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How Lotus plans to expand and electrify as it enters a new age

If you’ve never driven a car made by Lotus, youÂ’re not alone — theyÂ’ve always been a small manufacturer, and even spotting one in public is a rarity — but youÂ’re missing out. Their exotic good looks are far surpassed by their dedication to connecting man to machine to pavement above all else. But like every other automaker these days, big changes are afoot. Yes, Lotus is going electric. But itÂ’s also going big, and in more ways than one. We recently sat down with Lotus Group VP & Managing Director Matt Windle and Chief Brand Officer James Andrew to talk about how the storied brand will pay service to its past as it aims its headlights toward the future. WeÂ’ve already seen the Lotus Evija (formerly referred to by internal codename Type 130), a low-volume, all-electric hypercar that represents the small automakerÂ’s first big step into electrification. With 1,500 kilowatts (about 2,000 horsepower) coming from four electric motors, you can forget 0-60; itÂ’ll do 0-186 miles per hour in 9.1 seconds. It starts at over $2 million, and production will be capped at 130 units. Flashy numbers to make a big splash, before going bigger in both size and production volume. Next will come the Lotus Eletre (formerly Type 132), an electric SUV that represents the (currently) small automakerÂ’s desire to cater to every lifestyle rather than to be pigeonholed by purists and luddites. To reach big volumes, Lotus needs to be a truly global company, and it needs to create cars that more customers can use, and at prices they can afford. Lotus Eletre Electric SUV View 25 Photos And even though an SUV isnÂ’t what weÂ’re used to seeing from Lotus, perhaps we shouldnÂ’t be surprised — and not just because seemingly every other exclusive, top-shelf brand is now offering an SUV or will be soon. James Andrew reminded us that the appreciation has always been there, and that Lotus founder Colin Chapman had two parking spots at the office: one for his Lotus Esprit, and the other for a Range Rover heÂ’d often drive to work. DonÂ’t expect a rock-crawling luxury off-roader to wear the Lotus badge, though. The gents assured us that the brandÂ’s focus remains on performance. And a crucial part of that performance is in driving dynamics that connect the driver to the car.

Lotus relocating US headquarters to Michigan

Lotus is planning a renewed push into the North American market. It's got the new Evora 400 coming to America in December, and it's expanding its dealer network as well. And it'll orchestrate it all from its new US headquarters in Ann Arbor, MI. The move will see the main office of Lotus Cars USA leave its current base in Lawrenceville, GA, to move in together with Lotus Engineering in Ann Arbor, putting both operations under one larger roof. The transition is earmarked to be completed by the end of next month. But that's not all. Lotus has also announced that it is expanding its dealer network across North America. The first push will see four new dealerships opening across the United States and Canada, with a pair of new showrooms in California (West Covina and Thermal), another in the car-collector mecca of Scottsdale, AZ, and a new Canadian location in Calgary, Alberta. That'll bring the showroom count up to 47 locations in North America, with more franchises planned for the near future as well. The new and improved Lotus Evora 400 is slated to arrive at US and Canadian dealers starting in December. It packs a number of upgrades over the Evora S, including more power, less weight, new bodywork, and carbon-ceramic brakes. The result is a 0-60 time of 4.1 seconds, a top speed quoted at 186 miles per hour, and Hethel test track lap time clocked at six seconds faster than its predecessor. Pricing starts at $89,900. Related Video: EXPANSION AND CO-LOCATION FOR LOTUS IN THE USA - Co-location of Lotus Cars USA. Inc, to Lotus Engineering. Inc, in Ann Arbor, MI to support growth - First deliveries of New Lotus Evora 400 in USA and Canada in December 2015 - Expansion of the Lotus dealer network The introduction of the Lotus Evora 400, as a 2017 North American Model Year, marks the start of a fresh period in Lotus' presence in this vital market. The previous model Evora already received positive acclaim from media, customers and dealers alike and reaffirmed Lotus as the maker of some of the finest, purest, most lightweight and most efficient sports cars sold today. Jean-Marc Gales, Chief Executive Officer, Group Lotus plc, explains: "The Lotus Evora 400 combines high performance with the legendary Lotus benchmark handling. It is lighter, more efficient and dynamically better than ever.

Lotus sells loads more cars, earns way more money

Sports-car company Lotus has reason to be excited. It released some facts on its sales and financial performance for the 2016 and 2017 fiscal year, and it has seen some impressive improvements. According to the company, it sold nearly 60 percent more cars in mainland Europe compared with the 2015/2016 fiscal year, and it sold six times as many cars in the U.S. compared with that year. This helped it go from a loss of GBP16.3 million for the previous year in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) to a GBP2 million profit EBITDA. The fact that those numbers are given before all those extra expenses is noteworthy, though, as it means the company isn't truly profitable yet, despite major gains. The company did report numbers that only excluded tax, and those show the company still lost money. But the good news is that it lost much, much less money than the year before. Before taxes for the 2015/2016 fiscal year, the company lost GBP41.2 million, and this year, it only lost GBP11.2 million. The company expects it will be profitable before tax in the coming year. So Lotus isn't perfectly healthy yet, but this, combined with Geely's recent acquisition, shows it's well on its way to becoming fit as a fiddle. We like the cars Lotus makes, so we hope that things keep getting better, and that we'll maybe get more Lotus models in the future, beyond just the Evora road car and 3-Eleven track car. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2017 Lotus Evora 400: First Drive View 29 Photos Image Credit: Lotus Earnings/Financials Lotus Coupe Lightweight Vehicles Performance