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Alpine joins forces with Lotus to develop an electric sports car

Renault's performance-rooted Alpine division linked arms with Caterham to develop the current-generation A110, but it brought the project in-house after the partnership collapsed. It's again looking across the English Channel to design the model's replacement. It teamed up with Lotus to examine ways to create a nimble electric sports car. Both companies issued a statement to cautiously explain the project remains at the embryonic stage. Development work hasn't started yet. Executives simply agreed to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for the joint engineering, design, and development of a battery-powered model. On the French side, the car (assuming it's approved) will replace the A110. In the United Kingdom, it's unclear whether the Lotus-badged variant will take the torch from an existing model (like the Elise), or if it will be positioned as a standalone car. While it sounds like nothing is set in stone yet, the match makes sense. Alpine and Lotus are both niche players in the automotive industry, though they're part of much larger groups (Geely owns Lotus). And they both made a name for themselves by building light sports cars. Neither has ever offered a rival to the Lamborghini Aventador, for example. Working together will allow them to find a common solution to the problem of offsetting the mass of an electric powertrain. Overlapping is certainly possible, but Alpine and Lotus can stay in opposite corners of the same room if they put their respective DNAs front and center. Their jointly-developed electric sports car will need to be small, nimble, and quick. From there, Lotus could shape its version as a convertible (or at least with removable roof panels) while Alpine could turn its model into a coupe, the body style it's most closely associated with. Design will be a major differentiating factor, too. Lotus previously hinted its future cars will borrow styling cues from the Evija. We don't know exactly where Alpine is headed, but nothing suggests its future cars will also look like the Evija. Alpine's reshuffling won't end there. Renault announced that the firm will gain responsibility for Renault Sport and Renault Sport Racing in the coming years, and that it will become 100% electric. It will introduce at least three new models during the first half of the 2020s: a car that looks like a city-friendly hatchback, its first crossover, inevitably, and the aforementioned A110 replacement.

UK car output falls 14% in March, may get worse with no-deal Brexit

LONDON — British car output fell for the 10th month in a row in March, hit by a slowdown in key foreign markets, and the sector stands to suffer a lot more if the country leaves the European Union without a deal, an industry body said on Tuesday. Output tumbled by an annual 14.4 percent to 126,195 cars in March, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said. Exports, which account for nearly four out of every five cars made in Britain, were down by 13.4 percent. The SMMT said analysis it had commissioned predicted output would fall this year to 1.36 million units from 1.52 million in 2018, assuming London can secure a transition deal with the EU. If Britain has to rely instead on World Trade Organization rules for its trade with the bloc, which include import tariffs, output is forecast to fall by around 30 percent to 1.07 million units in 2021, returning to mid-1980s levels, the SMMT said. The forecasts were produced for SMMT by AutoAnalysis, a consultancy. Prime Minister Theresa May has secured a delay to the Brexit deadline until Oct. 31, giving her more time to try to break an impasse in parliament over the terms of Britain's departure from the EU. Foreign minister Jeremy Hunt traveled to Japan earlier this month to try to persuade the Japanese government and Toyota, which has a big presence in Britain, that London was determined to avoid a no-deal Brexit. "Just a few years ago, industry was on track to produce 2 million cars by 2020 — a target now impossible with Britain's reputation as stable and attractive business environment undermined," SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said. "All parties must find a compromise urgently so we can set about repairing the damage and diverting energy and investment to the technological challenges that will define the future of the global industry." (Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)

2022 Lotus Emira revealed with two engine options, Evija-inspired looks

The final internal-combustion-powered Lotus has been revealed: the 2022 Lotus Emira. The styling looks like a blend of the outgoing Evora and the all-new Evija electric car. It also features two choices of engine, one of which comes from AMG. The Emira's nose has the closest resemblance to the electric car, particularly in the headlights and the vent openings on either side of the hood. But the whole car has a softer, more rounded shape like the EV rather than the old Evora. It has very large intakes on each side, and a slim, wrap-around taillight at the back. The body fits over a typical Lotus bonded-aluminum chassis, and the company says the lightest version of the car will weigh around 3,100 pounds. Two kinds of suspension are available, the standard Tour setup and an optional and stiffer Sports version. Also noteworthy is the inclusion of hydraulic power steering, rather than electric. Powering that chassis is your choice of engines. It will launch initially with the same supercharged 3.5-liter V6 from the Evora. Next summer, it will be offered with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder from AMG. Lotus says three transmissions will be available: manual, automatic and dual-clutch transmissions. It didn't say which pairings of engine and transmission would be available, but we expect the V6 to get the manual and automatic options, while the four-cylinder gets the dual-clutch transmission (just as it does when in Mercedes A-Class-related cars). The company also says power will range from 360 to 400 horsepower. This will get the car from 0 to 62 mph in under 4.5 seconds. The interior is fairly minimalist, but definitely more advanced than recent Lotus offerings. Most surfaces are covered in fabric, leather or Alcantara. It has two screens for instruments and infotainment. The former has a 12.3-inch screen, and the latter has a 10.25-inch touchscreen. Features include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There's only seating for two, and cargo space is split between a 5.3-cubic-foot trunk and a 7.3-cubic-foot area behind the seats. The Emira was revealed this week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Pricing for the U.S. has not been announced, but it will cost under 72,000 Euros in Europe. That comes to around $85,000 in the United States. We should know more about specifications and pricing closer to when it goes on sale sometime this year.