Proton Refutes Reports that it will sell Lotus to Genii Capital

Proton, the Malaysian owner of Lotus, released a statement where it dismisses reports that appeared in several media outlets and which said that it is planning to sell a stake of the British sports car manufacturer.

Here’s what the company stated: "The alleged moves between Group Lotus and Genii Capital are untrue and the reports are highly speculative in nature. Proton’s relationship with Group Lotus is as good as it has ever been.”
Despite abysmal sales, Proton stressed that it remains committed to the turnaround of Lotus and is “channeling all energy and efforts” towards developing the brand’s new products.
Lotus plans to widen its range to unprecedented levels by unveiling no less than six new models in the next four years, starting with the 2013 Esprit featuring an in-house developed V8 engine.
The Ferrari 458 Italia-rivaling Esprit will be joined in the same year by the Elan and the Concept City Car, while in 2014, the plan calls for the presentation of the Elite and in 2015, the new Elise and the 4-door Eterne.

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Lotus Wants to Make the World Notice its Cars to Increase Disheartening Sales

Lotus is a brand with a long and distinguished history – yet that's not enough if your present situation is dire. In the first eight months of the year, Lotus sales were merely a blip in the UK sales chart as only 272 cars were delivered, a 24% decrease to the already depressing 358 units of the same period in 2010.
Karl Heinz Kalbfell, who used to work for BMW, was brought in last year in an effort to increase sales. He says that the reason Lotus can’t sell more cars is that the public isn’t aware of the company's products.
“The brand is well known, but the products are not”, Kalbfell told Autocar magazine. “We have some great cars in our range, like the Evora. Many car companies would love to have the Evorain their range. Now we must get the car to the buyers’ shopping list.”





The first step is the Evora GTE, which sports an updated chassis and carbon-fibrer body parts and most importantly, comes with 444HP instead of the standard car’s 350-horses.
Kalbfell hopes that the GTE, which will sell for nearly £120K in the UK and Exige S will lay the ground for next year’s £100,000 new Esprit since, as he said, “we cannot jump buyers up from the Elise to the Esprit”.
Also on Kalbfell's list of priorities is to improve management, dealership network and public awareness in preparation for Lotus’ upcoming models.

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IAA 2011: New Lotus Evora GTE Limited Edition with 444-horses

After receiving positive feedback and ongoing interest from buyers, Lotus decided to expand the availability of its special edition Evora GTE road car instead of sticking to its original plan that called for a limited production run of 114 cars for the Chinese market.

The special edition is based on the Evora GTE racecar featuring the same 3.5-liter supercharged V6 engine delivering 444-horses, up from the Evora S' 350-ponies.



A new sequential AMT (Automated Manual Transmission) racing gearbox transfers power to the lightweight forged alloy rims with center lock hubs shod in Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires.
Lotus engineers also reduced the car's weight by 105kg or 232 pounds over the base Evora through the use of carbon fibre throughout the exterior and interior. For example, the lightweight material has been used for all the bodywork modifications including the front and rear bumpers, the rear wing and the doors.
Commenting on the Evora GTE road car, Group Lotus CEO Dany Bahar said: “The response to this model in China has been so incredible, within days we had sold out with 114 orders. In response, we decided that the only logical step from a business perspective was to increase production and widen our reach.





“What is unique about this car is not just that it’s a serious race car – it’s a serious car. People get so excited when they see and especially hear it for the first time. It’s a very special car and will appeal to a very special type of driver – and they won’t be disappointed," Bahard added.

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