Not driven one of these but they've done a fantastic job on the styling, under the skin is apparently similar to its predecessor which is no bad thing. Looks like Lotus is finally going in the right direction, with a new all-electric SUV on the horizon, and the all-electric Evija being
otherworldly, I can't see them getting into serious financial troubles again for the foreseeable, unless they completely lose the plot.
Exactly how another useless stupid SUV is a move in the right direction quite escapes me….. like all of these softcock-roaders, with their ugly as a hatful of arseholes styling, total lack of off road ability, and compromised dynamics, the damned things are too busy trying to cover all the bases they fail to cover any properly.
Yeah they’ll sell them, but at the cost of diluting the brand essence, and given the market must be pretty well saturated, will they sell enough to justify the development costs? The sort of people that will buy them aren’t you usual hardcore Lotus enthusiasts who will forgive silly niggling faults, because they love the car and understand that it’s an impractical toy, no this new demographic of buyers will scream blue bloody murder, because the damned cigarette lighter socket doesn’t work, or the bloody cup holder has fallen off again!
If they don’t spend enough time and money on developing the design properly, they will drown in warranty costs and their reputation will suffer irreparable damage with this buyer demographic.
Let’s face it Lotus always made cars that went like a scolded cat, had magnificent dynamics and stunning looks, but reliably, robustness and assembly quality were never their strong suit.
If they haven’t got their sums right, they won’t get repeat buyers.
And Lotus may join the loooooong list of British car brands that are but a memory…….due to reputation damage and warranty issues caused by selling products that were rushed onto the market and weren’t properly developed because the damned bean counters wouldn’t spend any money on making it work properly.