Bruce Newton•13 Mar 2013
NEWS
Exige S signals life in Lotus
Supercharged hot-rod to be followed by renewed supply of Elise, Evora while all-new models are still being developedThe arrival in Australia of the first example of the red-hot new Lotus Exige S (pictured) has underlined the message from the local distributor that the troubled British sports car manufacturer is on the way back.
The first in a rash of of new products could be on sale as soon as late 2014, followed by other models like the Esprit V8 also previewed spectacularly at the Paris motor show in late 2010.
The second-generation Exige S, which is a 258kW 3.5-litre supercharged V6 pocket rocket, is going on-sale through Lotus’ five Australian dealerships for $119,990. It signals the start of renewed supply from the legendary Norfolk firm which should result in the current Elise and Evora also returning to local showrooms within 60 days.
“2014 will be a year where you see derivatives of the current range come out,” explained Glen Sealey of European Automotive Imports, the subsidiary of Ateco Automotive that took over Lotus distribution here in mid-2011. “Then I would imagine the end of 2014 the start of 2015 you will see the new platform come through.”
EAI assumed responsibility for Lotus in mid-2011, not long after the brand’s former global boss Dany Bahar led the spectacular reveal of six new generation concepts in Paris.
However, by early 2012 Lotus’ owner Proton Cars had been taken over by one of Malaysia’s biggest conglomerates DBR-Hicom. Within months Bahar had lost his job and there were grave fears for the future of Lotus.
In the midst of all that, new vehicle supply to Australia ground to a halt, forcing Mr Sealey to go foraging to Singapore for cars to keep sales trickling through.
He explained that DBR-Hicom had stopped production over concerns about the quality of component supply to Lotus and did not resume again until it was satisfied that issue was resolved.
“DBR-Hicom walked in to Lotus and saw the quality of the components they were being supplied and that’s where the argy-bargy started. They said ‘we are not paying for those parts’ and the supplier was saying ‘if you aren’t paying for those parts then you must be insolvent’.
“And that’s the way it went from March last year until two months ago. But now the suppliers have been rationalised, quality of the suppliers has increased, we can see that in certain components on the car.
“It is not going to be an easy road, but certainly phase one, which is addressing quality and component supply has been achieved. Phase two is rejuvenation of the current range and phase three is the all-new platforms.”
Importantly, Mr Sealey said, the decision had been made to prioritise the Elise replacement ahead of the Esprit, Elan, Eterne and Elite, although these four also remained a chance for production.
“Everything you saw in Paris is still on the table. But the order has changed, the Elise will come first because it’s the common sense thing to do. I am pleased with that in a business sense.
“It will retain the look of the Paris show car.”
EAI is targeting 70 Lotus sales in 2013 and hopes to grow that to 100-120 per annum via its five dealer national network. A new dealer is coming onstream in Sydney in the next few months.
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Written byBruce Newton
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