Lotus to leverage existing tech

Lotus has no new platform in its medium term planning and will soldier on with existing technology. That’s the clear message from its Australian connections.

But that doesn’t faze Lotus Australia and New Zealand's general manager, Glen Sealey.

"There is still life in this tub," he told motoring.com.au this week at the launch of a new automatic version of the Exige S.

"This is 20 year old technology but today I'm yet to see something that's better," Sealey argues.

"There are competitors in the marketplace that do a pretty good job, no doubt, but there's nothing that can deliver the tautness of the chassis, the drive and feel you get from this car [Exige]," he said.

Quizzed over whether the company will consider a switch away from the current Elise-based aluminium tub to a carbon-fibre setup like some of its rivals, including the Alfa Romeo 4C, Sealey remains unconvinced.

"In terms of complexity of construction, effectiveness, you have to say today [the current platform] can't be matched. So it'll be continued to be used."

"There's a couple of carbon-fibre tubs around but that's also not the cheapest thing to build either. Aluminium is well used and well known, and for Lotus whilst we are a brand that wants to keep appealing to a certain type of demographic, we've got to be cognisant of costs.

"We're not here to make, in Australian terms, a $600,000 supercar. We're here to provide most of the thrills you'd get out of such a car, for under $150,000."

The new platform set to underpin the Lotus SUV – hailed as a Porsche Macan rival – will be partly developed by Malaysian parent company Proton and could be an option for the company's next Elise/Exige/Evora, but Sealey wouldn't be drawn on the matter.

"It's a little bit like this: when something better comes along you would look at it."

Lotus plans to ramp up global sales from around 3000 vehicles per year at present to 10,000 units by the end of the decade, largely on the back of the new SUV. There are more vehicles coming, including the Porsche 911-rivalling Evora 400, but that's not due in Australia until "mid to late 2016", says Sealey.

But even with the first automatic Lotus launched in Australia this week, the company isn't predicting sales growth in Australasia. Current volume is around 70 sales per annum.

It's steady as she goes, suggests Sealey. Indeed, the local Lotus head says he’s content with the brand’s five dealerships in Australia's major cities – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide – and a single New Zealand dealer in Auckland.

"If we can keep it at 70 cars a year we're quite happy with that," he said.

"The brand is not ever going to be a mainstream brand. It's very much [targeting] a smaller portion of the pie."

"An auto transmission opens that car to a larger market," observes Sealey, but concedes that Exige S buyers are purists by nature, and the six-speed Toyota-sourced automatic, which commands a $5000 premium, won’t be to everyone's taste.

"Any other brand, I'd say 90 per cent auto, 10 per cent manual. For Lotus, if it's 50:50 I'd be surprised," he said of the sales split.