RE: Lotus to hire 200 engineers in new expansion
Discussion
kambites said:
Frimley111R said:
I think that was chassis manufacture that they moved to Norfolk?
I thought the tubs were made in Sweden by another company? Did they bring them in-house at some point? The M250 was designed and engineered at least in part at the Coventry site, but closed not long after the project was canned during a period of contraction at Lotus . Same thinking at the time from what I remember, to employ engineers not willing to relocate and also to try to pick up new consultancy work from Midlands OEMs.
Jellinek said:
Chassis is made by Lotus Lightweight Structures in the midlands, near Worcester I think. Hydro aluminium stopped being involved many years ago now.
The M250 was designed and engineered at least in part at the Coventry site, but closed not long after the project was canned during a period of contraction at Lotus . Same thinking at the time from what I remember, to employ engineers not willing to relocate and also to try to pick up new consultancy work from Midlands OEMs.
M250 made a visit to Worcester in around 2002ish The M250 was designed and engineered at least in part at the Coventry site, but closed not long after the project was canned during a period of contraction at Lotus . Same thinking at the time from what I remember, to employ engineers not willing to relocate and also to try to pick up new consultancy work from Midlands OEMs.
Right now it'll be pretty dam hard to hire 200 decent automotive engineers in the Midlands, and just about impossible to do the same out in the Norfolk badlands.....
(right now, if you're an experienced automotive engineer with good EV experience you can already pretty much name your price, given that everyone is hiring, and people like Dyson are blank-chequebooking their way towards a significant number of staff "stolen" from other OE's..... ;-)
(right now, if you're an experienced automotive engineer with good EV experience you can already pretty much name your price, given that everyone is hiring, and people like Dyson are blank-chequebooking their way towards a significant number of staff "stolen" from other OE's..... ;-)
otolith said:
No, they appear to have dropped the 1.6 - and the naturally aspirated 1.8, they only have supercharged 1.8 cars on the website now.
https://www.lotuscars.com/range/elise/
They've kind of done the opposite of downsizing, given that the two Elise platform cars now only come with superchargers and 1.8 or 3.5 litre engines!
Lotus will be ending its partnership with Toyota which includes all current engines. Geely has access to a few different engines however the most liekly candidate is the 4 cylinder volvo engines or an EV engine.https://www.lotuscars.com/range/elise/
They've kind of done the opposite of downsizing, given that the two Elise platform cars now only come with superchargers and 1.8 or 3.5 litre engines!
lotuslover69 said:
Lotus will be ending its partnership with Toyota which includes all current engines. Geely has access to a few different engines however the most liekly candidate is the 4 cylinder volvo engines or an EV engine.
That seemed likely when the sale was announced, has it been confirmed?I wouldn’t want a turbocharged engine in an Elise, but it’s only a matter of time before there aren’t any off the shelf engines which aren’t. It probably doesn’t matter, because they’re likely to go for a more mass market sort of car which can be a blunter instrument, but at the same time they are moving upmarket - will Volvo fours cut it in that space?
robzD said:
I wonder if lotus considered a hybrid powertrain aka maclaren type.
It might fit in with lotus lighter is better and green guff too .
Obviously leaning towards combined huge power when asked for.
Hybrid powertrain is possible for whatever eventually replaces the Evora. The Elise replacement will likely be a slightly modified current elise with a volvo 4 cylinder engine. The v6 cars will no longer exist and the hypercar ev will be revealed soon.It might fit in with lotus lighter is better and green guff too .
Obviously leaning towards combined huge power when asked for.
I believe their plan is to compete with mclaren and lamborghini and so i expect the first true new model to sit around the 200k mark. Possibly could be a hybrid. The ev hypercar is going to be 7 digits with close to 2k horsepower.
Fingers crossed this is a well co-ordinated plan, that takes them more down a main stream route but keeping a ‘nichest’ edge.
That’s the issue despite what people may say about purity the market is limited. And the prices of the cars at now plus £100k for the 430 variants makes it even harder to find buyers.
I used to have an Evora and now own a 380 sport (they are stunning to drive but too compromised for the masses).
And the evora isn’t a 911 sad but true. Lotus build quality isn’t best (but not as bad as some think) but (touch wood) never had one break down on me.
I’ve also owned porkas, Hondas BMWs etc and they have / have thrown up much bigger bills.
So if lotus can deliver a more for the masses type sports car and use Volvo influence to help achieve a mid range price point car that is more practical and a quality fit and finish then that’s a good thing. It may not be as pure but if they get the balance right means they will have brighter future than if the carry on down their route of past 20 years.
Or go higher end and compete with the big boys but will need to properly nail quality and power 550hp plus then with will force them down the hybrid route I suspect.
I’d have a 650hp £150k lotus over a McLaren or lambo!!
Its been proven year after year they need a new approach to shift the volumes needed to sustain growth which in turn allows more development of new cars rather than new variants of the same old models.
That’s the issue despite what people may say about purity the market is limited. And the prices of the cars at now plus £100k for the 430 variants makes it even harder to find buyers.
I used to have an Evora and now own a 380 sport (they are stunning to drive but too compromised for the masses).
And the evora isn’t a 911 sad but true. Lotus build quality isn’t best (but not as bad as some think) but (touch wood) never had one break down on me.
I’ve also owned porkas, Hondas BMWs etc and they have / have thrown up much bigger bills.
So if lotus can deliver a more for the masses type sports car and use Volvo influence to help achieve a mid range price point car that is more practical and a quality fit and finish then that’s a good thing. It may not be as pure but if they get the balance right means they will have brighter future than if the carry on down their route of past 20 years.
Or go higher end and compete with the big boys but will need to properly nail quality and power 550hp plus then with will force them down the hybrid route I suspect.
I’d have a 650hp £150k lotus over a McLaren or lambo!!
Its been proven year after year they need a new approach to shift the volumes needed to sustain growth which in turn allows more development of new cars rather than new variants of the same old models.
Edited by P155flaps on Tuesday 14th May 22:31
threespires said:
I wonder if the Lotus logo will one day adorn a factory in Brackley where a three pointed star hangs today?
Oh, what a great idea. At some point Mercedes will decide to move on. Better a sportscar manufacturer with racing history owning the team, rather than an energy drink company.
I’ve no idea whether Geely has any interest in motorsport, but I would love to see Lotus back at the sharp end of F1.
SpudLink said:
Oh, what a great idea.
At some point Mercedes will decide to move on. Better a sportscar manufacturer with racing history owning the team, rather than an energy drink company.
These new teams have to start somewhere and build a heritage. RB have done just that rather than failing massively like Jaguar did before them. Heritage isn't everything. At some point Mercedes will decide to move on. Better a sportscar manufacturer with racing history owning the team, rather than an energy drink company.
otolith said:
No, they appear to have dropped the 1.6 - and the naturally aspirated 1.8, they only have supercharged 1.8 cars on the website now.
They've kind of done the opposite of downsizing, given that the two Elise platform cars now only come with superchargers and 1.8 or 3.5 litre engines!
I think they learnt and responded to the fact that people don't want little engines in sports cars. They've kind of done the opposite of downsizing, given that the two Elise platform cars now only come with superchargers and 1.8 or 3.5 litre engines!
Controversial I know, but I am convinced the GT86 and MX5 should have had at least 1 higher powered variant.
Frimley111R said:
otolith said:
No, they appear to have dropped the 1.6 - and the naturally aspirated 1.8, they only have supercharged 1.8 cars on the website now.
They've kind of done the opposite of downsizing, given that the two Elise platform cars now only come with superchargers and 1.8 or 3.5 litre engines!
I think they learnt and responded to the fact that people don't want little engines in sports cars. They've kind of done the opposite of downsizing, given that the two Elise platform cars now only come with superchargers and 1.8 or 3.5 litre engines!
Controversial I know, but I am convinced the GT86 and MX5 should have had at least 1 higher powered variant.
otolith said:
That seemed likely when the sale was announced, has it been confirmed?
I wouldn’t want a turbocharged engine in an Elise, but it’s only a matter of time before there aren’t any off the shelf engines which aren’t. It probably doesn’t matter, because they’re likely to go for a more mass market sort of car which can be a blunter instrument, but at the same time they are moving upmarket - will Volvo fours cut it in that space?
I think the Mazda SkyActiv engine could be a good fit for Lotus.I wouldn’t want a turbocharged engine in an Elise, but it’s only a matter of time before there aren’t any off the shelf engines which aren’t. It probably doesn’t matter, because they’re likely to go for a more mass market sort of car which can be a blunter instrument, but at the same time they are moving upmarket - will Volvo fours cut it in that space?
Light, revvy, NA.
No idea if it's commercially feasible, but also don't know who else makes an engine that's really suited.
Chamon_Lee said:
Frimley111R said:
otolith said:
No, they appear to have dropped the 1.6 - and the naturally aspirated 1.8, they only have supercharged 1.8 cars on the website now.
They've kind of done the opposite of downsizing, given that the two Elise platform cars now only come with superchargers and 1.8 or 3.5 litre engines!
I think they learnt and responded to the fact that people don't want little engines in sports cars. They've kind of done the opposite of downsizing, given that the two Elise platform cars now only come with superchargers and 1.8 or 3.5 litre engines!
Controversial I know, but I am convinced the GT86 and MX5 should have had at least 1 higher powered variant.
Bit of a shame the GT86 hasn't had a faster version. I was always surprised that Subaru didn't do a BRZ STI.
framerateuk said:
Also the Elise (even the 1.6 variant) has been getting progressively more expensive for years. Entry point for an Elise is now in the 40k range, people understandably expect more power for that price. Also, most people buying a Lotus want it to be fairly quick!
The Elise has always looked comically underpowered for its price but that's hardly the point (and anyway it still has a power to weight ratio well above that of a standard Boxster which costs the same). Unfortunately for Lotus not very many people want what it offers instead of power. B10 said:
Great news. However why is it only foreign investors who see our potential?
Because (a) the money men in the city have no interest in making things (b) concentrate their energy and capital resources on short term easy money-making i.e. financial wheeler dealing and tax avoidance and/or (c) buying good companies and then stripping out costs/assets loading the company with debt to then extract huge dividends for themselves and then sell on the company for a profit so they can move onto to another poor victim. They have a time horizon of 2-5 years and look to make a return on capital of at least 30-40% per YEAR. So, you wouldn't want any of those reptiles near Lotus which has suffered from short-termisim over the years. Sad as it may be, it is better to have a foreign investor which is committed to manufacturing & marketing (hopefully!).Renault have a suitable 4 pot turbo that lotus could use- power from 250-300+ in std trim
There is some history...
I really like the lotus cars but I was too much of a wuss to think I'd use an elise except on perfect days. Had considered the Europa but still struggled getting in and out. I had an extended drive in an Elise some years ago- rear view mirror fell off during the drive but the rest of the car was great- like a big go-cart.
I do like the v6 Exige however which doesn't stack up with anything that I've written above.....
There is some history...
I really like the lotus cars but I was too much of a wuss to think I'd use an elise except on perfect days. Had considered the Europa but still struggled getting in and out. I had an extended drive in an Elise some years ago- rear view mirror fell off during the drive but the rest of the car was great- like a big go-cart.
I do like the v6 Exige however which doesn't stack up with anything that I've written above.....
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