Scottish Elises

What?

http://www.autocar.co.uk/blogs/industry ... on-and-suv

I actually think it might be a good way to generate some sales and visibility, as long as it either up market, Cayenne /X5 / Rangie territory, or stripped out hardcore 4x4, like a Defender.
If it's a Proton with Lotus badges ( which thinking about it is a strong possibility)- big mistake.

Quite surprised by the lack of comment on this.
I thought there'd be a lot of opinion both ways on the idea of a Lotus SUV.


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Personally I am horrified by the idea. Porsche, while now financially doing very well, is to me a much diluted brand. Maybe Lotus wouldn't do the identikit thing that they do, but I'd much rather see Lotus as a small volume sports car maker. The mainstream would be unreasonably unforgiving of any quality issues - just look at the demise of marques like Lancia in the UK.
I'd much rather see Lotus produce great sports cars for the discerning rather than chasing the masses.
Why can manufacturers not appreciate that Lotus, Porsche or Maserati should make sports cars and Jeep, Range Rover et al make 4x4s - who'd want a Range Rover track day car?


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I would agree with you but I don't think there is a big enough market to sustain Lotus if they only make sports cars.
I would welcome the opportunity to have an additional Lotus with a different 'function' on the drive

I could handle something along the lines of a Bowler Wildcat or a Lamborghini LM002.
Suspect there might still be market share issues though...


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Not sure I understande their reasoning behind building an SUV, the Lotus demographic is different from the Porsche one. I understand they need cash and cash would allow them to build cooler cars but I don't see an SUV as a way of doing that. Nobody want an exige with jacked up suspension.

They do need to increase their model count, They need to develope a floorplan that can take multiple body styles and engines.