Lotus plans new Elise and Espirit

British sports car maker Lotus actually makes more money consulting other companies and refining their models than selling their own cars! but good news is coming out of factory that we are going to see at least two new models, apart from Evora coupe and convertible, in the next few years. There will be a new version of the lovely Elise in 2011 and also the mighty Espirit will be revived for 2012.

According to the insiders, the new Elise will be a development of the current car

rather than a totally new model based on the Evora. And that’s good because Elise is known for its agile character and to mix it up with the heavier slower Evora can ruin its reputation. The new Espirit project however, that is still in a cloud of skepticism, because of the financial difficulties and fears that the market won’t embrace a mid-engine British sporty firm enough for Lotus to make some money out of it!

If however it makes it to the production you can expect it to launch after the Evora convertible. That’s 2012. Unlike the Elise , Espirit will share many parts with the Evora, But it will definitely use a V8 engine because it is a Espirit! Lotus has reportedly lowered its expectations for next year’s production, from 8000 to around 5000 units and also some of their contracts have been cancelled due to the credit crunch. What we can do is to keep our fingers crossed for the new cars to come to life!