Wednesday 30th March 2005

Exige moves States-side

Lotus' hard-core car shows Hethel's playing a long game

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Lotus Exige

Lotus is continuing its move into the US market, having started with the Elise and now with the US-spec Exige.

At the dealer preview of the New York International Auto Show, Lotus officials showed a federal spec Exige slated for sale this autumn. The Exige specs aren't yet final but discussions with Lotus' Simon Croft revealed that the vehicle will be very close to the current UK model. Additional features being considered for standard issue on federal cars include air conditioning, and unique sport seats and wheel options. Like its European counterparts, the Exige has handling superiority over the Elise but loses roughly seven per cent of its top end performance resulting in a 147 mph top speed, compared to 155 mph for the Elise. The Exige will go head to head against arch-rival Porsche’s newly announced Cayman (Boxster Coupe).

This performance drop combined with a $10-15k price increase over the Elise has already raised some eyebrows of US buyers, some of whom have questioned the decision not in stall the supercharger from the newly revealed 240R.

The reason is federal approval. An entirely new certification process would need to be undertaken if the supercharger were included as standard. However, whispers could be heard on the Lotus stand that the supercharger will be offered to US buyers as a dealer installed and factory warranted accessory, a strategy that avoids re-certification and avoids a huge financial commitment from Lotus which will probably only result in a few hundred sales per year.

Lotus also announced it would revise its colour palette for the US market for 2006.

It looks like Lotus is committed to a long relationship. Kim Ogaard-Nielsen, the new CEO of Group Lotus plc, confirmed that the range-topping Esprit replacement is on its way for 2007. He also spoke of the often discussed mid-range model which was described as a “daily use Lotus”. It appears that this car will not hit the streets until 2010 but will, when combined with the other two models, raise annual output to an estimated 10,000 units.

Lotus has been struggling recently keeping prices down due largely to the falling dollar. The base-spec Elise was said to be losing money on its US introduction last year but Lotus banked on option packages to make it profitable. There have been two price increases totalling $3,000 in the nine months since the first delivery. For the first time yesterday, Lotus officials admitted that they are looking at cost cutting options for the Elise in order to hold the current price point. Rumoured too are the removal of one of the oil coolers, and revised package content and pricing.

[z_chromozone]

The weak $ is a real pain in the arse. The GB cars are up against a huge wall. At least Lotus are giving it a try. TVR don't seem interested

Z

[dsf3g]

What a shame the supercharger is only being offered as a dealer installed option. That would make the 240hp exige ineligible for stock autocross classes where it might well eat Z06s for breakfast.

[Brendan G]

Some of the figures seem a bit off here.

The Exige's top speed is only slightly lower than the Elise's. Isn't the Elise's top speed 150mph rather than 155?

Also, the extra price surely isn't $10-15K? It's only a couple of grand different in the UK. Is this a mistake, or Lotus having a laugh?