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The Atlanta office is preparing to expand from 11 people to more than twice that as the new cars arrive. Okay, but how much volume can Lotus give it's dealers? Production capacity at Hethel, though often cited at 10,000 per year, according to Lotus itself is realistically closer to 8000. With the Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220 contract with GM coming to an end and surety of it being renewed, plus the shakiness over the whereabouts for Solstice production, and the end of Esprit production.... things could potentially get lonely on the Lotus Cars side of the fence. No surprise then that Lotus Engineering, the consultancy side not dependant on car production, is getting pumped up in a major way to do the lion's share of the work in keeping things robust in the Norfolk copuntryside. Just in case. The aim is to see revenues split 50/50 between car building and consulting.
To help bulk up the sales side, Lotus plans to offer a performance driving school for it's U.S. customers, one at Road Atlanta and one at a western circuit to be determined shortly.
There is also serious talk of backing entries in the SCCA T1 or T2 category against Corvettes, 911s and M3s. All pretty tough talk.
Base price is not set, but projected at "under $40,000." Not as affordable as the Rover model has been, but there is all that extra equipment and power. For those that would prefer a more bare-bones experience,
there is a lightweight package on the way (they are saying by October) that strips out the air conditioning. and the stereo, and speakers for a 45-pound diet and
$500 off the MSRP. A $2,500 sports package for the track-day crowd gets you a sturdier suspension set-up, special forged aluminum wheels and specially formulated Yokohama AO48 performance treads, same dimensions in the rear, but switching to 195/50s in the front. If you want to go the other way toward more comfort, the touring package adds $1,200 for a bunch more sound insulation, a better Blaupunkt, full leather with perforated seats,
electric windows, carpeted sills and a stowage net. A body-colored hardtop adds $1500.
Most importantly, the fun. Driver satisfaction has been wholly translated into this new ELise from the European model we have lusted after for so long. Once you are in it, you will not see it as a compromise for our spoiled American sakes. In it's stock form, this federalized Elise flat out beats the Porsche Boxster, Mazda Miata, and Honda S2000 when the chips are down on track day. Americans finally get to find that out for themselves. Product success hasn't always equated to business success, of course, but for now, it looks like the getting could be good.