Now that Lotus is owned by Proton, Proton is looking at offering a Aston Martin Cygnet fighter for European markets; Lotus also have announced that a new Esprit will be coming online too.

Essentially, this means that there will be a Toyota Yaris-sized Lotus running about that isn’t meant to be a sports car for $45,000. Proton say that the car will initially be offered as a proton, but will justify the added price of the Lotus badge by offering it as an electric vehicle or as an extended range electric vehicle similar to the Chevy Volt.

The new Esprit will debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show and will be in dealerships four months later. The base version of the Esprit will be a hybrid, but the quicker, tighter versions will likely ditch the hybrid powertrain.

- By: Sawyer Sutton

Source: AutoExpress

The report says that Lotus is currently planning two powertrains. A series hybrid powertrain like the concept that was shown at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, or a complete electric solution like the Nissan LEAF. The company is also considering offering both choices at different price points.

Refresher: The Lotus City Car Concept is powered by an electric motor that produces 72-hp and 177 lb-ft of torque. Weighing in at less than 3,086 pounds, the City Car has the ability to go from 0 to 62 mph in 9 seconds with a top speed of 106 mph. When fully-charged, the City Car can travel 37 miles until the battery runs out. It also carries a flex-fuel 1.2L 3-cylinder engine that helps extend the range.

- By: Omar Rana

Source: duPontRegistry

Lotus’s future has been up in he air for quite sometime. And just when plans seemed to be solidified, things took a slight turn for the small British make.

Lotus has had a longtime partnership with Pacific Rim manufacturer, Proton. And because Lotus is seeking on expanding its company, they will be releasing a new model that’s practically a rebadged Proton hatchback. But to make way for the new Lotus City Car Ethos mini hatchback, the Elan has to be delayed.

“It will be built in Malaysia, but the Lotus version will most likely be sent to finishing school in Norfolk,” said Lotus’s chief executive, Dany Bahar. “It will be able to go on sale as early as 2014.”

Planning on making a small number of them per year, 1,500-1,800 to be exact, the Lotus Ethos will start around £30,000 and will be en electric vehicle or a hybrid.

“The new Ethos, part of our tweaked plan to launch five new cars within the next five years, will be tuned to Lotus’ spec and deliver the dynamics and style you’d expect of a Lotus,” Bahar continued.

Bahar also began elaborating on the Elan plan saying that it has been delayed until at least 2017, when the Evora is due for replacement. That said, the Evora will stay in production until the aforementioned 2017 year date with several variations most likely.

Additionally, since part of Lotus’s restructuring was becoming independent from its engine supplier, Toyota, Lotus is designing and building its own 4.8L flat-plane V8 in Norfolk. It is destined to be about 80kg lighter than the original Toyota V8 chosen, will feature a dry-sump lubrication system to help the internals stay nice and lubed during hard cornering, will produce 570hp and rev up to 9000rpm. Blimey. And if that’s not enough, an R version producing 620hp will also be revealed later on.

The V8s use will be in Lotus’s flagship, the 2013 Esprit with a small appearance in the Elte 2+2 as well. For the Elise successor, the V8 will be chopped in half to make a 2.4L four-banger.

“We are speaking to OEMs but we’re finding most high-output four-cylinders from the likes of Renault will no longer be built by 2015 because of emissions laws,” said Lotus’s engineering chief, Wolf Zimmerman.

Lotus City Car Concept:

- By: Chris Chin

Source: CAR

Lotus’ new CEO Dany Bahar may be seen as an amateur in the industry, but the man now has 20 months as the head of Lotus under his belt and is looking to make some big moves.

Bahar, who quit his top marketing job at Ferrari in 2009 to become CEO of Lotus Cars, has embarked on an ambitious program to greatly expand and revamp Lotus’ product portfolio. He is looking to reposition the brand as a competitor to Porsche with a target of annual sales around 6,000-8,000 by 2015.

So how is Bahar going to do this and what are the big moves we’re talking about? At a recent roundtable discussion with journalists, Bahar said that Lotus cannot develop the range of cars that meet emissions and crash regulations on its own. He is considering linking up with a global automaker, such as Toyota, through an alliance or even a sale. Separately, Bahar said that Lotus could be spun off and publicly traded.

In the meantime, Bahar said that Lotus continues to work on its range of premium sports cars that were shown at the 2010 Paris Motor Show in concept form. Also in the works is a tiny city car and a luxury sedan that would compete with the Porsche Panamera.

Lotus Esprit:

Lotus Elite:

Lotus Elise:

Lotus Elan:

Lotus Eterne:

- By: Omar Rana

Source: Inside Line

What you’re looking at here is a new city car design created by Lotus Engineer and commissioned by Automotive Engineering Magazine. As a result, the two ended up creating a supermini Lotus electric-vehicle that is even smaller than the Toyota iQ but manages to match the car’s 3+1 layout.

Designed for urban settings and short trips, this Lotus electric-city-vehicle is powered by 100 lithium-ion cells that provide energy to a 37 kW (50-hp) motor. After being charged for 3.5 hours this Lotus mini electric-car allows you to travel 30 miles with a top speed of around 65 mph.

Only 30 miles? Well, Just make sure your destination is only 15 miles away because you’ll need the other 15 miles of battery power to get back.

By now you’re probably wondering if it handles like a Lotus and if Lotus will ever build this – and the answer to both of those questions is simply  - no.

Click through for the image gallery.

Lotus City Electric-Car:

- By: Kap Shah

Source: CAR