Lotus Cuts New-Product Plan to One Model

The new owner of U.K.-based Group Lotus, declaring "we cannot allow Lotus to take us down," has canceled the brand's plan to introduce five new models in five years.

Automotive News Europe says Malaysia's DRB-Hicom Bhd made the cuts after determining the previous Lotus plan was financially unfeasible. DRB gained control of Lotus in January when it acquired the parent of the British sports car company, Proton Bhd.

An unnamed source tells the online newspaper that Lotus will develop only one of the new models it showed in concept form at the 2010 Paris auto show: the Esprit supercar due in 2014. The two-seater would join the existing Elise roadster and Evora and Exige sport coupes.

The planned five-model expansion was part of former CEO Dany Bahar's program to broaden Lotus's appeal and quadruple annual sales to 8,000 units by mid-decade. He envisioned replacing the company's three-model lineup with the Esprit, revived versions of its Elan and Elite nameplates, the Eterne sedan and an unnamed city car.

Bahar was fired in June after DRB commissioned an independent review of Lotus operations and finances.

DRB Managing Director Mohd Khamil Jamil again refutes news reports that DRB intends to sell the marque. He says the investment company has injected $311 million into Lotus and intends to invest that much more in 2013 in a bid to make Lotus profitable.