Lotus is readying a lightweight alternative to the Porsche Macan and Maserati Levante that’ll blow both out of the water.
The boutique British automaker that specializes in lightweight supercar beaters is readying to take their expertise to the SUV market. According to Autocar, thanks to a couple of patent drawing to hit the internet earlier today (Mar. 20,2018) Lotus confirmed that yes, they are going to drop their SUV in less than four years. The patent drawings show off a distinctly Lotus front end with a very trimmed and fighting trim ready profile and rear. Check out the patent drawings courtesy of Autocar below!
Lotus’s upcoming SUV will have Volvo underpinnings and class-leading handling. Could it be better than the Stelvio QV?https://t.co/iNmjZYP6nP
— Autocar (@autocar) March 20, 2018
Since Lotus is now owned by Geely, which subsequently owns Volvo, according to Lotus’s CEO Jean-Marc Gale, this Lotus SUV will pick and choose parts from Volvo’s XC90 and XC60.
Underpinning both of those SUV’s is SPA or Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture which will be the platform Lotus will use. Volvo did invest $10B in this platform so you better believe they’ll get some use out of it.
If you’re worried that Geely will water down this SUV to suit the Chinese market, you can be rest assured that Lotus will be 100 percent at the helm.
The British sports car will be given free reign by its new parent company Geely, to cherry pick platforms, parts and electronic architecture from Volvo.
Although this platform might restrict Volvo to something two liters and under with a bit of forced induction, keep in mind that Volvo manages to squeeze out a total of 400 HP and 472 lb-ft from its direct injected turbo & supercharged engine with an electric motor assist. Needless to say, the engine underneath the hood will be no slouch.
Then there’s the issue of weight. The lightest Volvo XC60 comes in at 3,959 pounds while the Macan they’ll be benchmarking weighs in at 3,900 pounds in its lightest trim level. Weight has always been Lotus’s ace up its sleeve so I’ll be curious to see just how much weight they’ll trim from the XC60.
According to Autocar, Lotus is shooting for an MSRP of between $85,000 and $100,000 so this won’t be exactly cheap. Then again, people who chose Lotus are a different breed altogether where money might not really be an issue.
One thing’s for sure, this Lotus SUV will definitely be a Macan beater on the track.
