The 2016 fiscal year is going to be very important for Lotus, as the company is expected to return a profit for the first time in nigh 20 years.
When Jean-Marc Gales took over as CEO of Lotus back in 2014, he laid out a three-year plan to bring the company back to profitability.
“We are continuously improving as 2013 was better than 2012, 2014 was better than 2013, 2015 was better than 2014”, said Gales during an interview with Autonews. “Now comes the big year 2016-17 where we will be profitable”.
Gales estimates they will sell 2,200 to 2,300 cars in this financial year, probably even more given that the company will also benefit from a full year in the US market. Last May, Lotus launched the Evora stateside, with 250 orders already placed.
As for the roadster version of the Evora, this is expected to debut in May 2017 and further boost sales. When asked about the development of their new aluminum architecture, Gales said that there is still much life left in the current one.
“There will be a new architecture coming but give us another four years for the (Elise) small car and a bit longer for the (Evora) large car. The basic architecture is 20 years old, yes, but the Porsche 911 architecture is 50 years old and that’s still going strong. We’ve continuously updated it.”
US customers will not get the current Elise; the sole offerings in the States will be the Evora, the Evora 410 Sport and the upcoming Evora Roadster. If all goes as planned, Lotus will offer the next generation of the Elise there when it arrives in 2020.
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