Brace Yourselves: Lotus Is Jumping On The SUV Bandwagon

It seems few brands are safe from SUV fever right now. Porsche took the plunge years ago with the Cayenne and more recently the Macan, and Jaguar, Rolls Royce and Bentley are very much following suit. And now, as reported by Autocar, we can add another company to that list: Lotus.

The British sports car company’s financial health hasn’t been all that rosy of late, and with the latest version of the ageing Evora (below) unlikely to sort Lotus out in the long term on its own, an SUV - launching in 2019 - has clearly been deemed the best solution.

On the face of it, this seems like a good idea, however heinous it sounds to us lot. It’s all about tapping into the collosall demand for SUVs in China, and in fact, the car will be built in China and primarily be for the local market; a launch in Europe and Japan is under consideration.

Proponents will point out that Porsche nailed it with the Cayenne - which pretty much saved the company and is actually a damn fine car - but Lotus’ resources are considerably more limited. Can they pull it off and make a car that stays true to the brand? We’ll have to wait and see. Whatever happens, Lotus is a company we want to see survive.