The Lotus Evora GTE - unveiled here in Frankfurt - will be built for a European market, rather than be limited to Asia as originally planned.
The race-inspired, 440bhp machine – which will be a star of the manufacturer’s Frankfurt motor show display later this month – was originally designed as a special limited edition of just 25 cars for Chinese customers.
But the positive reaction to the machine has prompted the Norfolk firm to expand its plans for the car.
Group Lotus chief Dany Bahar said: “The response to this model in China has been so incredible, within days we had sold out with 114 orders. In response we decided that the only logical step from a business perspective was to increase production and widen our reach.”
The Evora GTE, which is powered by a 3.5-litre V6 Toyota engine mated to a sequential AMT racing gearbox, was officially unveiled at the Pebble Beach Coucours d’Elegance in California last month.
It weighs 105kg less than the standard Evora due to the use of carbonfibre for the modified bodywork such as the front and rear bumpers, rear wing and doors.
In addition to the Evora GTE, Lotus will unveil three new models at Frankfurt motor show.
One of unveilings will be the Elise S, which replaces the discontinued Elise SC and has a new 1.8-litre, 200bhp supercharged engine, more torque, an improved throttle response and lower emissions than the outgoing model.
Lotus isn’t giving much away about the other two cars, but says that ‘one of these models will be one of the quickest road cars Lotus has ever built and the other marks the return of Lotus to another motorsport discipline’.
The racing car might be the make’s oft-promised new sportscar prototype, which is being built to LMP2 regulations and could compete at Le Mans within the next two years.
Among the other developments from Lotus at Frankfurt is an Evora S fitted with the Intelligent Precision Shift (IPS) automatic gearbox.
Thanks to: Autocar
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