Lotus is readying an SUV - and it could be on the market by 2019.
Fans of the UK-based brand need not worry that Dany Bahar has been re-employed - he who first mooted the idea of Lotus crossing over into new market segments like this - but instead should look at CEO Jean-Marc Gales, who is pushing this idea.
The maths behind it is extraordinarily simple: SUVs are big business the world over and nowhere more so than in China, where this Lotus will be built. For the company to survive long-term it must expand beyond its current sports car range and the SUV looks to be the best way of creaming in some serious profits.
Of course, Lotus will try to stay true to its principles, so the Porsche Macan is being benchmarked. Lotus wants its SUV to steer and handle at least as well as the German machine, albeit Lotus will try to make its SUV lighter.
We know nothing more of this crossover at this stage, beyond some scant details. It will be a five-door built in southeast China, and it is likely to have a nameplate that begins with an 'E', in finest Lotus tradition.
Anything else?
Anyone fearing that this is the first step in moving Lotus out of the UK and away to Asia should be reassured by Gales, who insists that Norfolk will remain the HQ of Lotus - with the Elise, Exige and Evora cars continuing to be manufactured there.