Lotus’ SUV less than four years away

• Published On: 21 March 2018
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The car will be built using Volvo underpinnings.

Lotus CEO Jean Marc Gales revealed that the brand’s upcoming SUV will be ready to hit the streets in under four years. The SUV will compete with cars like the Maserati Levante and Porsche Macan.

The company, which is owned by Geely, will build this car using underpinnings from Volvo, which is also owned by the same parent company. The goal is to make a car that’s incredibly agile for an SUV. “It will go round bends like nothing else in its segment,” said Gales. “If we fail on that, we fail the project.”

Volvo’s SPA platform, which underpins cars like the XC90 and XC60, will be used in the production of the car. The car will also be available with a hybrid variant, which could possibly be Volvo’s XC90 Twin Engine hybrid, which makes 401bhp. The car will also share some of Volvo’s electric architecture and interior bits. “I love the new Volvo interiors because they are so simple,” said Gales.” The screen is great.”

Gales also added that the new SUV’s design will be finalised in around two months and the company is currently hiring 250 new engineers at its Hethel base to work on the new SUV. Prices are expected to be in the range of £60,000-£70,000 (Rs 54-64 lakh, approx).