Sedans and SUVs in the cards for Lotus

Sports car manufacturer Lotus could soon introduce its first sedans and SUVs as an initiative of its new CEO, the Luxembourger Jean-Marc Gales. Leaked by an anonymous source to the newspaper Utusan Malaysia, the report is currently making the rounds in the international automotive press.

Though currently focused exclusively on sports cars, Lotus could soon expand its catalog to include sedans and SUVs, just as other prestigious car brands such as Maserati and Porsche have done in recent years.

Over the past decade, Lotus has presented a number of concepts pointing in this direction, such as the APX crossover in 2006 and the Eterne premium sedan in 2010, though none of these prototypes made it to the production stage.

According to the Malaysian newspaper, the potential new models will be geared primarily towards the Chinese market.

The Lotus brand, which currently belongs to the Malaysian group Proton, was founded by the iconic English engineer Colin Chapman. The company made a name for itself in particular at the race track, as its cars won seven Formula One Constructors' Championships and six Drivers' Championships between 1958 and 1994. The brand briefly returned to Formula One with a new entity in 2010.