Sports car brand’s boss calls porky performance vehicles ‘mediocre’
In a candid chat, Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng reportedly took aim at sports cars which stray too far from the low-weight formula – despite his own brand doing so.
The past few weeks have seen Lotus announce they’ll build a V8-powered supercar, eventually fit the Emira with a more powerful hybrid V6 engine, and launched a more track-focused version of the same sports car.
But that hasn’t stopped the brand’s CEO Feng Qingfeng from getting back into the headlines, this time for suggesting that Lotus’ – or in fact any – sports cars shouldn’t weigh more than 1800kg.
As reported by Car News China, Qingfeng said any sports car which doesn’t weigh less than 1800kg is “mediocre”, while adding higher power outputs to counteract porkier kerb weights is pointless.
The executive reportedly added that even cars with about 1500kW are mediocre if they don’t reach this weight goal.
Of course, the comments left Qingfeng open to criticism.
While the Emira weighs up to 1500kg – still becoming one of the heaviest petrol-powered Lotus models in recent history – the Lotus Evija, a 1500kW hypercar, tips the scales at almost 1900kg.
This, despite its hefty power output, places it well and truly into the ‘mediocre’ category outlaid by the Lotus CEO, while the brand’s electric sedan and SUV pairing are far closer to 2500kg.
Given Qingfeng’s comments, the future looks positive for the upcoming Lotus V8 supercar, which he confirmed will adopt a hybrid powertrain developed by Horse, a joint venture between Lotus parent Geely and Renault.
Lotus has so far confirmed the V8 hybrid powertrain will produce more than 735kW, and will be built both in China and Europe, while the door is open for it to be made elsewhere.
The Lotus V8 supercar could reuse the Esprit name, with Qingfeng saying there’s a “logical legacy connection” between the upcoming model and the classic offering.
