It appears that to make a grand entrance in the automotive world of the 21st century you must unveil an entire line of crossovers. For the British car maker most renown for their small and light sports cars, crossovers are the key to their future success. Geely, who not only saved, but revitalized Volvo to being a serious competitor for German auto manufacturers in the crossover segment, now has ambitions to do the same for Lotus.
What’s really interesting about this development is not the fact that Geely has plans for two crossovers and a full sized SUV by 2022 for Lotus, but that these vehicles will be built on the same platforms that are used for the Volvo XC60 and XC90, and possibly the XC40 depending on the size of their new crossovers. Automotive brands have shared platforms for a while, but I’d venture to say this is unprecedented for the simple reason that Lotus and Volvo are two completely different companies and that the ownership group isn’t Ford, GM, and Volkswagen. Geely is changing the game right before our eyes, and these new crossovers may not just share the same body.
There’s very little information out there pertaining to what Lotus’ crossovers will look like or what we can expect for performance, but there has been some speculation that the same engines that are put into Volvo’s might be under the hood of Lotus vehicles early next decade. For instance, the XC60 and XC90 come with three engine options, with the T8 eAWD Plug-in Hybrid engine getting an eyebrow raising 400 hp and 472 lb ft of torque.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves with performance, Lotus has expressed that their DNA will be incorporated into the next generation of vehicles for the British manufacturer. This would suggest that these crossovers may be light and easily maneuverable, which is certainly not an attribute Volvo shares with Lotus. This would then raise the question on whether we’ll see a T8 put into a Lotus crossover or we should expect the XC40’s T4 and T5 engines that from a historical point of view, would make more sense for a brand that has sold lightweight and low horsepower sports cars, unless the Evora 400 is the bench mark moving forward.
Outside of platform sharing, this is all purely based on speculation and we have two or three years before we’ll find out the specifications of these new models. Many will probably roll their eyes at the idea of having yet another crossover on the road, but if Lotus is being completely honest with us about maintaining their DNA, these new vehicles might have some personality in a segment filled with soulless daily drivers.
