Lotus Elise 2006 News

Toyota has bought a significant stake in Tesla, which plans to add a prestige family sedan soon to its Lotus Elise-based Roadster, in a deal which will also revive a dormant factory in the USA. The NUMMI factory in Fremont, California - its name stands for New United Motor Manufacturing, Incorporated - was originally set us as a joint venture between General Motors and Toyota. But, just like the shotgun marriage between Toyota and Holden in the 1980s in Australia, the deal fell apart and production at the factory ended this year. Now Toyota plans to assist Tesla to establish a giant new manufacturing operation at the NUMMI site as it taps into the American start-up company's expertise in electric-car technology.  It has bought a stake in Tesla costing more than $59 million and Toyota chief Akio Toyoda is bullish about the potential in the deal. "I’ve felt an infinite possibility about Tesla’s technology. Through this partnership, by working together with a venture business such as Tesla, Toyota would like to learn from the challenging spirit, quick decision-making, and flexibility that Tesla has," Toyoda says. "Decades ago, Toyota was also born as a venture business. By partnering with Tesla, my hope is that all Toyota employees will recall that ‘venture business spirit,’ and take on the challenges of the future." Tesla will build its upcoming Model S, although it is unlikely to approach the 500,000 cars-a-year production capacity at the factory.  The Model S was unveiled last year and has a target price in the USA of $49,900, a figure helped considerably by a government tax break, as well as a claimed range of 500 kilometres between re-charges. "The Tesla factory effectively leverages an ideal combination of hardcore Silicon Valley engineering talent, traditional automotive engineering talent and the proven Toyota production system," said Tesla CEO, Elon Musk.  "The new Tesla Factory will give us plenty of room to grow."  But Tesla is still in its infancy and has delivered less than 1000 of its Elise-based electric Roadster sports cars to date.

Lotus will give its new Europa S Grand Tourer its Asia-Pacific debut at Darling Harbour on 26 October, while Mazda will unveil the folding-hardtop version of its perennially popular MX-5.The Europa S is based upon Lotus' mainstay model, the Elise, but has been extensively redesigned to provide higher levels of comfort and refinement.The new model has a larger boot and luggage compartment as well as a higher roofline and lower sills for easier driver and passenger access.Unique exterior styling and interior luxuries such as leather upholstery, carpets and driver and passenger airbags complete the package.Despite the extra size and features the Europa S maintains the reputation of Lotus for lightweight aluminium chassis construction, tipping the scales at just 995kg.The low kerb weight combines with a torquey 263Nm 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine to give the Europa S a supercar-like 0-100km/h acceleration time of 5.5 seconds.Mazda, meanwhile, has used its expertise in lightweight engineering to give the MX-5 the retractable hardtop treatment.The folding metal roof on the MX-5 Roadster Coupe adds just 37kg to the low weight of the soft-top model, thereby keeping the MX-5's lithe responses unaffected.Mazda says that when the MX-5 Roadster Coupe goes on sale at the Sydney motor show in October it will appeal to a new group of customers."The Roadster Coupe will expand the MX-5's fan base, appealing to those who have expressed the desire to enjoy open-top driving in even greater comfort," says Mazda Australia's managing director, Doug Dickson.Sales of the MX-5 soft-top have exploded so far this year, rising almost 420 per cent over the same period of 2005. The MX-5 Roadster Coupe and Lotus Europa S will be on display at the Australian International Motor Show from 5pm, 26 October and every day until 5 November.