Production of the new mid-engined Lotus coupe, the Europa S is scheduled to commence in July 2006 at the Lotus manufacturing facility at Norfolk, UK.
The Lotus tag line for the Europa is "Business Class by Lotus". I guess we will have to wait and see what the others say.
The new Lotus Europa S, is a Grand Tourer (GT) inspired two-seater with a 2.0 L turbocharged engine. It weighs just 995 kg with a maximum speed of approximately 225 km/h (140mph).
Back View
Front View
Side View
According to the Lotus press release, the Europa S has a larger boot / luggage compartment and easier cabin access than the Lotus Elise,
They stressed that the Europa S is not a derivative of the Elise or the Exige and has been allocated a separate Lotus type number (Type 121 - the Elise and Exige are both Type 111).
The car will be sold in all markets where the Lotus brand is present, except for the US and Canada. Read somewhere that it is because the Opel/Vauxhall built turbo engine has not been certified to meet emissions requirements for those nations.
Final pricing and full specifications haven't been announced yet but the price is
expected to be around £33000 (49000 Euros).