Published: Oct 07, 2012

Reports of Esprit's Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

Lotus won't confirm or deny that the Esprit has been canceled. All it will say is that it isn't saying anything just yet.

In 1897 the New York Journal reported that Mark Twain had died. Upon reading his own obituary, Twain famously quipped, "the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." As it turns out, we could say the same for the Lotus Esprit. The news had stemmed from a report in the Dutch edition of AutoWeek magazine, indicating that Lotus' new parent company DRB-HiCom had stopped development of the new Esprit, the last in a series of ambitious projects initiated by former CEO Dany Bahar before his termination.

Reports of Esprit's Death Are Greatly Exaggerated

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As the reports began circulating the interwebs, however, Lotus quashed the rumors. Or at least, it did in part. According to a statement from Lotus Cars USA, "Until an official of Group Lotus, Lotus Cars Ltd or DRB-Hicom makes any announcement it's just rumor and supposition." Another statement released on the company's Twitter feed stated "we are firming up our long-range product plan. These plans are extremely confidential." So while we wouldn't say that the Esprit is off the table, we couldn't tell you if it's still on it, either.