Lotus CEO Said Desire For Gas Engines ‘Initially Made No Sense’ Until He Started Driving On The Track

I am bullish on Lotus, which is historically a dangerous thing to put in writing. The British automaker has bounced around from owner to owner, and has had historically strange leadership. The current version of the company has a stable parent company and seems to be listening to its customers, which is the thing that small car companies are often weirdly bad at doing.

The Morning Dump is going to end the week with a series of stories that wrap up a lot of what’s been going on in the last seven days or so. Lotus is slowing its EV development to focus on making gas-powered cars. Lexus is pausing development on a new electric platform, because it probably doesn’t need a lot more than what it has now. Ferrari, on the other hand, is defending the honor of its electric car.

Ending TMD on a high note is always the goal on Friday, and I’m going to hit G10 with the announcement from Mitsubishi that a legend is returning.

Lotus Initially Considered Making Electric Powertrains Perform Worse

There’s a version of this article where everyone gets upset at the Lotus CEO for not understanding why some customers might not be interested in electric cars. I don’t want to do that, because Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng has been there for eight years, and in that time the company has produced a car I very much like (the Emira), one that’s at least technically impressive (the Evija), and one that’s maybe not for me but seems good anyway (the Eletre).

Also, Qingfeng seems to be listening to customers and gave very honest answers to an Automotive News Europe reporter. It’s a little refreshing, sadly, to see a CEO acknowledge that his initial view of the world has broadened and changed.

Why has it hard to convert luxury buyers to electric?

Certain customers simply enjoy the thrill of driving a car with a powerful engine, even with some lag in the power delivery. They somehow just don’t like the smoothness of EVs. We have even had some crazy ideas to make the electric motors run more like a combustion engine.

It must be frustrating for an engineer like yourself. Since the beginning, the automotive industry has been trying to make engines run smoother.

Initially, this made no sense to me as well. However, gradually, I began to get it. A smooth powertrain is good for those people who use their car daily for commuting. However, those who purchase performance cars make that decision in the pursuit of driving thrills, of entertainment. They just want to have fun. Before I raced on a track, I found it difficult to understand. However, the moment I put my hands on a racecar, I felt the pleasure and the thrill that driving a big engine that could grant you.

I get that, too. I know people who bought EVs after owning cars with crappy CVTs and they marvel at why anyone would still want a gas-powered car. For commuting, an EV is hard to beat. On the race track, an EV might still be hard to beat from a pure performance standpoint, but it’s easy to overcome in terms of pure experience.

He’s an engineer, and engineers want to usually make the best and most efficient version of something [Ed Note: In my experience, this is a danger with some engineers in leadership roles. Customers are not rational about cars, which is why making the most efficient, highest-performing vehicle at the expense of something as fluffy as, say, styling, doesn’t make sense. -DT]. The goal of a Lotus has always been, to some extent, achieving the most from a platform. Electrification allows you to reach incredibly efficiency, it’s just at a cost that’s too high. It’s therefore nice to see the company trying more analog solutions and committing to bringing back the V8.

There’s a lot in the interview I found interesting, and this definitely caught my eye:

Is the new supercar going to be called Esprit?

Let’s just say there’s a logical legacy connection. When the Esprit went out of production [in 2004] it had a V-8 engine, and it’s something people have asked us to bring back ever since. It’s something that is still in the hearts of minds of many of our customers.

Hell yeah. The other bit that stood out was that Lotus said the 10% tariff on British cars imported to the United States was something the company could live with, but that the slow decimation of the car industry and the related supply chain means that it’s a lot harder to produce cars there than in China.

Ferrari Really Wants You To Know The Luce Is A Hit

As you can see in the podcast above, I have a lot of feelings about the Ferrari Luce. So does the CEO of Ferrari, who feels strongly that he needs to defend the product.

Per Reuters:

“There is strong interest, including from new clients,” Vigna said ​during an automotive event in Modena, northern Italy.

The automaker showed the new model ​to 1,600 customers on Monday and Tuesday at the launch in Rome and order books opened on Wednesday.

“We’ve already received bank transfers, clients who were there want it,” the ​CEO said, adding Ferrari would provide precise figures about orders in July, ​when releasing its second quarter results.

I’m not mad. Please don’t put in the newspaper that I’m mad.

Lexus Kills Its Next Gen EV

Remember the Lexus LF-ZC concept? I didn’t, either, and I wrote about the damn thing. According to Bloomberg, it doesn’t matter because it ain’t happening:

Toyota Motor Corp. halted development of a next-generation electric vehicle for its Lexus brand, citing weak demand and the elimination of US subsidies amid a broader review of new projects.

The LF-ZC, which had been expected to go on sale in mid-2027, was set to include new technologies such as gigacasting and more cost-effective batteries with faster charging speeds. Those features will be carried over to other vehicles, a spokesperson for the Japanese carmaker said.

Ok, cool.

Mitsubishi Is Bringing Back The Montero, Bringing Back A Midsize Pickup To The US

Let me clarify here, a little, because I’m extrapolating a lot from a couple of sources. First, the thing that’s reported, via Hans Greimel, which is that Nissan will build a version of a truck for Mitsubishi in the United States:

The new entry will be built by Nissan at a U.S. factory, according to a person familiar with the plan. Mitsubishi did not detail a launch timeline.

But the Nissan Frontier midsize pickup is expected to get a redesign around 2028 as part of Nissan’s rollout of a new frame-based vehicle architecture that will underpin the Xterra SUV and other products built at its Canton, Miss., plant.

That was pretty much expected. Less expected was the return of the Montero. Why do I think that’s happening? Mitsubishi announced that it was bringing back the Pajero which, again, not a surprise:

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (hereafter, Mitsubishi Motors) announced that its all-new cross-country SUV will be named Pajero and will be unveiled at a world premiere scheduled for autumn 2026. The model was discontinued in overseas markets in 2021, making this its first return to the global market in five years.

First launched in 1982, the Pajero1 was developed as a recreational vehicle (RV, now widely known as an SUV) with a new concept that combined the off-road performance of a full-fledged four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle with the comfort of a passenger car. Across four generations, the model has become one of Mitsubishi Motors’ most iconic cross-country SUVs, with cumulative global sales of more than 3.25 million units in over 170 countries and regions worldwide.

Here’s where it gets interesting, and it’s just a footnote:

1. Sold as the Montero in some markets

Yes! Like in the United States. It was sold here as the Montero. Could the Montero be coming back? One can only dream.

What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD

I’d never seen the video for Barry White’s “Let The Music Play” and it’s mostly just him walking around his nice house with his dog and playing piano. It looks like a great way to spend the weekend. I hope you’re weekend is as serene and enjoyable as this video.

The Big Question

Do you know the CEO of the company who built your car/all your cars? Who are they?

Top photo: Lotus