By Ben Ber-kowitz
LOS ANGELES, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Lotus, the sports-car maker best known for its Formula One cars, on Tuesday announced that it would return to the U.S. market with a souped-up version of its Elise two-seater.
Lotus, now a unit of Malaysian national carmaker Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Bhd (Proton) , said at the Los Angeles Show that the Elise, long available in Europe, would be ready for sale in the United States sometime in late May.
The new model, which will be manufactured by hand in Norfolk, England like the company's other vehicles, will feature a 190-horsepower Toyota engine more powerful than the engine in the international version of the car, the company said.
Lotus executives said the company's goal would be to sell around 2,000 Elises a year in the United States. The European model has sold more than 17,000 units since its launch in the summer of 1996.
The sticker price is expected to be announced in early 2004 with a dealer launch in the first quarter.
Though the company's Esprit has been available in limited quantities in America for years, Lotus has not introduced a new car here since the Elan in 1990.
"I think it's a question of being able to offer the right product," Mark O'Shaughnessy, director of sales and marketing for Lotus Cars USA Inc., told Reuters ahead of the unveiling.
O'Shaughnessy said the car's target audience would be both older men who already own three or four cars and want what he called a "fun machine," as well as younger people who are willing to spend for style and performance.
The car, which the company said was the first ever with a bonded and extruded aluminum chassis, will go from zero to 60 miles per hour (96.5 km per hour) in under five seconds and top out at a maximum speed of 150 miles per hour (241.4 km per hour).
Distribution will be relatively widespread, O'Shaughnessy said, with high-end sports-car dealers across the country offering the car. Sales of the Esprit have been relatively even nationwide, he said, even in colder regions where a convertible sports car might not be such an obvious choice.
"We'd like to see our performance improve on the West Coast, frankly," he said.