Lotus Evora 400 Roadster CONFIRMED for 2016

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The new Lotus Evora 400 – the fastest production Lotus ever built – will spawn a roadster version in 2016, aimed very much at garnering U.S. sales for Lotus.

Lotus is starting to recover from years of poor sales (and mis-management) under the direction of new boss Jean-Marc Gales, and the new Lotus Evora 400 – a more powerful and appealing take on the Evora – looks likely to sell well after its reveal at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show.

But however appealing a coupe sports car is, the market is just as big for a convertible sports car – especially in the U.S. – so Lotus has confirmed that they are in the process of developing an Evora 400 Roadster, and that it will hit the market in 2016.

Speaking to Automotive News, Jean-Marc Gales said that the new 400 Roadster is an important car as Lotus aims to revive its fortunes in North America (back with the Evora after having to stop sales in 2014 as Lotus didn’t have smart airbags – the Evora 400 does) and that it expects sales of the 400 to be split 50:50 between coupe and Roadster in the States.

The 400 Roadster will have exactly the same 400bhp the Coupe has, and thanks to the ‘Tub’ design will lose nothing in terms of performance and dynamics with the roof off.

The removable roof will consist of a pair of carbon fibre roof panels that can be manually stowed behind the seats, a simple solution – and very ‘Lotus’.

Jean-Marc Gales also confirmed that there’s a lighter and more powerful Evora 400 in the making.