Brain Droppings: Could Toyota + Lotus Be Decent Math?

Evo magazine reports that the 2012 Esprit redux from Lotus could have the 500 hp V10 engine out of the (supposedly) upcoming Lexus LF-A, which is once again in development after a hiatus. Why-oh-why, you ask, does this rumor merit a mention by me? Because it makes absolute sense. Consider this: the Elise is powered by a Toyota four-cylinder, the new Evora is powered by a Toyota-sourced V6, and consistency is a beautiful thing. Plus it is rumored that if and when the LF-A is released it will cost in the neighborhood of a Lamborghini, so licensing the engine could certainly help Toyota recover some of the costs related to its production. Of course, the V10 will almost certainly be a top-spec option on the Esprit, with some form of V8 also available... probably also sourced from Toyota.

And if you're prone to overthinking things like I am, this begs the question if Toyota have designs on Lotus, and if so would it be a bad thing? Toyota would certainly benefit from such an acquisition: they are a massive car company with absolutely nothing like a real sports car, especially at a lowish price point. The closest thing it has is the Lexus IS-F, which misses its mark (i.e. it is by all accounts inferior to the BMW M3, plus it costs more and looks worse). Indeed, even throwing all the money it does at F1, Toyota is somehow unable to be truly competitive, year after year. And the rear-drive sportscar currently under development with Subaru -- codename 086A (much to the glee of Toyota freaks everywhere) -- will be sold as a Subaru outside of the Japanese domestic market.

By buying Lotus, Toyota would be buying a company that only knows how to make sports cars. They could do a quick-and-dirty sports car platform development using the Elise, a la the Tesla. If Toyota cut down the hybrid system out of the Prius, maybe stretched the Elise platform a bit (or use the Europa, like Dodge is for its EV sports car), they have a quick and dirty and relatively cheap hybrid sports car to compete with the upcoming offerings from VW/Audi group. A green sports car would fit with Toyota's image while also filling a void in the range. In addition, Proton (which owns Lotus) is trying to expand even in the face of heavy losses, and Toyota certainly has the money to pay pretty much whatever Proton could want. Plus, Lotus Engineering could help tune the LF-A, since a Lexus sports car that is rumored to cost around as much as a Ferrari had best steer damn well.

Would the deal be as good for Lotus as it would be for Toyota? Perhaps, perhaps not. By all accounts Proton is more or less letting Lotus be, so the best case scenario is that a regime change would continue that. The worst case is that Toytoa does something dumb, like try to absorb the company. Though the latter scenario is stupid, it is not out of the question: to my knowledge Toyota has never pursued growth by buying another company, which means that if they do try it Toyota could mess it up royally. Or they could nail it.

I don't want to say which side of a potential deal I'd support, mostly because I'm not entirely sure. I just want to have the notion out there in the ether.