Lotus Evora Arriving In Malaysia Before April

Lotus Evora will enter the Malaysian car market by the end of March, says Proton Managing Director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Tahir at a press conference at the Lotus headquarters, confirming that Proton is awaiting a new batch of Evoras before the Malaysian launch.

The crucial matter of pricing is still under consideration, however. “We've yet to finalise the price, we're still working on it. We'll try to make it as competitive as in the U.K. market”, said the Proton head. “We're still working with the government besides looking at the price structure”.

Launched for the U.K. market at the 2008 British Motor Show, Evora is Lotus' latest model built on an all-new platform, the first since 1995, and is the only Lotus model with 2+2 seating. With 276 bhp and 342 Nm, Evora completes the 0-100 km/h sprint in 4.9 seconds and goes on to a top speed of 261 km/h.

Performance figures aside, Evora has won numerous accolades for its handling in the U.K., the most prominent and telling of which is the title of Britain's Best Driver's Car 2009 from Autocar. So how much does Britain's best cost? Well, Evora costs around £50,000 in the U.K., slightly less than a BMW M3 sedan, a car that costs in excess of RM 700,000 in Malaysia! Unless Evora somehow circumvents or attracts less of the import and excise tax duties, this is one car we are not likely to see much of on the roads.