Youngman to import Lotus Exige 270E in late '09

Shanghai, May 4 (Gasgoo.com) Youngman Auto, a Chinese partner of British sports car maker Lotus Cars, is planning to import Lotus' latest green model Exige 270E Tri-fuel to China by the end of this year, sina.com said today.

The eco-friendly Exige 270E Tri-fuel made its China debut at 2009 Shanghai auto show last month. This Lotus sports car is built to allow drivers the option of running any of three fuels, gasoline, bioethanol, or methanol. The Tri-fuel also is the most powerful road-going Exige ever, wringing 270 horsepower from its 1.8-liter supercharged engine, and managing a 0-60 sprint in just 3.9 seconds with a top speed of 158 mph.

Among the many benefits of being run on alcohol-based fuels, Lotus points to the potential of harvesting atmospheric CO2 as a major step forward in sustainability, and carbon-neutral transportation. However, the company does admit that the infrastructure necessary for such production is some years away.

Chinese carmaker Youngman said it has submitted its application to Lotus for importing the Exige 270E Tri-fuel to the China market. If the talks go according to plan, this green Lotus sports car model may land in China by the end of this year.

Currently, Youngman imports the Europestar Lotus RCR ("Jingsu") and Proton Persona sedan model ("Jingyue") from Lotus' Malaysian plant before they are made in China.