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Lotus to invest £500 million to build Esprit, Eterne, Elite & Elan. 1900 new jobs

The new Lotus Esprit Dany Bahar – Lotus boss – revealed plans at last year’s Paris Motor Show to turn Lotus in to an East Anglian Aston Martin. Those plans included one car we knew about – the new Lotus Esprit – and a number we didn’t – the Lotus Eterne, Lotus Elite, Lotus Elan and a new Lotus Elite. But the plans seemed to be nothing more than a wish list, and although it was intimated that Lotus owners Proton were going to provide a war chest of £770 million to fund the development, that later appeared to be an intent to provide Lotus with funds to develop a new range of cars, rather than an actual commitment.

LA Motor Show 2013 preview guide

According to the show's organisers, the 2013 LA Motor Show is the 'mother of all shows' - how wonderfully American! It runs from 20 November to 1 December at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and although it's not the biggest motor show on Earth, it does boast a fair number of world debuts and 'first reveals' – many of which we’ve rounded up in the following gallery. Tickets cost $10 (£6.22) during the week and $12 (£7.47) at weekends.

Mercedes CLA 45 AMG Edition 1 revealed

The launch edition of the CLA AMG – the Mercedes CLA 45 AMG Edition 1 (pictured) has been revealed Launch editions are a way to tempt buyers in to a new model in quick sticks, so Mercedes has revealed the launch model for the new CLA45 – the Mercedes CLA 45 AMG Edition 1. Frankly, we’d be surprised if MB has any real trouble finding buyers for the CLA 45 AMG, but a launch edition with extra goodies is always a ‘nice to have’, and the CLA45 version looks appealing. The changes aren’t huge for the Edition 1, but they do include a gloss black spoiler at the back, graphite grey side stripes, a set of 19″ matte black alloys and red detailing for the mirrors, wheels and grill.