Lotus has put its new Sprint Elise model on a strict diet — and it has shed 41kg compared to the old model.

The first Lotus Evora 400 sports cars destined for customers and dealers have driven off the assembly line and are soon to arrive at dealerships across mainland Europe, priced somewhere just south of €100,000.

As UK voters make up their minds before an election on May 7, the issue that matters to financial markets is one that’s barely troubling them.

GENERAL MOTORS’ German unit Opel will make an operating loss of about €300 million in 2005, less than earlier expected, a German news magazine reported yesterday.