Lotus

Marking a major milestone in the history of Lotus Group International Limited (LGIL), the company finishes the financial year 2016/17 on plan. Lotus closed the year with positive EBITDA of £2.0m, a major achievement compared to 2015/16 where a £16.3m EBITDA loss was recorded. There has also been a significant improvement in Profit Before Tax. From a £41.2m loss in FY15/16 to a £11.2m loss overall in FY16/17, with the company recording a Profit Before Tax improvement of £10m in the second half of FY16/17 compared to the first six months of the year. Looking ahead, it allows Lotus to concentrate on the next stage of the business’ development, and a return to full year Profit Before Tax for FY17/18.

Drivers seeking the opportunity to experience the latest Lotus sports cars at the famed manufacturer’s facility in Norfolk, will now have the chance, with the opening of the new Lotus Driving Academy in August 2017. From as little as £119 for the entry level experience, right through to the intensive ‘Gold’ course at £899, the Lotus Driving Academy offers a range of experiences suitable for anyone looking for a more involving and informative track session that will enhance and hone their driving skills.

Following the successful introduction of the Lotus Evora 400 and Evora Sport 410 to global markets, Lotus has unveiled its most powerful road-going model ever – the Evora GT430. A beautiful and pure combination of elegance and power, Lotus has lavished attention on hand-crafted carbon-fibre components to endow this fully homologated Evora with a level of precision engineering and design unseen before. This focused evolution of the critically acclaimed Evora has resulted in a landmark model for the famous British manufacturer. Powered by a new development of the 3.5-litre V6 supercharged and charge cooled engine producing 430 hp, and benefitting from a significant hike in downforce, the rare breed Evora GT430 is a class apart from its competitors.

British sports car manufacturer, Caterham, celebrated 60 years of its revered Seven by bringing together some of the most esteemed examples in its history. Powering around the twists and turns of the Longcross test track was the original Lotus Seven Series 1. Reaching a top speed of 78mph and featuring a Ford 100E engine and aluminum bodywork, the Series 1 was the ideal, lightweight sports car when it was launched by Colin Chapman in 1957.

Could the UK be losing another icon? With the sale of Proton and its stake in Lotus, could Lotus go the way of MG and transfer production to China? According to Bloomberg, Chinese billionaire Li Shufu said his Zhejiang Geely Holding Group will consider producing Lotus sports cars in China after agreeing to purchase stakes in Malaysian carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd. and its British unit.

Punching well above its weight, the new Lotus Elise Cup 250 offers a scintillating blend of purity of purpose with performance at the apex of the recently revised Elise range. Supercharged, lightweight and distilled from Lotus’ extensive motorsport know-how, the new model packs 243 hp into a chassis designed to deliver the benchmark in responsive handling and haptic feedback. The car’s enhanced aerodynamics come from a number of additions including a new lightweight rear wing, front splitter, bargeboards, and rear diffuser contributing to 125 kg of downforce at 140 mph.

This just in from the BBC, AutoNews, FT, and numerous other UK news sources, British sports car maker Lotus is being bought by China’s Geely. A statement was put out by the Hangzhou-based company. There is no notice as of yet from Lotus themselves. The purchase is part of a deal by Geely to buy a 49.9% stake in Malaysian carmaker Proton, which owns Lotus. Geely, which also owns the London Taxi Company and Sweden’s Volvo Car Group, will take a 51% stake in Lotus.

A Life in Car Design by Oliver Winterbottom gives a unique insight into design and project work for a number of leading companies in the motor industry, including Jaguar, Lotus, TVR and General Motors.

Without equal and without compromise, the ballistic new Exige Cup 380 coupe provides the perfect balance between fully type approved road car and genuine race car to deliver the ultimate track-and-back street-legal Lotus. Evolved from the hugely successful and capable Exige Sport 380, this latest Lotus supercar is the purest manifestation yet of the company’s Cup concept for sports cars. Genuinely eligible for competition yet undeniably elegant, just 60 editions of this extreme Exige are planned for worldwide markets – assuring its status as one of Lotus’ most collectible road cars.

Continuing the runaway success of Lotus’ return to North America, the legendary British Sportscar maker has unveiled a unique Evora Sport 410 in one of the company’s most famous liveries, as order books open for the sensational sports car in the US and Canada. Available in the new GP Edition color scheme, as well as Lotus’ standard array of paint options, the new Lotus Evora Sport 410 for North America is the lightest and most focused iteration of the Evora and joins the benchmark Evora 400 in the company’s line-up as a fully type approved model. It is also the fastest road-going Lotus ever sold in the US, clocking 0-60 mph in 3.9 secs and a top speed of 190 mph. A literal translation of Lotus’ simplify then add lightness manifesto, this new 2017 MY Federal version has undergone considerable […]

Lightweight, optimized and ergonomically designed for four-legged friends, the new Lotus Pet Lids are the ultimate accessory for animal-friendly sports car owners. After extensive and hair-raising time trials, Lotus has developed its new lifestyle range of stylish helmets for cats to be both practical and desirable. Tipping the scales at a trim 25 grams, the wonderfully detailed lids can be personalized with your furry companion’s name and blood group.

Evolved, energized and even lighter, a significant update for the legendary Lotus Elise has been unveiled ahead of its arrival in showrooms this spring. Pride of place in the latest Elise line-up is the new Sprint edition, capturing the spirit of Lotus by offering the latest in efficient engineering to deliver a car that sets the standard at under 800 kg. Featuring a host of weight-saving items as standard, as well as the Elise’s distinctive new styling, the new Lotus remains true to the company’s founding principles. Benefitting the range as a whole, all new Elise editions receive the car’s new look and new interior options, and every single one of the Sprint’s lightweight components can be specified on the standard Elise Sport and the Elise Sport 220 variants.

The Zhejiang Geely Holding Group is reportedly bidding for a 51% stake in Malaysia’s Proton Holdings, the owner of the Proton and Lotus brands. The current owner is DRB-Hicom, one of the country’s largest automotive conglomerates, which has long been looking for a “strategic partner” for Proton Holdings. Zhejiang Geely currently owns the Geely Auto, Volvo, and the Lynk & Co. brands.

Representing the state of the supercar art, a one-off Evora Sport 410 has been commissioned through Lotus Exclusive as a tribute to one of its most famous ancestors, the Lotus Esprit S1. Launched in October 2016, the Evora Sport 410 has wowed motoring press and customers with its combination of effortless pace and intuitive handling. With production limited to just 150 examples a year worldwide, the build schedule is filling up fast.

We decided to go a little more toward the sporting side this week – guess that is still a carry over from Daytona this past weekend. So, our Video of the Week this time is titled “Brits Who Made The Modern World: The Lotus 25”. In this 22 minute film, Peter Snow finds out how Britain’s successful Formula One industry has its origins in a remarkable amateur racing club and a visionary group of motor enthusiasts. He meets the surviving members of the Lotus Engineering team whose revolutionary car, the Lotus 25, changed the sport forever. To quote our old friend Wikipedia: The Lotus 25 was a racing car designed by Colin Chapman for the 1962 Formula One season. It was a revolutionary design, the first fully stressed monocoque chassis to appear in F1. In the hands of Jim Clark it took […]

In the annals of motor racing, few machines are as iconic as the Lotus-Climax Type 33, chassis number R11, the car driven by Jim Clark to first place in the 1965 Belgian, British, German and Syracuse Grands Prix and the Lotus in which he won his second World Championship. It is only right that this amazing piece of motorsport history be the centrepiece of the Motor Sport Hall of Fame at Race Retro, the international historic motorsport show, held at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, from 24 – 26 February, where R11 will make its first public appearance in over four decades. 

Unapologetic, uncompromising and built to win, Lotus has announced the development of the mighty Exige Race 380 – the track-only sibling of what has been hailed as one of the marque’s most significant and sensational cars, the critically acclaimed Exige Sport 380. Combining Lotus’ vehicle development skills with its motorsport pedigree, the class-leading competition car will set the pace when the first production cars reach owners in May 2017. As part of the current Exige’s development cycle, the Race 380 will become the race car of choice for teams as well as privateers for the 2017 / 2018 season.

For our video we are returning again this week to the great folks at Petrolicious for a look at the classic 1972 Lotus Elan +2. These are great little cars, though a bit tight for some of us, so I can see having no regrets for purchasing one.  Note – you will need to turn on the closed-captioning to listen to the video unless you understand French. To quote Petrolicious about this video… Typically 2+2 body styles are less desirable to two-seaters—that’s true of the Datsun 240Z and the Lotus Elan. But with the Lotus the Plus 2 wears the larger size with elegance, and at a still-attainable price point. While not enjoying the valuation of the lighter drophead coupe, the 10 inches of additional width and two feet of length give the classic a character of its own. Brieuc […]