Lotus Cars

Lotus Cars Limited
Private Limited Company
Industry Automotive
Founded 1952
Founder Colin Chapman
Headquarters Hethel, Norfolk, England,
United Kingdom
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
  • Jean-Marc Gales (CEO)
  • Aslam Farikullah (COO)
Products Automobiles, automotive parts
Owner Geely (2017–present)[1]
Proton (1996–2017)
R. Artioli/Bugatti (1993–1996)
General Motors (1986–1993)
Parent Zhejiang Geely Holding Group[1]
Website Lotuscars.com
Lotus final assembly

Lotus Cars is a British company[2] that manufactures sports cars and racing cars with its headquarters in Hethel, United Kingdom, and is a subsidiary of Chinese automotive company Geely. Lotus cars include the Esprit, Elan, Europa, Elise and Exige sports cars and it had motor racing success with Team Lotus in Formula One. Lotus Cars are based at the former site of RAF Hethel, a World War II airfield in Norfolk. The company designs and builds race and production automobiles of light weight and fine handling characteristics.[3] It also owns the engineering consultancy Lotus Engineering, which has facilities in the United Kingdom, United States, China, and Malaysia.

Lotus was previously owned by DRB-HICOM through its subsidiary Proton, which acquired it following the bankruptcy of former owner Romano Artioli in 1996.

On 24 May 2017, Geely announced that it will take a 51% controlling stake in Lotus.[4][5] The remaining 49% will be acquired by Etika Automotive.[6]

History

Early years

The company was formed as Lotus Engineering Ltd. by engineers Colin Chapman and Colin Dare, both graduates of University College, London, in 1952. The four letters in the middle of the logo stand for the initials of company founder, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman. When the logo was created, Colin Chapman's original partners Michael and Nigel Allen were led to believe that the letters stood for Colin Chapman and the Allen Brothers.

The first factory was situated in old stables behind the Railway Hotel in Hornsey, North London. Team Lotus, which was split off from Lotus Engineering in 1954, was active and competitive in Formula One racing from 1958 to 1994. The Lotus Group of Companies was formed in 1959. This was made up of Lotus Cars Limited and Lotus Components Limited, which focused on road cars and customer competition car production, respectively. Lotus Components Limited became Lotus Racing Limited in 1971 but the newly renamed entity ceased operation in the same year.[7]

The company moved to a purpose built factory at Cheshunt in 1959[8] and since 1966 the company has occupied a modern factory and road test facility at Hethel, near Wymondham. This site is the former RAF Hethel base and the test track uses sections of the old runway.

In its early days, Lotus sold cars aimed at privateer racers and trialists. Its early road cars could be bought as kits, in order to save on purchase tax. The kit car era ended in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Lotus Elan Plus Two being the first Lotus road car not to be offered in kit form, and the Lotus Eclat and Lotus Elite of the mid-1970s being offered only in factory built versions.

After the elegant but delicate Lotus Elite of the 1950s, Lotus found critical and sales success in the 1960s with the Lotus Elan two seater later developed to two plus two form. Lotus was notable for its use of fibreglass bodies, backbone chassis, and twin cam engines, initially supplied by Coventry Climax but later replaced by Lotus-Ford units (Ford block, Lotus head and valve gear). Lotus worked with Ford on the Lotus Cortina, a successful sports saloon.

Another Lotus of the late 1960s and early 1970s was the two seater Lotus Europa, initially intended only for the European market, which paired a backbone chassis and lightweight body with a mid mounted Renault engine, later upgraded to the Lotus-Ford twin cam unit as used in the Elan.

The Lotus Seven, originating in the 1950s as a simple, lightweight open two seater continued in production into the early 70s. Lotus then sold the rights to produce the Seven to Caterham, which has continued to produce the car since then.

By the mid-1970s, Lotus sought to move upmarket with the launch of the Elite and Eclat models, four seaters aimed at prosperous buyers, with features such as optional air conditioning and optional automatic transmissions. The mid engined line continued with the Lotus Esprit, which was to prove one of the company's longest lived and most iconic models. Lotus developed its own series of four cylinder DOHC engines, the Lotus 900 series, and later a V8, and turbocharged versions of the engines appeared in the Esprit.

Variants of the 900 series engine were supplied for the Jensen Healey sports car and the Sunbeam Lotus "hot hatchback". In the 1980s, Lotus collaborated with Vauxhall Motors to produce the Lotus Carlton, the fastest roadgoing Vauxhall car.

Financial troubles, death of Chapman

By 1980, Group Lotus was in serious financial trouble. Production had dropped from 1,200 units per year to a mere 383. The combined reasons were that the world was in the middle of an economic recession, sales in the key United States market had virtually collapsed and there had been limited development of the then model range.[9]

In early 1982, Chapman came to an agreement with Toyota to exchange intellectual property and applied expertise. This initially resulted in Lotus Engineering helping to develop the Mk2 Toyota Supra, also known as the Toyota Celica XX. Secondly, it allowed Lotus to launch the new Lotus Excel to replace the ageing Lotus Eclat. Using drivetrain and other components from Toyota enabled Lotus to sell the Excel for £1,109 less than the outgoing Eclat.[9]

Looking to re-enter the North American market, Chapman was approached by young law professor and investment banking consultant, Joe Bianco, who proposed a new and separate United States sales company for Lotus. By creating an unprecedented tax-incentived mechanism (wherein each investor received a specially personalised Lotus Turbo Esprit),[10] the new American company, Lotus Performance Cars Inc. (LPCI), was able to provide fresh capital to the Group Lotus in the United Kingdom. Former Ferrari North America general manager John Spiech was brought in to run LPCI, which imported the remarkable Giugiaro-designed Turbo Esprit for the first time. US sales began to quickly jump into triple digits annually.[11]

Chapman died of a heart attack on 16 December 1982 at the age of 54, having begun life an innkeeper's son and ended a multi-millionaire industrialist in post-war Britain. At the time of his death, the car maker had built thousands of successful racing and road cars and won the Formula One World Championship seven times.

At the time of his death, both Chapman and Lotus were linked with the DeLorean Motor Company scandal over the use of UK Government subsidies for the production of the DeLorean DMC-12, for which Lotus had designed the chassis. Chasing large sums of money which had disappeared from the DeLorean company, Lotus was besieged by Inland Revenue inspectors, who imposed an £84 million legal "protective assessment" on the company.[12] Chapman died before the full deceit unravelled but, at the subsequent trial of Fred Bushell, the Lotus accountant, the judge insisted that had Chapman himself been in the dock, he would have received a sentence "of at least 10 years".[13]

With Group Lotus near bankruptcy in 1983, David Wickins, the founder of British Car Auctions, agreed to become the new company chairman, through an introduction from his friend Mark Thatcher.[12] Taking a combined 29% BCA/personal stake in Group Lotus,[14] Wickins negotiated with the Inland Revenue, and then brought in new investors: merchant bank Schroeder-Wagg (14%);[14] Michael Ashcroft's Bermudian operating company Benor (14%);[15] Sir Anthony Bamford of JCB (12%).[14] Wickins oversaw a complete turnaround in the company's fortunes, which resulted in him being called "The saviour of Lotus".[12][16]

International ownership

Despite having employed designer Peter Stevens to revamp the range and design two new concept cars, by 1985 the British investors recognised that they lacked the required capital to invest in the required new model development to production, and sought to find a major motor manufacturing buyer.[14] In January 1986, Wickins oversaw the majority sale of the Group Lotus companies and 100% of North American–based LPCI to General Motors, with engineer Bob Eaton a big Lotus car fan.[14] After four months of controlling but co-owning Group Lotus with Toyota, the Japanese company sold out to GM. By October 1986, GM had acquired a 91% stake in Group Lotus for £22.7 million, which allowed them to legally force the company buyout.[14]

On 27 August 1993, GM sold the company, for £30 million, to A.C.B.N. Holdings S.A. of Luxembourg, a company controlled by Italian businessman Romano Artioli, who also owned Bugatti Automobili SpA. In 1996, a majority share in Lotus was sold to Proton, a Malaysian car company listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

Operations

Presently organised as Group Lotus plc, the business is divided into Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering.

As well as sports car manufacture, the company also acts as an engineering consultancy, providing engineering development—particularly of suspension—for other car manufacturers. Lotus's powertrain department is responsible for the design and development of the 4-cylinder Ecotec engine found in many of GM's Vauxhall, Opel, Saab, Chevrolet and Saturn cars. The US Lotus Elise and Exige models used the 1.8L VVTL-i I4 from Toyota's late Celica GT-S and the Matrix XRS which is no longer available new. The new Exige has the same V6 as the Evora and is not available in the US as a road legal vehicle.

Michael Kimberley, who had been a guiding light at Lotus in the 1970s, returned and took over as the Acting chief executive officer of the Company and its Group from May 2006. He chaired the Executive Committee of Lotus Group International Limited ("LGIL") established in February 2006, with Syed Zainal Abidin (managing director of Proton Holdings Berhad) and Badrul Feisal (non-executive director of Proton Holdings Berhad). LGIL is the holding company of Lotus Group Plc.

Kimberley retired as CEO on 17 July 2009,[17] replaced on 1 October 2009 by the former Senior Vice-President for Commercial & Brand at Ferrari, Dany Bahar. Bahar intended to drive the brand up-market into the expanding global luxury goods sector, effectively away from the company's traditional light weight and pure driving experience simplicity.

Bahar was suspended as CEO on 25 May 2012 on a temporary basis, while an investigation into his conduct was undertaken.[18] Lotus announced on 7 June 2012 the termination of Bahar's employment and the appointment of Aslam Farikullah as the new chief operating officer.[19] The ambitious plans for several new models were subsequently cancelled.

Formula One and motorsport

Lotus 77
Lotus 99T
Lotus 72
Lotus E20

In its early days, the company encouraged its customers to race its cars, and it first entered Formula One through its sister company Team Lotus in 1958. A Lotus Formula One car driven by Stirling Moss won the marque's first Grand Prix in 1960 at Monaco. Moss drove a Lotus 18 entered by privateer Rob Walker. Major success came in 1963 with the Lotus 25, which – with Jim Clark driving – won Team Lotus its first F1 World Constructors Championship. Clark's untimely death – he crashed a Formula Two Lotus 48 in April 1968 after his rear tyre failed in a turn in Hockenheim – was a severe blow to the team and to Formula One. He was the dominant driver in the dominant car and remains an inseparable part of Lotus's early years. That year's championship was won by Clark's teammate, Graham Hill.

Team Lotus is credited with making the mid-engined layout popular for IndyCars, developing the first monocoque Formula One chassis, and the integration of the engine and transaxle as chassis components. Team Lotus was also among the pioneers in Formula One in adding wings and shaping the undersurface of the car to create downforce, as well as the first to move radiators to the sides of the car to aid in aerodynamic performance and inventing active suspension.

Even after Chapman's death, until the late 1980s, Team Lotus continued to be a major player in Formula One. Ayrton Senna drove for the team from 1985 to 1987, winning twice in each year and achieving 17 pole positions. By the company's last Formula One race in 1994, the cars were no longer competitive. Team Lotus constructed cars won a total of 79 Grand Prix races. During his lifetime Chapman saw Lotus beat Ferrari as the first Marque to achieve 50 Grand Prix victories, despite Ferrari having won their first nine years sooner.

Formula One Drivers' Championship winner for Lotus were Jim Clark in 1963 and 1965, Graham Hill in 1968, Jochen Rindt in 1970, Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972 and Mario Andretti in 1978. In 1973 Lotus won the constructors' championship only; the drivers' title went to Jackie Stewart of Tyrrell.

Team Lotus established Classic Team Lotus in 1992, as the Works historic motorsport activity. Classic Team Lotus continues to maintain Lotus F1 cars and run them in the FIA Historic Formula One Championship and it preserves the Team Lotus archive and Works Collection of cars, under the management of Colin Chapman's son, Clive.

Team Lotus's participation in Formula One ended at the end of the 1994 season. Former racing driver David Hunt (brother of F1 world champion James Hunt) purchased the name 'Team Lotus' and licensed it to the Formula One team Pacific Racing, which was rebranded Pacific Team Lotus.[20] The Pacific Team folded at the end of the 1995 season.

The Lotus name returned to Formula One for the 2010 season, when a new Malaysian team called Lotus Racing was awarded an entry. The new team used the Lotus name under licence from Group Lotus and was unrelated to the original Team Lotus. In September 2010 Group Lotus, with agreement from its parent company Proton, terminated the licence for future seasons as a result of what it called "flagrant and persistent breaches of the licence by the team". Lotus Racing then announced that it had acquired Team Lotus Ventures Ltd, the company led by David Hunt, and with it full ownership of the rights to the "Team Lotus" brand and heritage. The team confirmed that it would be known as Team Lotus from 2011 onwards.

In December 2010 Group Lotus announced the creation of Lotus Renault GP, the successor to the Renault F1 team. This team contested the 2011 season having purchased a title sponsorship deal with the team, with the option to buy shares in the future. The team's car for that season, the R31, was badged as a Renault, while Team Lotus's car, the T128, was badged as a Lotus. In May 2011, the British High Court of Justice ruled that Team Lotus could continue to use the "Team Lotus" name, but Group Lotus had sole right to use the "Lotus" name on its own. As a consequence, for 2012 Lotus Renault GP was rebranded as Lotus F1 Team and its cars were badged as Lotuses, while Team Lotus was renamed Caterham F1 Team (after the sports car manufacturer owned by team principal Tony Fernandes) and its cars were badged as Caterhams.

Group Lotus is currently also involved in several other categories of motorsport. It sponsors the KV team in the IndyCar Series and used to sponsor the ART team in the GP2 and GP3 Series in 2011 & 2012. In 2011, Lotus also returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a semi-works effort run by Jetalliance Racing, which fielded two Lotus Evoras.

After fielding underpowered and uncompetitive engines in the 2012 Indianapolis 500, in which drivers Jean Alesi and Simona de Silvestro were black-flagged after ten laps for failing to maintain a competitive pace, Lotus was released from its contract and did not participate in future seasons.

Lotus car models

The Lotus Elise
Lotus Evora

Current

Current Lotus models include:

Previous

Lotus Mk I, 1948
Lotus 7 S1, 1957
Lotus Mk IX, 1955
Lotus Eleven
Lotus Elite
Lotus 26R, 1965
Lotus Europa S2
Lotus Éclat S2
Lotus Esprit V8, 1996
Lotus Elise S1
Lotus Elise GT1 Road Car, 1997
Lotus 340R

Announcements of future cars

Proposed new Lotus Esprit (now cancelled)

At the 2010 Paris Motorshow, Lotus announced five new models to be introduced over the next five years:[27] Their intention was to replace the Elise with an entirely different model, as well as to introduce two entirely new sports coupes, which would have been known as the Elite and the Elan, a new sports saloon, the Eterne, to rival the Aston Martin Rapide and Maserati Quattroporte, and a modern interpretation of the Esprit supercar.[28]

It became apparent in July 2012 that the firm's financial difficulties had made this plan impossible to implement, and initially all but the Esprit project were cancelled.[29][30] Subsequently, the Esprit project was also cancelled.[31]

Lotus also showed an unnamed city car concept using its 1.2L range-extender engine.[32] In 2011, Lotus revealed this as the Lotus Ethos, a plug-in hybrid car based on the EMAS concept from its parent company Proton, and likely to be primarily built by Proton in Malaysia.[28] This car has also been cancelled.[33]

Lotus CEO Jean Marc Gales has confirmed that development of an SUV is currently under way.[34]

Lotus engines

Lotus Evora Toyota sourced engine

Lotus Engineering

Lotus Engineering Limited is an offshoot of Lotus Cars, which provides engineering consultancy to third party companies primarily in the automotive industry. As well as Hethel in the United Kingdom Lotus has engineering centres in Ann Arbor, USA, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Shanghai, China. In 2000, Lotus Engineering, Inc. was established with an office in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[38]

Engineering demonstrators

APX and VVA

The APX (also known as the "Aluminium Performance Crossover") is an aluminium concept vehicle revealed at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show built on Lotus Engineering's Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA).

Whereas the VVA technology will be used in the creation of a new mid-engined sportscar for Lotus cars, the APX is, in fact, a high-performance 7-seat MPV with four-wheel drive and a front-mounted V6 engine from Lotus Engineering's Powertrain division. The engine was designed and developed to be available as a 2.2-litre N/A and 3.0-litre supercharged. A number of prototypes of both engines exist in full working order in a number of mule cars.

Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) is an effort by the Lotus car manufacturing company to reduce the investment needed for producing unique, niche-market cars by sharing a number of common components.

Cars produced using VVA:

Projects undertaken by Lotus Engineering

DeLorean DMC 12 with Lotus designed Chassis
Sinclair C5
Dodge EV

Examples of work undertaken by Lotus Engineering include:

Lotus based cars

Electric vehicles

Lotus Engineering has established a group dedicated to hybrid and electric vehicles.[43]

Lotus Engineering created the Evora 414E as their first hybrid concept car. Featuring a total hybrid range of more than 300 miles and 0-60 MPH in 4.4 seconds.[44]

Lotus joined Jaguar Cars, MIRA Ltd and Caparo on a luxury hybrid executive sedan project called "Limo-Green"—funded by the UK Government Technology Strategy Board. The vehicle will be a series plug-in hybrid.[45][46]

Tesla Motors, a likely rival for Lotus if its plans go through, has also turned to contractors for parts of the all-electric Roadster.[47] However, Tesla bought the chassis for their 2,500 Roadsters from Lotus because of the heavy weight of the batteries in an EV and Lotus's widely known low weight and sharp handling characteristics. While only 10% of the parts of the Tesla Roadster were shared with the Lotus Elise, Lotus was responsible for approximately 40% of the overall content of the car.[47]

Queen's Award for Enterprise

Lotus Cars were awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise for contribution to International Trade, one of 85 companies receiving the recognition in that category in 2002. Lotus cars wore the badge of the award for a number of years.[48]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "GEELY & PROTON" (Press release). Proton. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "Lotus Cars Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  3. ↑ "2010 Lotus Evora – Test drive and new car review – 2010 Lotus Evora". Cars.about.com. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  4. ↑ "Chinese car giant Geely has bought Lotus". topgear.com. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  5. ↑ Macfarlane, Alec (24 May 2017). "Lotus has been purchased by Chinese automaker Geely". CNNMoney. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  6. ↑ Anthony Lim (24 May 2017). "DRB-Hicom to sell Lotus in its entirety for £100 million – Geely to acquire 51%, Etika Automotive to buy 49%". Driven Communications. Archived from the original on 27 May 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  7. ↑ Golden Gate Lotus Club Retrieved 1 May 2008
  8. ↑ Lotus cars Cheshunt. Retrieved 26 December 2007.
  9. 1 2 "The Final Chapman Years". LotusEspritWorld.com. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Forbes Magazine, "Meet the Wizard, Joe Bianco” 19 December 1983
  11. ↑ Car and Driver, "Lotus Lives", April 1983
  12. 1 2 3 "Obituary – David Wickins". Daily Telegraph. 31 January 2007. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  13. ↑ Lawrence, Mike (2002). Wayward Genius. Breedon Books.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Toyota and GM Link". LotusEspritWorld.com. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  15. ↑ Andy McSmith and Ben Laurance (16 January 2000). "Ashcroft's Lotus position". The Observer. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  16. ↑ "Auctions magnate began by selling just one old car". GetHampshire.co.uk. 13 February 2007. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  17. ↑ "Lotus CEO Mike Kimberley to step down". Motortorque.askaprice.com. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  18. ↑ "Lotus owners suspend chief Bahar over complaint". BBC News. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  19. ↑ "Lotus Appoints Chief Operating Officer – Confirms dismissal of Dany Bahar" (Press release). Group Lotus plc. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
  20. ↑ "Pacific forms alliance with Lotus". grandprix.com. 28 February 1995. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  21. ↑ "Evora 400 is the fastest Lotus ever". Top Gear. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  22. ↑ The rights to the Seven were sold in 1973 to Caterham Cars. Updated versions of this 1957 design are also produced by other speciality firms, including Westfield Sportscars and Donkervoort. Originally the number seven was applied to a Riley-powered Formula 2 car, but the vehicle was never completed in its original form, finally emerging instead as the Clairmonte Special, a two-seat sports car powered by a Lea-Francis engine.
  23. ↑ Chapman, Clive (September 2016). "The Lotus That Never Blossomed". Motor Sport. Vol. 92 no. 9. pp. 84–85.
  24. ↑ A mid-engined sports car, launched in the early 1970s. It was styled by Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. The Esprit started with a light, 4-cylinder design, which went through several iterations of turbo-charging and electronic upgrades, before finally being replaced by a highly advanced V8. The last Lotus Esprit rolled off the production line on 20 February 2004, after 28 years in production. A total of 10,675 Esprits were built since production began in 1976.
  25. ↑ GT inspired two-seater claimed to offer a more upmarket sportscar experience, although it is based on the same chassis as the Elise and Exige, limiting accommodation and practicality. Power comes from a Lotus-tuned variant of the turbocharged four-cylinder engine which powers the VX220. The Europa has been criticised in the motoring press for being expensive and for lacking equipment and practicality compared to rivals like the Porsche Cayman.
  26. ↑ "Lotus 125 'Ultimate Track Car' to Debut at Pebble Beach Alongside Elise SC RGB Edition | AutoGuide.com News". Autoguide.com. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  27. ↑ Chris Knapman (1 October 2010). "Paris Motor Show 2010: five new models from Lotus". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  28. 1 2 Dan Strong (21 June 2011). "Lotus confirms new V8 and city car too". Auto Express. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  29. ↑ Nick Gibbs (30 July 2012). "Lotus Five Car Future Is Canned". PistonHeads.
  30. ↑ Travis Okulski (25 July 2012). "Lotus Cancels Nearly All of Dany Bahar's Future Lotus Cars". Jalopnik.
  31. ↑ "New Lotus Esprit Is Dead". MotorAuthority. 2014-09-29. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
  32. ↑ Tim Pollard (16 December 2010). "Lotus supermini 'here in October 2013' – Bahar". Car magazine. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  33. ↑ "Lotus City Car Concept - Cancelled, image 1 of 3 - Medium - Photos - Pics - Images - Australian specifications". themotorreport.com.au. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  34. ↑ "Lotus Boss: Nobody Makes a "Lightweight, Good-Handling SUV"". Road & Track. 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2017-01-19.
  35. ↑ Abuelsamid, Sam (22 June 2010). "Lotus and Fagor Ederlan Group to produce range-extender engine – Autoblog Green". Green.autoblog.com. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  36. ↑ "» Home – Lotus Engineering". lotuscars.com. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  37. ↑ "[VIDEO] Lotus fire up all new in-house V8". The Lotus Forums. 16 September 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  38. ↑ Lotus Engineering Centres, retrieved 18 June 2010.
  39. ↑ "Done deal! Lotus will build the Tesla Roadster in Hethel". autoblog. 29 July 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  40. ↑ About Proton Engineering – Proton Cars UK
  41. ↑ "NISSAN GT-R press information...". nissan-global.com. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  42. ↑ "Jaguar UK – Jaguar International". Jaguar.com. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  43. ↑ Abuelsamid, Sam. "Lotus Engineering establishes group dedicated to hybrid and electric vehicles". autoblog.com. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  44. ↑ web|url=http://www.lotuscars.com/engineering/evora-414e-hybrid |title=Evora 414E Hybrid
  45. ↑ "Future Jaguar XJ May Cut CO2 Via Lotus 'LimoGreen' Project". GreenCarReports.com. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  46. ↑ "UK Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to Award $45M to 16 Low-Carbon Vehicle Projects". Green Car Congress. 8 May 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
  47. 1 2 Garthwaite, Josie (5 January 2009). "Lotus to Build Electric Vehicles". Earth2tech.com. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
  48. ↑ "The Queen's Awards for Enterprise 2002: international trade – Focus: Queen's Awards" (NewsBank). The Times. London: Times Newspapers Limited. 22 April 2002. Retrieved 14 February 2011.

Further reading

Lotus production car timeline, 1950–present
Type 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
0123456789 0123456789 0123456789 0123456789 0123456789 0123456789 0123456
Sports racer Mark VIII Mark IX Eleven 15 17 19 23 30 40 47 62
Mark VI Seven 340R 2-Eleven 3-Eleven
Roadster Elan Elan M100 Elise Elise
Coupé Elite Elan Exige Exige Exige
Eclat Excel Evora
Grand tourer Elan +2 Elite
Europa Esprit Europa S
Saloon Ford Cortina Lotus Ford Cortina Lotus Carlton/Omega
Race cars
Related cars
Concept cars
Key figures
Group Lotus
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