Lotus has put an end to the production of its three most iconic models: Elise, Exige ed Evora. With 51,730 units built, these three models together accounted for almost half of the company’s total production in its 73-year history. Precisely for this reason, the final version of each of these cars will be kept in the Lotus Heritage collection. The British brand now has to look ahead though: the new era of Lotus will be led by the new Emira, which will go into production in the spring of 2022: it will be the last Lotus with an internal combustion engine.
“I would like to express enormous gratitude to all the customers of Elise, Exige and Evora who in the last 26 years have shown all their passion, enthusiasm and support – said Matt Windle, the CEO of Lotus – These customers have given our ‘three E’ a true cult status, usually reserved for classics that have long been out of production. As we salute these three models, we look forward to the Emira and Evija coming to light in Hethel’s brand new factories and sub-assembly facilities in Norwich, introducing concepts of greater efficiency and automation, as well as greater quality and flexibility. This opens the next chapter of our Vision80 strategy ″. Among other things, just in these days the new Lotus Emira has been brought on the test track at the Hethel site, with Lotus engineer Gavan Kershaw at the wheel.
“Together with the Lotus design team, I have lived and breathed these cars for over 26 years – commented Russell Carr, Lotus design director – We’ll miss them, but it’s a bit like Christmas: once it’s over, the excitement ahead of the next Christmas starts to build. And that’s what’s happening to Lotus now in view of the new ones Evija, Emira e Type 132. 2022 will be a great year for the brand, as a new generation of cars will come into action ”.
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