Lotus Group (also known as Lotus Cars, and doing business as Lotus NYO in China[3]) is a British multinational automotive manufacturer of luxury sports cars and electric vehicles.
Lotus Group is composed of three primary entities. Lotus Cars, a high-performance sports car company, is based in Hethel, Norfolk. Lotus Tech, an all-electric lifestyle vehicle company, headquartered in Wuhan, China, and operates regional facilities in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany.[4] Additionally, Lotus Engineering, an engineering consultancy firm, is headquartered at the Lotus Advanced Technology Centre (LATC) located at the University of Warwick'sWellesbourne Campus.[5]
Lotus was founded and owned for many years by Colin Chapman. After his death and a period of financial instability, it was bought by General Motors, then Romano Artioli and then DRB-HICOM through its subsidiary Proton, which owned Lotus from 1996 to 2017. Lotus is currently majority-owned by Chinese multinational Geely.[6]
Lotus was previously involved in Formula One racing, via Team Lotus, winning the Formula One World Championship seven times. Notable Lotus cars include the Lotus Seven, the Elan, the Esprit and the Elise.
The company was formed in 1952 as Lotus Engineering Ltd. by engineers Colin Chapman and Colin Dare, both graduates of University College, London, but had earlier origins in 1948 when Chapman built his first racing car in a garage.[7] The four letters in the middle of the logo represent Chapman's full name, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman. When the logo was created, Chapman's original partners Michael and Nigel Allen were led to believe that the letters stood for Colin Chapman and the Allen Brothers.[citation needed][clarification needed]
The first factory was situated in old stables behind the Railway Hotel in Hornsey, North London. Team Lotus, which was split 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 composed 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 that same year.[8]
The company moved to a purpose-built factory at Cheshunt in 1959,[9] and since 1966 it has occupied a modern factory and road test facility at Hethel, near WymondhaminNorfolk. The site is a former World War II airfield, RAF Hethel, and the test track uses sections of the old runway.
In its early days, Lotus sold cars aimed at private 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, with the Lotus Elan Plus Two as the first Lotus road car not offered in kit form, and the Lotus Eclat and Lotus Elite of the mid-1970s were offered only in factory-built versions.
After the Lotus Elite of the 1950s, which featured a complete fibreglass monocoque fitted with built-in steel pickup points for mounting major components, Lotus found critical and sales success in the 1960s with the Lotus Elan. This two-seater was later developed to two-plus-two form (Elan +2S). Lotus was notable for its use of fibreglass bodies, backbone chassis and overhead camshaft engines, initially supplied by Coventry Climax but later replaced by Lotus-Ford units (Ford block, Lotus head and twin-cam valve gear). Lotus also 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 1970s. Lotus 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 automatic transmissions. The mid-engine line continued with the Lotus Esprit, which became 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 Healeysports 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.
By 1980, Group Lotus was in serious financial trouble. Production had dropped from 1,200 units per year to a mere 383. This situation resulted from the worldwide economic recession combined with the virtual collapse of sales in the American market and limited development of the model range.[10]
In early 1982, Chapman forged an agreement with Toyota to exchange intellectual property and applied expertise. As a result, Lotus Engineering helped develop the Mk2 Toyota Supra, also known as the Toyota Celica XX. The partnership also allowed Lotus to launch the new Lotus Excel to replace the ageing Lotus Eclat. Using drivetrain and other components build by Toyota enabled Lotus to sell the Excel for £1,109 less than the outgoing Eclat.[10]
Looking to reenter the North American market, Chapman was approached by young law professor and investment banking consultant Joe Bianco, who proposed a new and separate American sales company for Lotus.[11] By creating an unprecedented tax-incentivised mechanism by which each investor received a personalised Lotus Turbo Esprit, the new American company, Lotus Performance Cars Inc. (LPCI), was able to provide fresh capital to Group Lotus in the United Kingdom. Former Ferrari North America general manager John Spiech was recruited to run LPCI, which imported the remarkable Giugiaro-designed Turbo Esprit for the first time. American sales began to quickly jump into six figures annually.[12]
Chapman died of a heart attack on 16 December 1982 at the age of 54. At the time, both Chapman and Lotus were linked to the DeLorean Motor Company scandal regarding the use of UK Government subsidies for the production of the DMC DeLorean, for which Lotus had designed the chassis. Chasing large sums of money that had disappeared from the DeLorean company, Lotus was besieged by Inland Revenue inspectors, who imposed an £84 million legal "protective assessment" on the company.[13] At the trial of Lotus accountant Fred Bushell, the judge insisted that had Chapman lived, he would have received a sentence "of at least 10 years."[14]
Despite having employed designer Peter Stevens to revamp the range and design two new concept cars,[18] by 1985 the British investors recognised that they lacked the capital to fund production and sought to find a buyer.[15] In January 1986, Wickins oversaw the majority sale of the Group Lotus companies and 100% of North American–based LPCI to General Motors.[15] After four months, Toyota sold GM its stake. By October 1986, GM had acquired a 91% stake in Group Lotus for £22.7 million, which allowed GM to legally force the company buyout.[15]
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 Malaysian car company Proton.
Lotus Cars was 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 several years.[19]
On 24 May 2017, Chinese multinational Geely announced that it was taking a 51% controlling stake in Lotus.[20][21] The remaining 49% was acquired by Etika Automotive, a holding company of Proton's major shareholder Syed Mokhtar Albukhary.[22]
In January 2021, Geely announced a joint venture with Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance and its Alpine division to develop a range of electric performance cars sharing some of their future platforms.[23] In April 2021, Lotus announced plans to produce only electric cars by 2028 and increase production numbers from around 1,500 per annum to tens of thousands. Geely and Etika Automotive provided two billion pounds (US$2.8 billion) to fund the changes.[24]
Lotus Technology, the electric-vehicle division of Lotus. which has a different ownership structure (30% by Etika and the rest by Geely and Nio Capital), was listed on Nasdaq through a SPAC acquisition. After the listing, 10.3% of shares will be held by the public.[25]
Currently organised as Group Lotus Limited, the business is divided into Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering.
In addition to manufacturing sportscars, the company also acts as an engineering consultancy, providing engineering development—particularly of suspensions—for other car manufacturers. Lotus's powertrain department is responsible for the design and development of the four-cylinder Ecotec engine found in many of GM's Vauxhall, Opel, Saab, Chevrolet and Saturn cars. The American Elise and Exige models used the 1.8L VVTL-i I4 from Toyota's late Celica GT-S and the Matrix XRS.
Michael Kimberley, who had been a guiding figure at Lotus in the 1970s, returned as acting chief executive officer in 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,[26] replaced on 1 October 2009 by former Ferrari executive Dany Bahar. Bahar intended to drive the brand into the expanding global luxury-goods sector and away from the company's traditional lightweight simplicity and pure driving-experience focus. Bahar was suspended on 25 May 2012 while an investigation into his conduct was undertaken.[27] On 7 June 2012, Lotus announced the termination of Bahar and the appointment of Aslam Farikullah as the new chief operating officer.[28] The ambitious plans for several new models were cancelled following Bahar's departure. Jean Marc Gales became CEO in 2014, and in 2017, he enabled the company to achieve its first profit in decades. Gales left the company in June 2018 for personal reasons and was replaced by Feng Qingfeng from Lotus Group's parent company, Geely.
October 2018 saw further senior personnel changes as Phil Popham was named CEO of Lotus Cars, with Qingfeng remaining in charge of Group Lotus.[29]
In January 2021, Matt Windle was appointed managing director of Lotus Cars after Phil Popham resigned.[30][31]
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 was killed in April 1968 when the rear tyre of his Formula TwoLotus 48 failed while making a turn at a race in Hockenheim. His death was a severe blow to the team and to Formula One, as he had been the dominant driver 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-engine layout popular for IndyCars, developing the first monocoque Formula One chassis and integrating the engine and transaxle as chassis components. Team Lotus was among the pioneers in Formula One in adding wings and shaping the undersurface of the car to create downforce. It invented active suspension and was the first to move radiators to the sides of the car to improve aerodynamic performance.
Formula One Drivers' Championship winners 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 StewartofTyrrell. Chapman saw Lotus beat Ferrari as the first marque to achieve 50 Grand Prix victories, even though Ferrari had won its first nine years sooner.
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.
Team Lotus established Classic Team Lotus in 1992, which continues to maintain Lotus F1 cars and run them in the FIA Historic Formula One Championship. It also 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 after the 1994 season, when the team's cars were no longer competitive. Cars constructed by the team won a total of 79 Grand Prix races.
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.[32] 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 onward.
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. As a consequence, for 2012 Lotus Renault GP was rebranded as Lotus F1 Team and its entries were badged as Lotus cars, while Team Lotus was renamed Caterham F1 Team (after the sportscar manufacturer owned by team principal Tony Fernandes) and its cars were badged as Caterhams.
Group Lotus was also involved in several other categories of motorsport. It sponsored the KV team in the IndyCar Series and the ART team in the GP2 and GP3 Series in 2011 and 2012. 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 Evija: The Lotus Evija is a limited production electric sports car; it is the first electric vehicle to be introduced and manufactured by the company. Codenamed "Type 130", production of the Evija will be limited to 130 units. Production is set to begin early-mid 2021 with delivery in early 2023. The Evija is powered by a 70 kWh battery pack developed in conjunction with Williams Advanced Engineering, with electric motors supplied by Integral Powertrain. The four individual motors are placed at the wheels and each is rated at 375 kW (510 PS; 503 hp), for a combined total output of 1,500 kW (2,039 PS; 2,011 hp) and 1,704 N⋅m (1,257 lb⋅ft) of torque. Lotus claims that the Evija will be able to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under 3 seconds, from 0 to 300 km/h (186 mph) in 9.1 seconds, and achieve a limited top speed of 350 km/h (217 mph).[33]
Lotus Emira: This model was unveiled in July 2021, and production began in March 2022. The Emira will be Lotus’ final vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine.[24]
Lotus Eletre: The first electric SUV by Lotus, the Eletre is powered by a 112 kWh battery pack and an 800V high voltage system, achieving a maximum range of 600 km and 400 km of range after 20 minutes of charging. The 2024 model offers 603 horsepower for the base and S models, and 905 horsepower the R model and a top speed of 260 km/h. It is the first Lotus to offer features such as lidar.[34][35] Delivery began on 29 March 2023 and was expected to launch in Europe in the summer or fall of 2023 and in the United States in 2024.[36][37][38]
[edit]Proposed new Lotus Esprit (announced 2010 but subsequently cancelled)
At the 2010 Paris Motorshow, Lotus announced five new models to be introduced over the next five years:[43] 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.[44]
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.[45][46] Subsequently, the Esprit project was also cancelled.[47]
Lotus also showed an unnamed city car concept using its 1.2L range-extender engine.[48]
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.[44] This car has also been cancelled.[49]
Lotus CEO at the time Jean Marc Gales confirmed in 2017 that development of an SUV is currently under way, after the company was acquired by the Chinese automotive manufacturer, Geely.[50]
In July 2019 Lotus revealed the Evija, a 1,470 kW (2,000 PS; 1,970 hp) and 1,700 N⋅m (1,254 lb⋅ft) electric supercar.
In January 2021, Lotus teased that the Elise, Exige, and Evora will be discontinued and be replaced by the Type 131 which had yet to be released at the time of announcement. In July 2021, Lotus revealed that this new model will be called Emira.
In November 2021, Lotus teased the future introduction of the future Type 132 SUV.[51]
In September 2023, Lotus announced the Lotus Emeya, the company's first electric GT car.[52]
Range Extender Engine. This all-aluminium, monoblock, 1200 cc, three-cylinder, 47 horsepower, four-stroke engine is specifically designed to directly drive an alternator for electricity generation for series-hybrid cars. The engine is small and light at 56 kg (123 lb), having three cylinders and no detachable cylinder head. The cylinder head and engine block are all one casting to reduce size, weight and production costs. As the engine does not turn belt driven ancillaries such as alternator, power-steering pump or an air conditioning compressor, the block requires no strong points to accommodate such ancillaries, resulting in a simple and light block. The engine has a reduced parts count for lightness and cheaper production.[53][54]
On 18 August 2011 Lotus developed an all new in-house designed V8 destined for the new era range of cars. At 170 kg (375 lb) and just 612 mm (24.1 in) long, the unit is dry sump lubricated to save depth and will feature a 180° flat plane crank. The engine is being utilised as a stressed component, a technique pioneered by Colin Chapman in F1, specifically with the 1967 Type 49. It was expected to be used in the Le Mans LMP2 car in 2012. Expected performance is likely to be in excess of 590 PS (434 kW; 582 hp) and with a 9,200 rpm redline.[55]
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.[56]
Lotus Eco Elise is an engineering demonstrator of its classic sports car that incorporates solar panels into a roof made from hemp, while also employing natural materials in the body and interior of the car.
Lotus Exige 265E Bio-fuel
Lotus Exige 270E Tri-fuel
Lotus Evora 414E Hybrid. Shown at the 2010 Geneva Motor show
Whereas the VVA technology was to be used in the development of a new mid-engine 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 in a 2.2-litre naturally aspirated and 3.0-litre supercharged variations. An electric version was also shown in the 2007 NADA show.
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.
DMC DeLorean. Changes to the original concept led to considerable schedule pressures. The car was deemed to require almost complete re-engineering, which was turned over to engineer Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus. Lotus replaced most of the unproven material and manufacturing techniques with those then employed by Lotus in the Lotus Esprit
Vauxhall Lotus Carlton (also Opel Lotus Omega, internal name Lotus Type 104) – At the time (early 1990s) this was the fastest saloon car available, with a top speed of over 175 mph (280 km/h)
The 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T with a version of the 2.2 L K-car engine with a 16-valve DOHC head designed by Lotus with over 220 hp (160 kW)
Vauxhall VX220 (badged Opel Speedster outside of the UK) – Lotus produced and based the car upon the same aluminium chassis design as the Lotus Elise. Production of these models ended in 2005
Lotus styled and assisted with the engineering of the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car based on the Elise, as well as licensing some technologies to Tesla Motors and constructing the Roadster at their plant in Hethel.[57]
The Aston Martin DB9's chassis was developed with the help of Lotus Engineering
Lotus was responsible for most of the design, development, and testing, of the LT5 DOHC V8 powerplant for the Chevrolet Corvette C4 ZR-1
Lotus designed, developed and tested the GM Ecotec engine and its variants
Lotus was responsible for various aspects of the Sinclair C5 electric tricycle
Lotus was responsible for the development of the Campro engine together with Proton,[58] as well as its variable valve timing system, the Cam Profile Switching (CPS). Currently available in the 1.6-litre and 1.3-litre variants, the Campro engine now powers most of Proton's newer models
Lotus has worked on the suspension of the Mahindra Scorpio to make it more stable at high speeds
Lotus produced the revised chassis of the Isuzu Piazza
Lotus has worked on the suspension and handling of the Volvo 480
Lotus has worked on the suspension and handling of the Nissan GT-R[59]
Lotus rebuilt, modified, and tuned a Lada Riva on Top Gear season 1, episode 8.
The 2006 Volkswagen GX3 features a chassis developed by Lotus for VW
The 2009 Kia Soul features Lotus tuned suspension (UK only)
2010: Limo-Green project with Jaguar Cars. Lotus provided the Range Extender engine for a prototype XJ series-hybrid car. The car returned 58 mpg (imperial) running off the range extender alone[60]
Lotus partnered with Jaguar for developing chassis system and engine management of the Jaguar C-X75. The engine is a supercharged 1.6 turbo petrol engine rated at 507 PS (500 hp; 373 kW) coupled with a 177 PS (175 hp; 130 kW).
Lotus has worked on handling and steering of the 2015 Hyundai Genesis.
The 2015 Spyker B6 Venator is powered by a Lotus-built engine originating from a Toyota-sourced block.
The Baojun 730, a Chinese minivan with Lotus-tuned suspension, built by a General Motors subsidiary.
Lotus unveiled their first production electric hypercar called the Evija in July 2019, production would be limited to 130 units and is scheduled to begin in summer 2020 and is being delivered to customers in early 2023. The car was undergoing development under the codename Type 130. The Evija makes use of a 70 kWh battery pack developed in conjunction with Williams Advanced Engineering. There are 4 electric motors, one placed on each wheel supported by an Integral powertrain. The powertrain is rated at a total output of 2,039 PS (1,500 kW; 2,011 hp) with 1,704 N⋅m (1,257 lb⋅ft) of torque. The Evija has a range of 346 km (215 mi).[62][63][64][65][33]
The Tesla Roadster is based on the Elise chassis. On 11 July 2005, Tesla and Lotus entered an agreement about products and services based on the Lotus Elise, where Lotus provided advice on designing and developing a vehicle as well as producing partly assembled vehicles.[66][67]
Lotus Engineering has established a group dedicated to hybrid and electric vehicles.[68]
Lotus Engineering developed the Evora 414E as their first hybrid concept car. Featuring a total hybrid range of more than 300 miles.[69]
^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.
^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.
^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.
^Tesla, Lotus Position "Lotus Position". Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (last checked 2023-02-19)
6,970 units[1] (2023)
