2005 Lotus Elise Base Convertible 2-door 1.8l on 2040-cars

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What has Lotus got in store for us in Geneva?

In its latest announcement, Lotus has reported a substantial increase in sales over the past nine months of this fiscal year to date. That's good news for the once troubled niche automaker, but the interesting part was hidden further down the release. After detailing the jump in sales by 54 percent worldwide, Lotus announced that it "is revealing an exciting new car at the important Geneva International Motor Show in early March 2015." While little in the way of details were confirmed, the company said that "the product will remain true to its core pillars of lightness, performance and driving purity by embodying all of them in a most desirable package." Sounds pretty Lotus-like to us, but just what form it will take remains to be seen. Given that the Malaysian-owned British automaker has scrapped all of its ambitious new projects, the overwhelming likelihood is that whatever it is preparing to reveal in Geneva will be based on one of its existing models: the Elise, Exige or Evora. The last we heard, Hethel was planning a revision to the Evora, convertible and even crossover versions of the same, as well as an even more hard-core version of the Exige to take the place of the extreme 2-Eleven track car. The announcement refers to the Elise S Cup that was the company's most recent reveal, but seems to indicate that the Geneva show car will be something different. 19 January 2015 Lotus sales up 54% world-wide for the first nine months of the financial year · 81% sales increase EU overall · 88% increase in UK · 143% increase in France · 139% increase in Germany · 29% up USA; 50% up Canada · 24% up Asia and Middle East · 130% sales increases in China; 125% in Japan · Lotus Motorsport shows 19% increase · 163 dealers, 25 more than nine months ago, 50 more in pipeline by the end of 2015. · Exciting reveal in Geneva Announcing that overall sales are up by 54% in the past nine months provides tangible proof that the forward strategy established by Lotus Cars is working. In volume terms, the increase of 551 cars over the previous year, to a total of 1,565, is an excellent result for the British sports car maker. Lotus has enlarged and strengthened its representation globally, with 25 new dealers enrolled across a number of territories in the past nine months, with another 50 new dealers joining Lotus by the end of 2015.

Lotus unveils new racing bike for British Olympics team

Lotus Engineering, the automotive consultancy and industrial design arm of the British performance car brand, has marked its return to competitive cycling with a sleek and lightweight new track bike that features novel fork, seat stays and handlebars. Developed in concert with Hope Technology, a British bike-components manufacturer, the bike is aimed at helping the Great Britain Cycling Team notch medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. For Lotus, the bike represents a return to cycling after a 25-year absence. It’s also a nod to the Lotus Type 108 bike Chris Boardman rode to a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and in the 1994 Tour de France, where he won the prologue time trial to take the yellow jersey. Hope/Lotus British Cycling View 10 Photos WeÂ’re not given any details about the bikeÂ’s technology or specs, except that the Hope-designed frame is made of high-modulus composites with fabric woven in the U.K. Lotus was responsible for the unique fork and seat stays, with each characterized by slim polished metal tubing and a wide-flaring hooping design when viewed straight on. The handlebars similarly feature a flattened profile across the crossbar. Not surprisingly, the bike underwent lots of wind-tunnel testing, both with and without riders, plus testing to maximize strength with minimal weight. Lotus also said it worked to improve stiffness and front end feel. Much of the design and development was done after the 2016 Olympics, when the UCI governing body made changes to the rules governing bike development. Lotus and Hope were supported by British engineering firm Renishaw. The bikeÂ’s design must be approved by the UCI and be ridden by the Great Britain Cycling Team during the 2019–2020 Tissot UCI Track Cycling World Cup series by the end of this year in order to qualify to be ridden in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. TheyÂ’ll start riding it this weekend at the Minsk-Arena velodrome in Belarus, and November 8–10 in Glasgow, Scotland. ItÂ’ll also be displayed at the Rouler Classic event in London starting Friday and running through Sunday. Lotus Bicycle lotus engineering

Why Lotus thinks its luxury EV game plan will succeed globally

  Luxury sports car and EV maker Lotus completed its SPAC merger last week in the U.S. and its stock was publicly traded for the first time on Friday. It’s an interesting turn of events for the Geely-backed automaker now known as Lotus Tech given the uncertain EV market, but one that may prove an exception to the struggles of other pure-play EV makers. Trading under the ticker LOT on the Nasdaq, Lotus Tech will focus on the higher end of the EV market with its Eletre SUV and Emeya sedan, which will not only be offered in the US but also in Europe and, more importantly, China. “What is most important here is that we are definitely going to more markets at the same time through more models and through more stores,” said Lotus Tech CFO Alexious Lee to Yahoo Finance from the Nasdaq market site. By the end of the year Lotus will have four vehicles in production, three of them EVs. “These four models are currently available in Asia Pacific and part of it is also available in UK and EU,” Lee said. “We're having the new [Eletre] SUV model coming into the U.S. in the third quarter of this year, so different markets have different strategies and different product offerings and different conditions." Lotus is able to go to market in a number of territories due to the backing of its majority owner, Chinese auto giant Geely. But it also raised a considerable amount of money through its SPAC merger. Lotus Tech said it raised more than $880 million in pre-closing and PIPE financing commitments, with a targeted valuation on listing day of nearly $7 billion. Lotus Tech also had an interesting partner with its SPAC merging, combining with L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp (LCAA), which is backed by French luxury conglomerate LVMH. Lotus Eletre in Solar Yellow View 11 Photos As Lotus targets the luxury segment with its vehicles — the Eletre and Emeya will be playing in the $80,000 to $150,000 ballpark — having a partner like LVMH, with its deep connections and insights into the luxury consumer, could be hugely beneficial. “Now what is more important here is Anish Melwani, who is the CEO for LVMH North America, will be on the board of Lotus Tech,” Lee said.