The end of a 26-year journey at Lotus
It is an important page in the history of Lotus, in fact, a complete chapter of more than 25 years that ends with the end of the production of Elise, Required and Evora.
We knew it was a matter of time, but the exact date was not known. Today, we know that December 22 marks a milestone in Lotus history with the end of production of three extremely significant products for the small English manufacturer created by Colin Chapman.
Contents
Elise
Thus the Elise (from 1996 to 2021), Exige (from 2000 to 2021) and Evora (from 2010 to 2021) left the assembly line for the last time. On the whole, by cumulating the three cars, we are talking about some 51,738 copies. With its venerable 25-year career, the Elise has the biggest share of the pie with 35,124 copies, the latest of which is a Sport 240 Final Edition painted in yellow.
The Require
In second place, the Exige, a sportier version of the Elise, entered the market in 2000. Total production reached 10,497 units. The latest, Cup 430 Final Edition, adopts Lotus’ heritage color, racing green. To these models, we can add a very low production of the 340R, Europa, 2-Eleven and 3-Eleven.
Others
On the “small car” platform of Lotus, we must also add production for other manufacturers, including the Tesla Roadster to 2,515 copies between 2007 and 2012. In addition, Lotus was responsible for the founding of the Opel Speedster and Vauxhall VX220 assembled in 7,200 copies between 2000 and 2005.
Evora
Last but not least, the Evora will have had a career that stretched from 2010 to 2021 with some 6,117 units. The ultimate version, the GT430 Sport, completes this adventure for Lotus. In total, including all the cars built on this platform, just over 56,000 cars have this signature.
And now the future
Today, Lotus is looking to the future, in particular with the start of production of its latest car with a thermal engine, the Emira. At the same time, production of the multi-million dollar exotic Evija with a 1,970-horsepower electric drive, limited to 130 units, has already started. According to the Emira, everything that will be designed and assembled by Lotus will be electric.
