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21 august 2005
LOTUS CELEBRATES RECORD YEAR IN U.S. |
Strong demand, dealer expansion confirm North American resurgence
Lotus Cars USA, North American distributor of Lotus sports cars, has
set a new one-year sales record with the new Elise roadster, exceeding
expectations by nearly 20-percent and firmly re-establishing the
British car maker in the U.S. market.
The first U.S. Elise was delivered in July of last year and through
July of this year 2385 cars have been delivered. After being introduced
at the 2004 Los Angeles Auto Show, orders for the lightweight,
190-horsepower sports car quickly exceeded projections and remained
strong throughout the first year of sales, further reinforcing the
Elise as the most successful model in Lotus' 57-year history.
To meet demand, and to prepare for future models, the company has been
expanding its dealer network in new markets around the country. There
are currently 45 U.S. Lotus dealers with new locations recently added
in Cleveland, Ohio; Richmond, Virginia and Raleigh, North Carolina.
Locations are also planned for Las Vegas and Sacramento, California.
"Lotus is back, without question" said John English, president and CEO
of Lotus Cars USA. "But we couldn't have done it without the support of
our dealers and the enthusiasm of our customers. We owe them great
thanks."
English added, "The Elise is true to the Lotus philosophy of
'performance through light weight' and the sales show that American
enthusiasts appreciate a pure, undiluted sports car. We look forward to
expanding our model line-up in the coming years to continue the
momentum Elise has established."
About Group Lotus plc: The main operating subsidiary of Group Lotus plc
is Lotus Cars Ltd. which has two operating divisions - Lotus Cars and
Lotus
Engineering:
Lotus Cars builds and commercialises Lotus sports cars, Elise and
Exige; builds sportscars for General Motors and manufactures the
advanced composite front and rear crash structures for Aston Martin V12
Vanquish. Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive and versatile
consultancy services to many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers,
offering a full engineering service from initial concept and project
design through development to full production prototype build.
Lotus Cars USA is the North American distributor of Lotus Sports Cars
based in Duluth, Georgia just outside of Atlanta.
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