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40,000 “Small Car Platform” Lotus models
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Continuously improved industry benchmark
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40,000th model is the first Elise S 20th
Anniversary off the line
Since the unveiling of the pioneering and
ground-breaking Lotus Elise in 1995, Lotus has reached another
production landmark. No less than 40,000 examples have been
produced of its technologically advanced “small car platform”,
epitomised by the brilliant Lotus Elise, which has maintained
exceptional standards in light weight and efficiency, while
producing a benchmark in handling, to result in a pure driving
experience.
The first Lotus Elise 20th Anniversary model and
an early Lotus Elise S1 with Jean-Marc Gales, CEO,
Group Lotus plc (right) and key members of the Engineering
and Manufacturing team
The “small car platform” and its sheer production flexibility is
defined by the various models based on it, which have included
the Lotus Elise, Exige, Europa, 2-Eleven, 340R and racing
variants.
In being the first carmaker to use extruded and bonded
aluminium, Lotus revolutionised the industry and it has become a
method that is being widely adopted amongst the rest of the
motor industry. In the meantime, Lotus continues to refine and
develop its own lightweight structure currently weighing just 68
kg.
The landmark has not been achieved without considerable effort,
as outlined by Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus plc, “The small
car platform was a landmark development in 1995 and developed at
the right time in the company’s history. Yet, in an environment
of continuous improvement, while a correlation exists between
today’s platform and the first of the lightweight, bonded and
extruded aluminium structures, it has altered radically. It
remains a benchmark in light weight and efficiency and is as
advanced and market-leading today as it was 20 years ago.”
The small car platform underpins the current Elise and Exige
models, with the same aluminium extruded and bonded technology
used in the new Lotus Evora 400. Outstanding structural rigidity
ensures that Lotus benchmark handling is uncorrupted, which
underscores the pure driving experience that enthuses owners,
racers and the motoring media.
Jean-Marc Gales continued, “We are especially delighted that the
40,000th version of our small car platform will underpin,
appropriately, an Elise 20th Anniversary model, the latest Elise
model that celebrates our landmark achievements. Looking to the
future, the platform will continue to be developed, improved
upon and form a solid and dependable base for future new models
demonstrating the production flexibility of the technology and
its importance to Lotus.”
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