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Lotus history
Lotus company history timeline
Type 115 - Lotus Elise GT1 (1997) In 1997 Lotus unveiled the Lotus Elise GT1, a derivative of the Lotus Elise and powered by a 3.5 litre eight-cylinder engine with 580bhp.
M250 (Type 118?) Frankfurt Motorshow 1999 - Powered by a mid-mounted Lotus-tuned 3.0 litre V6 engine that drives the rear wheels through a six-speed gearbox, project M250 was aimed to slot into the Lotus line-up between the Elise and the Esprit.
Exige (April 2000) The Exige is a road-going replica of the Sport Elise racer, albeit with a few concessions to type approval regulations and the rigours of everyday road use.
Lotus Extreme concept car (2000) The proposed vehicle is a radical, two-seater, with a fighter-cockpit seating arrangement, bringing together influences from aerospace, motorcycle and powerboat vehicles.
Lotus Shopping Trolley (2000) "The fundamental techniques of vehicle engineering apply to both sportscars and to all other vehicles including the humble shopping trolley.
Type 119 Lotus soapbox (July 2002) The world’s fastest go-kart, capable of reaching 60mph in 4.3 seconds, and has a top speed of 207mph.
It competed for the first time at The Goodwood Festival Of Speed in the '2002 Goodwood Gravity Racing Soapbox Challenge' - where it was expected to reach a speed of around 60mph.
Lotus ECO2S, 2002 The 2002 Geneva motor saw the launch of Lotus Engineering's project: 'ECO2s' (pronounced ECOS). The project uses a number of new techniques to reduce emissions and body weight with the ultimate goal of an environmentally friendly sports car.
Federalised Elise, January 2003 (Elise 111R) In January 2003 the first official announcement about a US bound Elise was made, to be based on the European Elise but with additional safety equipment to satisfy US legalities.
In September 2003 Lotus announced that the Toyota 2ZZ-GE 1.8 litre 4 cylinder 16-valve engine with Variable Valve Timing and Lift-Intelligent (VVTL-i) system had been chosen, to be mated to a six-speed gearbox and tuned by Lotus specifically for the United States and to produce around 190hp.
At the 2004 Geneva Show, Lotus presented the new Lotus Exige on the world stage.
More powerful engines were also considered - including the Rover 2.5 KV6 and even (reportedly) the 1.6 V8 twin turbo used in the Suzuki concept car (250bhp). The Elise Coupe (codenamed Sepang) eventually emerged in Dec 2005 as the Lotus Europa, click here for more details.
Lotus Sport Exige GT3, Dec 2005
The Lotus Evora was launched in July 2008 after being developed under the codename Project eagle.
Lotus Engineering celebrated being awarded ‘The Engineer Technology + Innovation Award of 2008’
A new fleet of cars announced at the Paris Mororshow, Sept 2010 - see here for more details.
The Lotus name reentered the Formula One world in 2010 when a Malaysian team called Lotus Racing were awarded an entry.
The Lotus test track at Hethel was renovated in 2011 and officially re-opened on 21 June
The 2011 Lotus Elise has as a new evolution body design and features the new high technology 1ZR-FAE 1.6 litre engine
Set for release in spring 2014, this 2+2 GT will set a new benchmark in design, performance and emissions.
The fastest ever line up of Lotus production road cars was showcased at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show
They now own 51% of the company with Malaysian group Etika owning the other 49%. In May of 2017 it was announced that Lotus was being bought by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group.
In September 2017, Lotus unveiled the Evora GT430.
Since Lotus have been bought by Geely there has been talk of expansion including rumours of producing an SUV. They are also talking about a new Elise for a 2020 launch, bringing the model into the 21st century in a big way.
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Lotus competitors
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| First Coast Energy | - | $560.0M | 3,000 | 1 |
| Hatfield And Company, Inc | - | $8.6M | 50 | 1 |
| Hurd Enterprises Inc | - | - | - | - |
| Athens Services | 1957 | $160.0M | 1,000 | 80 |
| Blossman Gas | 1951 | $400.0M | 512 | 75 |
| Powerhouse | 1996 | $1.3M | 44 | 63 |
| Ludlow Company LP, The | 1868 | $1.2M | 5 | - |
| The Sinclair Companies | - | $3.1B | 7,000 | 16 |
| Viking | 1978 | $7.0M | 125 | 54 |
| Elevation | 2014 | $3.9M | 50 | 3 |
Lotus history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Lotus, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Lotus. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Lotus. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Lotus. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Lotus and its employees or that of Zippia.
Lotus may also be known as or be related to Lotus and Lotus, Llc.