Lotus Cars global sales increased by 4.4%

THE boys at Hethel in England are quite happy with themselves as they have good news to share despite a pandemic and an economic slowdown in every market across the globe.

Despite the many global challenges of 2020, Lotus Cars has just reported that its new car retail sales increased by 4.4% as compared to its 2019 total sales. This does not include sales from its brand new Malaysian Lotus brand guardian who just set up shop a few months ago.

Sales increased in many key markets around the world as the transformation of Lotus continues. Highlights include growth in the USA, Germany, Italy, UK, China, Singapore, Netherlands and others.

The most popular Lotus model globally was the Elise, followed by the Exige and Evora. 

The Elise is powered by an engine sourced from Toyota and designed by Yamaha. It is a 2ZZ-GE 1.8 litre supercharged four-cylinder petrol engine. It produces 220 PS at 6,800 rpm and an impressive 250 Nm of torque at 4,600 rpm, which is good for a 0-100 km/h acceleration time of 4.2 seconds. This is a rear wheel drive sports car that uses a six-speed close-ratio manual gearbox.

The Lotus Exige is a true Porsche Cayman rival with its supercharged 3.5 litre V6 that delivers 410 bhp at 7,000 rpm and a high 420 Nm of torque between 3,000 to 7,000 rpm. The 0-100 km/h acceleration time is done in just 3.4 seconds and its top speed is an impressive 290 km/h.

The 2020 model Lotus Evora GT410 Sport remains the most driver-focused and lightweight choice in the Lotus Evora range. 

Its standard specification has also been revised; upgrades include the integration of Sparco sport seats, air-con, and a premium infotainment system including DAB digital radio, sat-nav and Apple CarPlay. 

Powered by a specially calibrated and tuned higher-output version of Lotus' supercharged, 3.5-litre 6-cylinder engine with integrated water-to-air charge cooler, it produces 416 bhp at 7000 rpm and 430 Nm of torque from 3,500 rpm to give a 0-100km/h acceleration time of just 3.8 seconds.

Concluding 2020, Lotus Cars CEO Phil Popham said: “Last year was extremely tough in many aspects of business and life, the most challenging we have seen.  Huge thanks to all our staff, retailers, partners and, of course, customers around the world for supporting Lotus through 2020.”

He added: “Despite the many challenges, our sales showed positive growth in the year, underlining the significant transformation now underway at Lotus. Our recent performance also bodes very well for the future, as we continue to progress our Vision 80 strategy with the Evija hyper-car and our new sports car which debuts this year.” – The Vibes, January 20, 2021

This article is powered by www.dsf.my. For more automotive updates, follow DSF.my on Facebook and Instagram