Thursday 1st September 2005

Lotus motors across the USA

Elise sales exceeds expectations

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20,000th Elise and the team

Lotus Cars USA, which distributes Loti in N America, is doing really well. It's set a new one-year sales record with the new Elise, has exceeding expectations by nearly 20 per cent and has firmly re-establishing Lotus in the US market.

Introduced at the 2004 Los Angeles Auto Show, the first Elise was delivered in July 2004, since when 2,385 cars have been delivered. Orders quickly exceeded projections and the US distributor described the Elise as the most successful model in Lotus' 57-year history.

The company has been expanding its dealer network in new markets around the country. There are currently 45 US 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, boss 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.

"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."

[cross-eyed-twit]

Great, great news and not a day too soon.

:-)

[Rogey Mac]

Awesome

[smele]

I always knew there was a enough PistonHead type Americans to make the Elise a big hit.

Let's hope the next one is better and not fatter.

[anonymous-user]

That's great news! For those of us who have been waiting 15 years for the new Esprit (and given the original was already 15 years old by 1990) talk of new models must always be taken with a large pinch of salt. In the mean-time just go out and buy a Corvette C6 or better still a Z06.

IMO any new Lotus needs to me mid-engined, a fraction smaller than the latest Boxster and an even better drive. It's a tough challenge but if anyone can deliver the goods it's the guys from Hethel. Remember; 10 years ago Lotus was supposed to be dead, crippled by the failure of the FWD Elan and with Esprit sales in terminal decline.

Some people may bleat about the use of Toyota parts yet that's what enabled Lotus cars to improve in the 1980s and that's what enabled the Elise to go on sale in USA.

A great car is a great car and Lotus has built its share. Let's hope there's more to come.

[tjones5420]

Anyone know where the dealership in Raleigh NC is.....???

[dsf3g]

This is great news! I used to own an old Esprit, and look forward to buying an Elise to replace my MR2 in 5 years or so when I can afford one. It's my designated mid-life crisis car. Maybe by then there'll be a robust dealer network. I used to hate having to drive out of state to have the Esprit serviced.