Lotus Elise, Exige, Evora Production Ends

Posted on 22 December 2021 by Ken Zino
Ken Zino of AutoInformed.com on Lotus Elise, Exige, Evora Production Ends

End of the road for Evora.

Today, Lotus said the last of the Elise, Exige and Evora sports cars were made. Their assembly lines will be dismantled to prepare for production of the new Lotus Emira mid-engine and last Lotus petrol-fueled (gasoline Yank) sports car. A total of 51,738 of the traditional rear-drive sports cars were built during the past 26 years.

Combined, they represent almost half of the total production of Lotus in its 73-year history. In addition, 9,715 sports cars were built for Lotus’ third-party clients, including GM and Tesla. (AutoInformed: Lotus Emira to Make US Debut with F1 Racer Jenson Button; Hazel Chapman Co-Founder of Lotus Dead at 94; Alpine and Lotus to Study Joint Development of an Electric Sports Car as Groupe Renault Restructures)

 From 1996 to 2000, the first-generation Elise and Exige sports cars were built in a small assembly hall at Hethel alongside the Lotus Esprit. The current assembly lines, installed in 2000, will be replaced with new accommodations in support of the all-new Emira factory. Full Emira production begins in the spring of 2022, after the prototype and test phases currently underway are completed. Production capacity of up to 5,000 units per year is based on a single shift. (AutoInformed: Chinese, Malaysian owned Lotus Engineering Expands Hethel)

The last examples of the Elise, Exige and Evora models are reserved for Lotus’ growing heritage collection. Joining the collection will be the last Elise, a Sport 240 Final Edition finished in Yellow and the last of 35,124 cars; the last Exige, a Cup 430 Final Edition in Heritage Racing Green – number 10,497; and the last Evora – a GT430 Sport finished in Dark Metallic Grey – the last of a production run of 6,117.

The Elise and Exige sports cars are built around the Lotus ‘small car platform.’ On the same platform, and also manufactured by Lotus at Hethel were the Opel Speedster / Vauxhall VX220 (7,200 cars built between 2000 and 2005) and the Tesla Roadster (2,515 cars built between 2007 and 2012). Therefore, including the Lotus 340R, Europa, 2-Eleven and 3-Eleven cars, this brings the total Lotus small car platform production volumes to 56,618 cars.

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About Ken Zino

Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
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One Response to Lotus Elise, Exige, Evora Production Ends

  1. Pingback: Lotus Hethel Factory Tours Restart for £95 | AutoInformed

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