Lotus Cars facts for kids
Lotus logo (2019)
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| Private | |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1948 |
| Founder | Colin Chapman |
| Headquarters | , |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Products | Automobiles |
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Production output
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 6,970 units (2023) |
| Revenue | $679 million (2023) |
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Number of employees
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1,385 (2021) |
| Parent | Geely Holding (51%) Etika Automotive (49%) |
Lotus Group (also known as Lotus Cars) is a British company that makes awesome luxury sports cars and electric cars. It's known for making cars that are light and handle really well.
Lotus Group is made of three main parts:
- Lotus Cars: This part builds high-performance sports cars and is based in Hethel, Norfolk, England.
- Lotus Tech: This part focuses on all-electric cars and is based in Wuhan, China. It also has offices in the UK, Netherlands, and Germany.
- Lotus Engineering: This is a company that helps other car makers with their engineering. It's based at the University of Warwick's Wellesbourne Campus.
Lotus was started by Colin Chapman in 1948. After he passed away, the company had a few different owners, including General Motors and Proton. Today, a Chinese company called Geely owns most of Lotus.
Lotus was also very famous in Formula One racing with its own team, Team Lotus. They won the Formula One World Championship seven times! Some well-known Lotus cars include the Lotus Seven, the Elan, the Esprit, and the Elise.
Contents
How Lotus Started
The company officially began in 1952 as Lotus Engineering Ltd. It was founded by engineers Colin Chapman and Colin Dare. But Colin Chapman actually built his very first racing car in a garage back in 1948. The four letters in the middle of the Lotus logo, "A.C.B.C.", stand for the initials of the company's founder, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman.
In 1954, Team Lotus was created separately from Lotus Engineering. This team raced in Formula One from 1958 to 1994. In 1959, the Lotus Group of Companies was formed, which included Lotus Cars Limited (for road cars) and Lotus Components Limited (for racing cars).
The first Lotus factory was in old stables in North London. In 1959, they moved to a new factory in Cheshunt. Since 1966, Lotus has been based at a modern factory and test track in Hethel, near Wymondham in Norfolk. This site used to be an airfield during World War II, and the test track uses parts of the old runways.
In the early days, Lotus sold cars to people who wanted to race them. You could even buy their early road cars as kits to build yourself, which helped save money on taxes. This "kit car" era ended in the early 1970s.
Lotus became well-known in the 1960s with the Lotus Elan. This car had a lightweight fiberglass body, a strong central frame (called a backbone chassis), and special engines. Lotus also worked with Ford to create the Lotus Cortina, a very successful sports car. Another popular car was the Lotus Europa, which had its engine in the middle of the car. The Lotus Seven, a simple, open sports car, was so popular that Lotus sold the rights to make it to another company, Caterham, which still makes it today!
By the mid-1970s, Lotus wanted to make more luxurious cars. They launched the Elite and Eclat models, which were four-seaters with features like air conditioning. The Lotus Esprit, with its engine in the middle, became one of the company's most famous and long-lasting models. Lotus also developed its own powerful engines.
Tough Times and New Owners
By 1980, Lotus Group faced serious money problems. Car production dropped a lot, partly because of a worldwide economic slowdown.
In 1982, Lotus made a deal with Toyota to share ideas and technology. This helped Lotus develop the Mk2 Toyota Supra and launch a new car called the Lotus Excel. Using parts from Toyota helped Lotus sell the Excel for less money.
Around this time, a lawyer named Joe Bianco helped Lotus get new money by creating a special sales company in the United States. This helped US sales grow quickly.
Sadly, Colin Chapman passed away from a heart attack in December 1982 at age 54. He had built Lotus into a successful company that won seven Formula One World Championships.
After Chapman's death, Lotus faced more financial challenges. In 1983, David Wickins helped turn the company around by bringing in new investors. He is often called "The saviour of Lotus."
International Ownership
Even with new investors, Lotus needed more money to develop new cars. In 1986, General Motors bought most of Group Lotus. Later, in 1993, GM sold Lotus to an Italian businessman named Romano Artioli, who also owned Bugatti.
In 1996, a Malaysian car company called Proton bought a majority share in Lotus. Lotus Cars even received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2002 for its success in international trade.
On May 24, 2017, the Chinese company Geely announced it was taking a 51% controlling share in Lotus. The remaining 49% was bought by Etika Automotive.
In 2021, Geely and Alpine (a division of Renault) announced they would work together to create electric performance cars. Lotus also shared plans to make only electric cars by 2028 and greatly increase its production. Geely and Etika Automotive provided a lot of money to make these changes happen.
How Lotus Works Today
Today, Lotus Group Limited is divided into Lotus Cars (which makes the sports cars) and Lotus Engineering (which helps other companies).
Besides making its own sports cars, Lotus Engineering works as a consultant for other car manufacturers. They are especially good at designing car suspensions. For example, Lotus's engine department designed and developed the 4-cylinder Ecotec engine used in many cars from GM brands like Vauxhall, Opel, Saab, Chevrolet, and Saturn. They also helped develop the engines for the US Lotus Elise and Exige models.
Over the years, Lotus has had several leaders. In 2014, Jean Marc Gales became CEO and helped the company become profitable again in 2017. He was replaced by Feng Qingfeng from Geely, and later Matt Windle became the managing director of Lotus Cars in 2021.
Formula One and Racing
Lotus has a rich history in racing. In its early days, the company encouraged its customers to race Lotus cars. Lotus first entered Formula One through its sister company, Team Lotus, in 1958.
A Lotus Formula One car, driven by Stirling Moss, won its first Grand Prix race in 1960 at Monaco. Major success came in 1963 with the Lotus 25. With Jim Clark driving, Team Lotus won its first F1 World Constructors' Championship. Jim Clark was a dominant driver for Lotus, winning the Drivers' Championship in 1963 and 1965. Sadly, he passed away in a racing accident in 1968. That year's championship was won by Clark's teammate, Graham Hill.
Team Lotus was known for many innovations in Formula One, such as:
- Making the mid-engined layout popular for IndyCars.
- Developing the first single-piece Formula One chassis (monocoque).
- Adding wings to cars and shaping the car's underside to create "downforce," which helps cars stick to the track.
- Inventing active suspension.
- Moving radiators to the sides of the car to improve how air flows around it.
Other Formula One Drivers' Championship winners for Lotus include Jochen Rindt in 1970, Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972, and Mario Andretti in 1978. Lotus was the first car maker to win 50 Grand Prix races, even beating Ferrari to this milestone!
Even after Colin Chapman's death, Team Lotus remained a major player in Formula One until the late 1980s. Famous driver Ayrton Senna raced for the team from 1985 to 1987, winning several races.
Team Lotus stopped participating in Formula One at the end of the 1994 season. Lotus-built cars won a total of 79 Grand Prix races.
The Lotus name returned to Formula One in 2010 with a new Malaysian team called Lotus Racing. However, this team was not related to the original Team Lotus. After some disagreements, the original Team Lotus name was used by another team, and the Lotus F1 Team was created in 2012, which raced until 2015.
Lotus Group also supported other types of racing, like the IndyCar Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.
Lotus Car Models
Current Models
- Lotus Evija: This is a super-fast electric sports car. Only 130 of these cars will be made. It has four electric motors, one for each wheel, making it incredibly powerful. It can go from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in under 3 seconds!
- Lotus Emira: This car was revealed in 2021 and is special because it will be the very last Lotus car to use a traditional gasoline engine.
- Lotus Eletre: This is the first high-performance electric SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) from Lotus. It has a powerful battery and can charge very quickly. It's also the first Lotus to have advanced features like LiDAR, which helps it "see" its surroundings.
- Lotus Emeya: This is Lotus's first electric GT (Grand Tourer) car, designed for both speed and comfortable long-distance driving.
Previous Models
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Lotus has made many different car models over the years, each with its own special "Type" number. Some of the most famous include:
- Lotus Mark I (1948): A sports car based on an Austin 7.
- Lotus Seven (1957–1972): A very light, open sports car designed for racing.
- Lotus 14 (1957–1963): The first Lotus car made for regular roads.
- Lotus 26 (1962–1971): A popular sports car.
- Lotus 28 (1963–1966): A special Lotus version of the Ford Cortina.
- Lotus 46 (1966–1968): A unique car with a mid-mounted engine.
- Lotus 50 (1967–1974): The four-seat Elan +2.
- Lotus 79 (1975–1980): A famous sports car that became one of Lotus's most iconic models.
- Lotus 89 (1982–1992): A GT car.
- Lotus Elan (Type M100) (1989–1995): A front-wheel-drive convertible.
- Lotus 111 (1996–2022): A very popular lightweight sports car.
- Lotus 121 (2000–2022): A more extreme, track-focused version of the Elise.
- Lotus 123 (2010–2022): A larger, more powerful sports car.
Future Car Plans
At the 2010 Paris Motor Show, Lotus announced plans for five new models. However, due to financial difficulties, most of these plans were later cancelled.
In 2017, after Geely bought Lotus, the company confirmed it was developing an SUV. In 2019, Lotus revealed the Evija, its powerful electric supercar. In 2021, Lotus announced that the Elise, Exige, and Evora models would be stopped and replaced by the new Emira. Later that year, they also teased plans for the Type 132 SUV, which is now a current model.
Lotus Engines
Lotus has developed many of its own engines and engine technologies, including:
- Lotus-Ford Twin Cam
- Lotus 900 series engines, which included several different types like the 907, 910, 911, 912, 920, and 918.
- A special "Range Extender Engine" designed for hybrid cars. This small, lightweight engine generates electricity for the car.
- In 2011, Lotus developed a new V8 engine designed to be very powerful and light.
Lotus Engineering
Lotus Engineering Limited is a separate part of Lotus Cars that offers its engineering skills to other companies, mainly in the car industry. Besides its main office in Hethel, UK, Lotus Engineering also has centers in the USA, Malaysia, and China.
Engineering Projects
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Lotus Engineering has worked on many interesting projects for other companies, including:
- The DMC DeLorean sports car: Lotus helped redesign its chassis.
- The Vauxhall Lotus Carlton (also known as Opel Lotus Omega): This was one of the fastest sedan cars in the early 1990s.
- The 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T: Lotus designed the special engine head for this car.
- The Vauxhall VX220 (also called Opel Speedster): Lotus built this car based on the same lightweight aluminum chassis as the Lotus Elise.
- The Tesla Roadster: Lotus helped design and engineer this electric sports car and built it at their factory.
- The Aston Martin DB9's chassis was developed with help from Lotus Engineering.
- Lotus designed and tested the powerful LT5 V8 engine for the Chevrolet Corvette C4 ZR-1.
- Lotus designed and tested the GM Ecotec engine, used in many different cars.
- Lotus helped with the design of the Sinclair C5 electric tricycle.
- Lotus has helped tune the suspension of many cars, including the Toyota MR2, Toyota Supra, Isuzu Piazza, Isuzu Impulse, Volvo 480, Mahindra Scorpio, and Nissan GT-R.
- Lotus worked with Proton to develop the Campro engine.
- Lotus rebuilt and tuned a Lada Riva on the TV show Top Gear.
- Lotus developed the chassis for the 2006 Volkswagen GX3 concept car.
- Lotus helped with the suspension of the 2009 Kia Soul (UK model).
- Lotus worked with Jaguar on the "Limo-Green" project, a luxury hybrid electric car.
- Lotus helped with the handling and steering of the 2015 Hyundai Genesis.
- The Spyker B6 Venator uses a Lotus-built engine.
- The Chinese minivan Baojun 730 has Lotus-tuned suspension.
- Lotus collaborated on the HB.T, a special aerodynamic track bicycle.
Cars Based on Lotus Designs
Many cars have used designs or parts from Lotus, especially the lightweight Elise chassis:
- Detroit Electric SP.01
- Hennessey Venom GT
- Infiniti Emerg-e concept car
- Melkus RS2000
- Rinspeed sQuba concept car
- Tesla Roadster
- Vauxhall VX220/Opel Speedster
Electric Vehicles
Lotus is moving towards an electric future.
Evija
The Evija is Lotus's first all-electric "hypercar." It was shown in 2019, and only 130 will be made. It has a powerful battery and four electric motors, giving it incredible speed and acceleration. It can travel about 346 km (215 miles) on a single charge.
Other Electric Projects
The first-generation Tesla Roadster was based on the Lotus Elise chassis. Tesla and Lotus worked together, with Lotus providing advice on design and development, and even partly assembling the cars.
Lotus Engineering has a special team that works on hybrid and electric vehicles. They developed the Evora 414E as their first hybrid concept car, which could travel over 300 miles using its hybrid system.
Lotus also joined other companies on a project called "Limo-Green," which was a luxury hybrid electric sedan.
Images for kids
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Lotus Mark I.jpg
Lotus Mark I, 1948
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Lotus Mark IX and Lotus 6
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Lotus Eleven
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Lotus Elite
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Lotus Elan +2S, 1973
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Lotus Europa S2
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Lotus Eclat S2
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Lotus Esprit V8, 1999
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Lotus Elise S1
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Lotus Elise GT1 Road Car, 1997
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Lotus 340R
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Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220 (based on the Lotus Elise S2)
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Lotus Emira
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Proposed new Lotus Esprit (announced 2010 but subsequently cancelled)
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Lotus Evija
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DeLorean with Lotus designed chassis
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Dodge EV
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Tesla Roadster
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See also
In Spanish: Lotus Cars para niños
- List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom
