Lotus aims for traction following unveiling of Emira

The road to electrification is defined by Vision80, the company’s plan to increase sales and global reach with a strategy that includes the use of four new architectures. Among these is Sports, a new lightweight bonded aluminium chassis that Emira is based on.

“The chassis is an evolution of the Evora chassis,” said Matt Windle, managing director, Lotus Cars. “It’s the same wheelbase, its wider track - we’ve gone to 20” wheels. What we wanted to do was take the Evora’s dynamics and make them better.”

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Emira’s will be manufactured at Lotus’ home in Hethel, Norfolk, following over £100m of new investment in the company’s UK facilities to support production efficiency, volume capability and overall quality.

Windle added that the Emira is a ‘game-changer’ for the company and a ‘highly significant milestone’ toward becoming a global performance car brand.

‘First Edition’ models powered by a 3.5-litre V6 are scheduled for delivery in spring 2022, followed in the summer by Emira’s fitted with a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder ‘i4’ from the performance division of Mercedes-Benz.