After almost two decades, Lotus has stopped the production of three of its iconic cars; Elise, Evora and Exige
2021 marked the end of the road for three iconic cars such as Elise, Evora and Exige from the house of Lotus, the famous British sports car manufacturing company. Lotus has ended the production of the mentioned three cars because the company is now focusing on manufacturing electric cars such as the Evija electric hyper car and Type 132 SUV.
Why this article is worth your time?
The Elise, Evora and Exige are historic cars that had a combined tenure of 26 years. Not to forget, in the 73-year history of Lotus, over 50 per cent of the company’s produced cars comprised the three mentioned models. In 26 years, the company manufactured 35,124 Elises followed by 10,497 Exiges and 6,117 Evoras amounting to 51,738 units.
What happened to the last three models?
At the Hethel facility of Lotus, the last three models were rolled out. However, the last three models will never be sold. Instead, they will be placed in the Heritage collection of Lotus. For years, Lotus has been offering Factory Tour and Heritage Tour and we believe one will be able to see the last three models up close in those tours.
Official statement from Lotus
Matt Windle, the Managing Director of Lotus Cars, said, “I would also like to convey enormous gratitude to all the customers of the Elise, Exige and Evora over the last 26 years for their passion, enthusiasm and support. These customers have given our ‘three Es’ true cult status – usually reserved for long-out-of-production classics.”
The debut years of the three cars
The first model was the Elise that made its debut in 1996. After the debut of Elise, in 2000, the Exige came to life. Finally, in 2006, Lotus launched the Evora. Until 2000, Elise and Evora were produced via a small assembly line. However, in 2000, new assembly lines were placed. Now, those assembly lines will be replaced with different state-of-the-art assembly lines to produce theEmira (company’s last and only ICE car).
What’s next for Lotus?
As mentioned in the first paragraph, Lotus will now work on the Evija, its upcoming electric hyper car. As per the company, it will be the most powerful production car on the planet. Last but not the least, the British manufacturer will soon reveal its first electric SUV named Type 132.
