Lotus reveals 75th Anniversary branding and first details of a very special year
Lotus reveals 75th Anniversary branding and first details of a very special year (16:9)
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- Established in 1948, Lotus celebrates 75 years in 2023
- Distinctive and striking 75th anniversary branding unveiled
- Global events and initiatives planned
- Looking back on 75 years of heritage, and looking forward as Lotus enters fourth quarter of first century
Hethel, UK – 20 December 2022 In 1948 a passionate young British designer and engineer called Colin Chapman built his first car, a modified Austin 7. Work was carried out in his spare time in the lock-up garage belonging to his girlfriend Hazel’s parents, behind their house in Hornsey, London. He called his car the Mark I and entered it into local trials. Different models followed, each an improvement on the one before, and within four years it became a business that he and Hazel called Lotus.
In 2023 – exactly 75 years later – Lotus will be celebrating this significant milestone with a number of exciting global events and initiatives. They will look back over seven and a half decades of innovation and success which have unquestionably helped shape the motoring and motorsport landscapes of today, and which have created some of the world’s most renowned and loved cars.
Celebrations will also look forward to what the fourth quarter of the company’s first century will look like, as Lotus continues its transformation from a UK sports car company to a global performance car business and brand.
To launch this very special year before it begins, Lotus has unveiled distinctive and striking 75th anniversary branding that will be seen in multiple environments over the next 12 months.
Matt Windle, Group Vice-President and Managing Director of Lotus Cars, commented: “Lotus of 2023 is a world away from a garage in north London, thanks to the billions being invested in our company on product development, an electrified future and more. We’ve come a long way since moving to our iconic home in Norfolk in 1966. Today we have engineering facilities in the UK, Germany and China; design studios in Hethel, Coventry and Shanghai; and new world-class manufacturing bases in Norfolk and China. It’s at the last of these that assembly of the first Lotus lifestyle car – the Eletre Hyper-SUV – begins later this month.”
He added: “The pioneering spirit and commitment of Colin and Hazel Chapman is alive and kicking in Lotus today, and we will be celebrating our 75th anniversary in style – paying tribute to the past and looking ahead to the future as we approach our first century.”
Notes to Editors
For more information please contact the Lotus Communications team:
Rob Borrett, Head of Media and Launch Programmes
+44 (0) 7718 560789
Richard Yarrow, Head of News and Technology Communications
+44 (0) 7471 994525
Alastair Florance, PR Manager
+ 44 (0) 7802 918662
Diederik Reitsma, PR Manager, European Markets
diederik.reitsma@eu.lotuscars.com
+ 31 651 939 185
Samantha Thomas, PR Officer, Product Press and Digital Media
+44 (0) 7909 813785
The Lotus media site – https://media.lotuscars.com – contains news, images, specifications and full details of current models, as well as heritage cars and engineering technology.
For the latest news and information from the Lotus PR Team please follow:
https://twitter.com/LotusCarsPR
https://www.instagram.com/LotusCarsPR
For Lotus Cars social media please follow:
https://www.facebook.com/LotusCars
https://www.instagram.com/lotuscars
https://www.youtube.com/grouplotus
https://www.linkedin.com/company/group-lotus
About Lotus
Lotus Cars is based in Hethel, Norfolk, UK, and is the global HQ for sports car and hypercar manufacturing operations, Lotus Advanced Performance and the iconic 2.2-mile test track. Lotus Cars builds world-class high-performance cars, born out of legendary success on the racetrack including 13 FIA Formula 1 world titles and many other championship honours. In July 2021 Lotus unveiled the all-new Lotus Emira, its last petrol-powered sports car and best-of-breed, and in July 2019 it launched the Evija, the world’s first all-electric British hypercar. Customer deliveries of both cars will begin during 2022. In March 2022 Lotus revealed the Eletre, the world’s first all-electric hyper-SUV. Customer deliveries will begin in 2023. The Lotus Type 135, an all-electric sports car, is currently being designed and engineered at Hethel.
Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive consultancy services to many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. It is internationally recognised for its long-standing contribution to ground-breaking engineering and innovative vehicle development. Its expertise extends beyond automotive; in August 2021 a Lotus Engineering-developed track bike helped Team GB’s cyclists win seven medals, including three golds, at the Tokyo Olympics. An international consultancy with offices around the world, Lotus Engineering is headquartered at the Lotus Advanced Technology Centre on the University of Warwick’s Wellesbourne Campus in the UK.
Lotus Tech is an affiliate company of Group Lotus, established as part of the Vision80 strategy established in 2018. With operational assets across China, the UK and Europe, Lotus Tech is dedicated to delivering smart lifestyle battery electric vehicles (BEVs) such as the Eletre. Lotus Tech is focused on R&D in next-generation automobility technologies such as electrification, digitalisation and more. In addition to the Lotus Eletre, Lotus Tech plans to launch further BEV models including a sports sedan (Type 133) another SUV (Type 134) and more, as Vision80 reaches maturity in 2028.
Group Lotus is either the parent company of or affiliated with the above. In 2017, Geely Holding Group, one of the fastest growing automotive group in the world, acquired a 51% stake in Group Lotus. The other 49% is owned by Etika Automotive, a Malaysian conglomerate.
