New Lotus Sports Car (Type 131) CONFIRMED and Elise, Exige and Evora production to end

Lotus confirms the arrival of a new range of Type 131 sports cars in 2021, and also confirms that production of the Elise, Exige and Evora will end.

A new Lotus has become something of a one in a generation event, but with Geely now holding the reins at Lotus – and paying the bills – things are rapidly changing.

We know the new Lotus Evija electric hypercar is on the way, as is a Lotus SUV, and now we get confirmation that production of the Elise, Exige and Evora will end this year and a new range of Lotus sports cars – dubbed Type 131 – will arrive to replace them. And, at least initially, they’ll be ICE cars.

Before that, you can expect Lotus to make the most of the outgoing Elise, Exige and Evora with ‘special edition’ models to mark the end of a range that started more than a quarter of a century ago and sold around 55,000 units in that time.

The Type 131 family will be rolled out in the midst of a £100 million investment at Hethel, and the arrival of another 250 employees to bolster existing numbers.

Phil Popham, Lotus boss, said:

This year will be hugely significant for Lotus with new facilities coming on stream, a new sports car entering production and new levels of efficiency and quality that only a new car design and factory can deliver. Despite the continuing global challenges, Lotus has emerged from 2020 strong and on track in the delivery of our Vision80 business plan.