Lotus 'feels like it's alive again'

Boss is bullish about firm's future as Emira deliveries start, with Evija soon to follow

Lotus managing director Matt Windle has told Autocar that it feels like Lotus is alive again” as the British brand gears up to finally start delivering its long-delayed Evija electric hypercar, having overcome a series of setbacks. Meeting Autocar at company headquarters in Hethel, Windle also spoke of quality improvements on the Emira production line, Lotus’s enduring passion for sports cars and potentially transformative partnership opportunities that could one day become reality.

Has the Evija (revealed in 2019 and priced at £2.04m) been a financial success for Lotus, or will it be?

"It will be. We've said we will build a maximum of 130 and sales are good. We've got enough sales for next year. It had two purposes for us. It had to break even; we weren't looking at it for massive profits. It's a halo product, and we wanted to not only show what we could achieve technically but also redefine the design language as well."

Is Hethel big enough to deal with Emira demand?