The store, which follows high-profile store openings in London, Munich and Oslo, combines Lotus’ long-standing commitment to technology, performance and heritage by providing customers with an exclusive and immersive entry into the brand.
Lotus Paris, at 33 Rue François 1er, close to the Champs-Élysées in the 8th arrondissement, has three floors dedicated to the brand’s past, present and future.
The ground floor serves as a street-level walk-in showcase and launch venue for the next-generation vehicle line-up – the Eletre hyper-SUV, Emira sports car, Evija hypercar and Emeya hyper-GT.
The first floor is dedicated to the brand’s iconic heritage; conceived as an open-plan exhibition space and gallery, it will regularly display classic road and race cars from Lotus’ 75-year history.
Finally, the basement tells the story of the brand’s ambition and its plans for the future. It also includes a VIP lounge and virtual-reality configurator to help customers discover and personalise their own vehicles, with Lotus product experts on hand to support them.
To celebrate its opening, which took place during Paris Fashion Week 2023, Lotus Paris hosted the European premiere of Emeya, the company’s first four-door hyper-GT that was unveiled earlier this month in New York.
Lotus Cars Europe executive director Niels de Gruijter said: “This flagship store in Paris is a huge milestone and further proof of our ongoing commitment to transform Lotus into a world-class provider of all-electric, intelligent, luxury performance products.”
Lotus has started customer deliveries of Eletre hyper-SUV in Europe and has this month expanded its business across the continent, launching new commercial operations in Denmark, Austria and Luxembourg. With the addition of these three new countries, Lotus is now represented in 12 markets across Europe – UK/Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.
“Lotus has strengthened its European footprint and will continue to do so,” Mr de Gruijter said.
“The recent opening of flagship stores in London, Munich, Oslo and now Paris – plus our three new markets – is playing a key role in building both the Lotus brand and long-lasting relationships with our customers.”
For the opening of the store in Paris – also known as the City of Light for its pioneering use of public lighting in the 19th century – Lotus and digital artist Ksawery Kirklewski united their talents and passions for retro-futurism to craft an immersive illuminated experience. Their collaboration has delivered an LED techno-chromatic spectacular around an Eletre hyper-SUV with the brand centre.
From Thursday, September 28, Lotus Paris will be open to the public who can admire the new Lotus Emeya.
Lotus brand stores form a key pillar in its global customer experience strategy, focused on building a direct relationship and creating unique, personalised experiences for customers.
Lotus plans to launch further stores worldwide in key markets including Europe, Asia and the US.
By Neil Dowling