Its changes start with a new retail identity program that is being rolled out in its showrooms around the world with the first in Bahrain.

Lotus said that the new identity creates a “sculptural and artistic” showroom that is adaptable to the different types of Lotus retail outlets.

It is also planning a digital store to be piloted in the UK next year.

Lotus sales and aftersales executive director Geoff Dowding said the visual identity was a major step in the brand’s transformation.

“The inherent flexibility of what we have created will be perfect for all environments, whether they’re solus or multi-franchise, urban or out-of-town, high street or shopping mall, single or multi-storey, pop-up, seasonal or permanent,” he said.

“We have some stunning new products coming and this will bring a host of customers to the Lotus brand for the first time. 

“The enhancements we’re making to our retail environment will give all our customers the best possible experience. We know that we have to do business with customers in a different way and we will over time implement a more direct transactional model.”

Lotus Engineering, the consultancy side of the Lotus business, is also expanding through the company’s Vision80 transformation strategy.

It is focussing on “a rebirth” in global automotive engineering, starting with a new home for the Lotus Advanced Technology Centre (LATC) on the Wellesbourne campus of the University of Warwick in the UK Midlands.

LATC is planned to have more than 100 employees with capacity for another 200 when the facility’s development is complete.

Projects underway are confidential but Lotus hints that they include:

• JBXE: Lotus Engineering is technical partner to JBXE, the Extreme E race team launched by former F1 world champion Jenson Button. The team will benefit from Lotus Engineering’s expertise and motorsport experience.
• British Cycling: An innovative aerodynamic profile for the new track bike to be ridden by Team GB athletes at this summer’s Tokyo Olympics. The work has been led by Lotus Engineering.
• Project LEVA: Short for Lightweight Electric Vehicle Architecture, Project LEVA is a collaboration led by Lotus Engineering that is targeting the acceleration of and innovation behind new lightweight structures for next-generation battery-electric vehicles.
• Project BattCon: Lotus Engineering has launched a pilot containerised battery testing facility to assess energy storage solutions for the booming EV sector. It means the consultancy can carry out various battery cell, module and pack characterisation tests, performance evaluations, and component and lifetime testing under controlled conditions for its clients.

Demand on Lotus Engineering for in-house products is also expanding and is based around four new Lotus structural architectures. 

The platforms, developed in conjunction with staff in Europe and China, are designed for the Geely group brands but will be available to other OEMs through the Lotus Engineering consultancy.

• Sportscar architecture: Referred to internally as the Elemental architecture, this is the platform on which the all-new Lotus Emira will be built. Flexible, lightweight and featuring the signature Lotus extruded aluminium technology, this sportscar platform is a massive step-change technically.
• Hypercar architecture: The Lotus Evija is the first vehicle to be built on this Extreme platform and goes into production later this year at Hethel.
• Premium architecture: The first ever truly global automotive architecture from Lotus, the Evolution platform will be the basis for an all-new range of lifestyle vehicles from the company. The architecture has been defined and designed in the UK, supported by collaborative work with teams in China, Sweden and Germany. It is ‘born British, raised globally’.
• Electric sportscar architecture: The Lotus Engineering consultancy is leading development work on a new vehicle platform – known internally as E-Sports – and from that will come new products for Lotus and Alpine. However, it is also commercially available for other OEMs to use.

By Neil Dowling