UK – The milestone was reached 20 years after the company unveiled its Lotus Elise, which has continued to see developments in terms of weight and efficiency. The OEM hailed the “sheer production flexibility” of its small-car platform, which also forms the basis for the Exige, Europa, 2-Eleven, 340R and racing variants.
Lotus claims a pioneering role in automotive production as the first carmaker to use extruded and bonded aluminium. It has now succeeded in developing a structure weighing just 68kg.
“In an environment of continuous improvement, while a correlation exists between today’s platform and the first of the lightweight, bonded and extruded aluminium structures, it has altered radically,” commented Jean-Marc Gales, CEO, Group Lotus.
“Looking to the future, the platform will continue to be developed, improved upon and form a solid and dependable base for future new models demonstrating the production flexibility of the technology and its importance to Lotus.”
