- Emira was voted ‘New Car of the Year’ by both motor retail managers and AM judging panel
- AM Awards from Automotive Management Online, recognise and celebrate motor retail excellence, market-leading vehicles and business leadership
- Award received on behalf of Lotus by Geoff Dowding, Executive Director, Commercial Operations
Hethel, UK – 15 May 2023
Lotus Emira, the last Lotus petrol-powered sports car collected another accolade by being named as ‘New Car of the Year’ at the annual AM Awards 2023, held in London this week.
To win The New Car of the Year Award, the Lotus Emira was voted for by both motor retail managers and the AM judging panel:
“Clearly the Emira is being seen as a fantastic start of a new chapter for Lotus and its dealers. It is the most accomplished Lotus road car yet, balancing a high level of driver engagement with the practicality of an everyday sportscar, and our audience – including dealers with rival brands – is now certainly very excited about the Lotus brand’s future. Emira will certainly attract new customers to Lotus and this will give the carmaker great foundations for growth,” said Tim Rose, editor, AM Online.
Receiving the award on behalf of Lotus, Geoff Dowding, Executive Director, Commercial Operations said, “The Emira has won a number of accolades around the world, but this award from AM is particularly special as it was voted for by the well informed AM judging panel and a discerning automotive industry, including retailers, dealers and senior management. Not only is the Emira is a brilliant sports car and the best in breed but also this award reinforces the confidence and excitement that the industry has for Lotus as it rapidly moves towards the EV future with the Lotus Evija and Lotus Eletre.”
Powered by either a 3.5-litre supercharged V6 engine or a 2.0-litre turbocharged ‘i4’ through a manual, automatic or Dual Clutch Transmission, the Lotus Emira accelerates to 0-60mph in 4.2 seconds before reaching a top speed of 180mph.
The Emira is manufactured at Lotus’ global HQ for sports car and hypercar operations in Hethel, Norfolk. Subassembly manufacturing for the lightweight and high tech aluminium chassis is at Lotus Advanced Structures in Norwich.
The Lotus Emira is one of three high tech performance cars built by Lotus, along with the Eletre, the world’s first all-electric hyper-SUV and the Evija, the world’s first all-electric British hypercar.
Lotus Cars is based in Hethel, Norfolk, UK, and is the global HQ for sports car and hypercar manufacturing operations, Lotus Advanced Performance and the iconic 2.2-mile test track. Lotus Cars builds world-class high-performance cars, born out of legendary success on the racetrack including 13 FIA Formula 1 world titles and many other championship honours. In July 2021 Lotus unveiled the all-new Lotus Emira, its last petrol-powered sports car and best-of-breed, and in July 2019 it launched the Evija, the world’s first all-electric British hypercar. In March 2022 Lotus revealed the Eletre, the world’s first all-electric hyper-SUV. Customer deliveries will begin in 2023. An all-electric sports car (codenamed Lotus Type 135) is currently being designed and engineered at Hethel.
Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive consultancy services to many of the world’s OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. It is internationally recognised for its long-standing contribution to ground-breaking engineering and innovative vehicle development. Its expertise extends beyond automotive; in August 2021 a Lotus Engineering-developed track bike helped Team GB’s cyclists win seven medals, including three golds, at the Tokyo Olympics. An international consultancy with offices around the world, Lotus Engineering is headquartered at the Lotus Advanced Technology Centre on the University of Warwick’s Wellesbourne Campus in the UK.
Lotus Tech is an affiliate company of Group Lotus, established as part of the Vision80 strategy that was launched in 2018. Its European sites include Lotus Tech Creative Centre (LTCC) in Coventry, UK, and Lotus Tech Innovation Centre (LTIC) in Raunheim, Germany. Lotus Tech is dedicated to delivering smart lifestyle battery electric vehicles (BEVs) such as the Eletre. Lotus Tech is focused on R&D in next-generation automobility technologies such as electrification, digitalisation and more. In addition to the Lotus Eletre, Lotus Tech plans to launch further BEV models including a sports sedan (Type 133) another SUV (Type 134) and more, as Vision80 reaches maturity in 2028.
Group Lotus is either the parent company of or affiliated with the above. In 2017, Geely Holding Group, one of the fastest growing automotive groups in the world, acquired a 51% stake in Group Lotus. The other 49% is owned by Etika Automotive, a Malaysian conglomerate.
