The “small car platform” and its sheer production flexibility is defined by the various models based on it, which have included the Lotus Elise, Exige, Europa, 2-Eleven, 340R and racing variants.
With the company’s use of extruded and bonded aluminium for manufacturing of automotive structures, others in the motor industry followed suit, resulting in it now being a widely adopted method in the industry. Today, the company continues to refine and develop its own lightweight structure currently weighing just 68 kg.
The landmark has not been achieved without considerable effort, as outlined by Jean-Marc Gales, CEO of the group, “The small car platform was a landmark development in 1995 and developed at the right time in the company’s history.
Yet, 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. It remains a benchmark in light weight and efficiency and is as advanced and market-leading today as it was 20 years ago.”
The small car platform underpins the current Elise and Exige models, with the same aluminium extruded and bonded technology used in the new Lotus Evora 400. With a structural rigidity that ensures that easy handling, the model enthuses owners, racers and the motoring media.
Mr Gales continued, “We are especially delighted that the 40,000th version of our small car platform will underpin, appropriately, an Elise 20th Anniversary model. 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.”
