Lotus Ceases Sales Of Road Cars In America

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

As of 2015, Lotus will no longer sell road cars in the United States, as sales of the Evora sports car come to an end.

Car and Driver reports that a waiver granted to the Evora for its lack of smart airbags has come to an end, and Lotus won’t be making any modifications to help it comply with U.S regulations. That will leave Lotus with only a lineup of track-only variants of the Elise and Exige.

Lotus is also in the midst of mass layoffs at its UK headquarters, and both signs bode ill for the boutique sports car maker. Selling off the remainder of US-spec Evora inventory will take some time, but its unlikely that selling non-street legal cars will be enough to keep the American arm of Lotus afloat in the forseeable future.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Chan Chan on Sep 22, 2014

    This is unfortunate for a maker of no-nonsense sports cars, but getting regulated out of your biggest market is mostly Lotus' own poor management. I don't think a seat belt shunner even deserves airbags, but Lotus should have had the foresight to comply with upcoming US regulations to begin with.

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    • CJinSD CJinSD on Sep 23, 2014

      @krhodes1 CAFE and Euro emissions schemes are two reasons not to build cars to the highest standards where not required. California emissions compliance consumes fuel, as does superfluous safety gear. If you need the lowest fuel consumption at all costs, you often can't afford to build a car safer or cleaner than you have to.

  • FreedMike FreedMike on Sep 22, 2014

    I hope they're not out of the submarine business too... www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeBqf6bYZak

  • CJinSD CJinSD on Sep 22, 2014

    Lotus built some interesting cars. Unfortunately, they decided that there was no compelling business case to continue doing so and stated that they intended to compete with VW's Porsche and Lamborghini brands. Even if they remained on the market, they weren't going to produce a new Lotus.

  • Petezeiss Petezeiss on Sep 23, 2014

    Reading of the demise of Lotus in America, I feel much the way I did when I heard Dimebag Darrell had died. "Oh..... Hey! Did you know they're making Fizzies again?!"

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