Back in 2017, Chinese company Geely bought Lotus for around $65 million, which isn't a lot for a car company, but the British brand was far from the success that it once was.
Since then, Lotus has stuck with what it knows, with a line-up consisting of the Elise, the Exige, and the Evora, but it seems the next few years are going to be revolutionary for the brand.
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This is because the all-electric Evija is set to be launched next year, alongside the recently unveiled Emira sports car, which is said to be able to finally bring the fight to the Germans.
Using a new Lotus Sports Car Architecture, the Emira's chassis is an evolution of the extruded aluminium underpinnings found in the Elise, and is slightly bigger than a 911.
Like Porsche's Cayman, the Emira will be offered with a choice of four and six cylinder engines. At the smaller end, you've got AMG's 2.0-litre turbo paired with a dual-clutch transmission, and the bigger option is the Evora's supercharged V6 with a manual transmission.
Between these two engines, the Emira can have anything from 270kW to 300kW, and will launch itself to 100km/h in around 4.5 seconds. Like all good sports cars, power is sent exclusively to the rear wheels.
In standard Lotus style, the Emira only gets two seats, but benefits from a heap of luggage space in the rear. Lotus reports that these seats are the easiest seats to use in the brand's history in terms of getting in and out.
As you'd expect from a modern car, the Emira gets a plethora of tech, headlined by a 10.25-inch touchscreen display in the centre of the dash. Even with all its additional tech, the Emira only tips the scales at a touch over 1.4 tonnes.
The British brand is planning on running the Emira at Goodwood this weekend, with deliveries of customer cars starting late 2022. It's unclear as to whether New Zealand will get these or not, but considering that they're built in right-hand drive, we're hopeful.
