London, UK – 17 August 2023 Lotus today has announced the appointment of Ben Payne as Vice-President of Design at Lotus Group.
Ben most recently led the team responsible for the design development of the Eletre hyper-SUV, the company’s first vehicle beyond traditional sports cars, marking a key milestone for the business on its journey to become a global performance brand by 2028.
In his newly appointed role, Ben will oversee all design for the Lotus brand, working closely with group leadership and collaborate with the commercial team to drive forward the growth of Lotus. This will ensure design consistency, synergies and creative leadership across the whole brand.
Ben succeeds Peter Horbury, who passed away in June 2023.
Commenting on his new role, Ben Payne said: “Having worked extremely closely with Peter over the past five years, it was a privilege to call him a friend and great mentor in shaping global creative leadership and influencing my own design philosophy. It’s an honour to be taking on this new role, and I am excited to further elevate the brand globally.”
Feng Qingfeng, CEO at Lotus Group, said: “Lotus is renowned for its world-class design, and Ben has played a key role in ensuring our new lifestyle electric vehicles stay true to the heritage of the Lotus brand. We have ambitious plans to scale rapidly by 2028, and I look forward to working with Ben as we deliver new vehicles and expand into new markets.”
Ben brings an extensive knowledge of automotive design and brand, having held influential roles at Aston Martin and Bugatti, and has diverse consultancy experience with The Makkina.
In 2018, Lotus announced its Vision80 strategy and plans to transform the brand from a heritage automotive company to an all-electric, intelligent, luxury mobility provider by 2028 – when the business turns 80. The company has seen a huge demand for its products, with an orderbook of over 17,000 vehicles for its Emira sports car and Eletre hyper-SUV. Lotus has ramped up production this year, already delivering Emiras to customers, and expects to deliver the Eletre to customers in the UK and Europe later this summer. The business had a record first half of the year for production and expects the full year to surpass previous sale years.
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Notes to Editors
For more information please contact the Lotus Communications team:
Rob Borrett, Head of Media and Launch Programmes
+44 (0) 7718 560789
Richard Yarrow, Head of News and Technology Communications
richard.yarrow@eu.lotuscars.com
+44 (0) 7471 994525
Alastair Florance, PR Manager
+ 44 (0) 7802 918662
Ramzi Atat, Head of Marketing and PR (Asia Pacific and Middle East)
+971 50 5187778
Vanessa Meier, PR Manager (Americas)
+1 734 6087769
Diederik Reitsma, PR Manager, European Markets
diederik.reitsma@eu.lotuscars.com
+ 31 651 939 185
Jianlong Ma, Director (China)
+86 139 1086 0534
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https://www.linkedin.com/company/group-lotus
About Lotus
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. Customer deliveries of both cars will begin during 2022. In March 2022 Lotus revealed the Eletre, the world’s first all-electric hyper-SUV. Customer deliveries will begin in 2023. The Lotus Type 135, an all-electric sports car, 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 established in 2018. With operational assets across China, the UK and Europe, 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 group in the world, acquired a 51% stake in Group Lotus. The other 49% is owned by Etika Automotive, a Malaysian conglomerate.