- Less than 48 hours after its world premiere, all-new British sports car was a major draw with show-goers
- Crowd control measures in place all day on Lotus stand as visitors flock to see the Emira
- ‘Central Feature’ sculpture brought to life with Lotus cars via innovative augmented reality technology
- Lotus celebrated as ‘Featured Marque’ at this year’s Festival of Speed
(Hethel, UK – 9 July 2021) – Unquestionably the star of the show, the Lotus Emira has made its dynamic public debut at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
In front of tens of thousands of passionate motoring fans, the all-new Lotus sports car took part in the Hill Climb, visited the Michelin Supercar Paddock live stage and took part in the spectacular Lotus Moment parade in front of Goodwood House – complete with Lotus-themed yellow and green fireworks.
Huge numbers of visitors came to the Lotus stand to see the Emira up close. Such was its popularity that crowd control measures had to be implemented within minutes of the Goodwood gates opening at 7am, and a queueing system to access the stand was in force all day. Many were keen to discuss details of the car’s spec and place their Emira order via www.lotuscars.com.
The Emira was also driven by the Duke of Richmond, the organiser of the Festival, with Matt Windle, Managing Director, Lotus Cars, in the passenger seat.
All the action came less than 48 hours after the Emira’s world premiere at Hethel, Norfolk, on Tuesday night, live in front of invited guests and to all corners of the globe via a livestream broadcast.
Lotus is the ‘Featured Marque’ at this year’s Festival of Speed, and the Emira was joined on the stand by an Evija all-electric hypercar, an Elise Sport 240 Final Edition and the track bike developed in part by Lotus Engineering for British Cycling.
This year’s Festival celebrates the peerless sporting and technical achievements of Lotus, and is the theme of the Festival’s ‘Central Feature’ – the dramatic art installation which is always created directly in front of Goodwood House.
Called the Lotus ‘Aeroad’ and viewed digitally via a smartphone app, the sculpture uses the latest augmented reality technology to allow users to watch four iconic Lotus cars speed through the air on a virtual racetrack. The app features an ‘at home’ mode for fans unable to attend in person, giving them the opportunity to launch a virtual version of the sculpture, plus the racetrack and cars. Once launched, users can take a photo or record a short video of their journey round the augmented track and save it to their device to share.
Matt Windle commented: “Our stand staff didn’t stop talking to people about the Emira all day. So many had watched the livestream on Tuesday, love the way the car looks inside and out, and wanted to share how thrilled they are to see the transformation that is taking place at Lotus. We had an amazing day at Goodwood and are looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
For more information please contact the Lotus Communications team:
James Andrew, Executive Director, PR and Communications
+44 (0) 7384 830903
Rob Borrett, PR Manager, Content & Launch Programmes
+44 (0) 7718 560789
Alastair Florance, Group PR Manager
+ 44 (0) 7802 918662
Samantha Thomas, PR Officer, Product Press & Digital Media
+44 (0) 7909 813785
Richard Yarrow, PR Manager, News and Technology
+44 (0) 7471 994525
The Lotus media site – https://media.lotuscars.com – contains news, images, specifications and full details of current models, as well as heritage cars and engineering technology.
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About Lotus
Group Lotus is based in Hethel, Norfolk, UK – home to its sports and hypercar manufacturing operations, Lotus Advanced Performance Centre and the iconic 2.2-mile test track. It is part of Geely Automotive, the fastest growing automotive group in the world. Geely has a 51% controlling stake, with 49% owned by Etika Automotive, a Malaysian conglomerate.
Lotus Cars builds world-class, high-performance cars, born out of legendary successes on the race track including 13 FIA Formula 1 world titles and many other championship honours. In July 2021 it unveiled the all-new Lotus Emira, its last and best-of-breed petrol-powered sports car. The first customer cars will be delivered in 2022. In July 2019 it launched the Evija, the world’s first all-electric British hypercar.
Lotus Engineering provides a comprehensive consultancy service which works with many of the world’s OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers and other clients outside of the automotive sector. It is internationally recognised for its long-standing contribution to ground-breaking engineering and vehicle development. 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.