Lotus Sales Data & Trends for the European Automotive Market

Lotus sales in Europe have been going up and down, from almost 2.500 units in the year 2000 to just over 400 units in 2012 before rebounding and stabilizing around 800 annual sales from 2015 thanks to the new Exige Roadster.

Currently, the brand has 3 models on offer:

• the base model Elise roadster, which has been updated in 2010, traditionally the brand’s best selling model.
• the Exige, which was remodeled in 2012 and was the brand’s best selling model in 2013 and from 2016 onwards.
• the Evora, introduced in 2009, which was the brand’s best selling model in 2011.

Lotus, which had been owned for almost 20 years already by the Malaysian conglomerate that also owns Proton, had been struggling against bankruptcy for years, with rumors of an imminent failure surfacing every couple of months. Under management of the megalomaniac CEO Dany Bahar, the company showed grand plans for reviving its British sports car heritage at the Paris auto show in 2010, showcasing no less than six sportscars to be introduced within the next five years. Among them, a new Esprit with an in-house-designed V8 engine.

Two years later, Bahar was sacked and the product plans were scrapped, as the owners of the company realized they were overly ambitious. A new product plan was announced in 2013. Instead of six all-new cars, the company planned to work on variants of its existing line-up. The first was the Exige S Roadster, an open-top variant of the Exige, which itself used to be the closed-top variant of the Elise. Lotus also plans to launch new variants of both the Elise and the Evora. Proton, including the Lotus brand was sold to China’s Geely Group in 2017, which also owns Volvo. This gives the brand the much needed cash to continue developing sports cars and potentially expanding its line-up beyond that.

Also find Lotus US sales figures. Sales figures for the Lotus Elise, Exige, Evora and any other car model sold in Europe since the early 2000’s.

Monthly Vehicle Sales

Annual Vehicle Sales

Annual Vehicle Sales Chart

Car sales statistics are from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

Sources: Manufacturers, ANDC, JATO Dynamics.