Lotus boosts car workforce by 30%

Lotus said it was defying the economic gloom in order to fuel its continued growth. First customer deliveries of the company's new Lotus Evora (pictured) had already started and there was already a substantial order bank of five months' production, it said. To cope with this demand, Lotus said it had recruited 150 additional manufacturing staff over the last six months. Planned sales volumes of the Lotus Evora for the 2009/10 financial year are in excess of 1200 with the production rate reaching 10 cars per day by the end of November 2009. The current production rate of Lotus' small platform products (Elise, Exige, 2-Eleven and those for third parties) remained stable, it added. Investment for Lotus Cars will be in future variants of all Lotus products including an automatic gearbox version the Evora for the 2011 model year. Research earmarked by Lotus Engineering includes range extender engines for series hybrids, lightweight vehicle structures, super-efficient internal combustion engines and hybrid and electric vehicles, all areas where Lotus is recognised as being a world leader. Lotus Cars director Luke Bennett said: "We must be one of the few car companies in the world that is increasing production and recruiting staff to support increased demand for its products. Lotus has not been immune from the effects of the global economic downturn, but fortunately we are better placed than most due to the timely launch of the new Evora." Last financial year Lotus increased its sales by 2% to £111 million in the face of a challenging market with a major contributor to sales growth being the company's high tech engineering consultancy, which increased sales by 23% despite the curtailment of new product plans by clients in the automotive sector. Paul Newsome, managing director of Lotus Engineering, said: "I am delighted with our sales growth which stems from developing new markets, growing the existing client base and focussing on green technologies, specifically those that are aimed at reducing CO2 emissions of vehicles. Lotus is unique in the automotive industry, not only as a manufacturer of vehicles both for itself and third parties, but also providing engineering consultancy services to other car companies around the world." Lotus is owned by the Malaysian automotive group Proton.