And Just Like That, Lotus Is an EV Maker

• Lotus reports that it delivered 6,970 vehicles in 2023, crediting the Eletre for pushing it toward an all-time record for the company.

• The brand now has 215 retail locations worldwide, having added 46 stores in 2023 alone.

• Lotus expects to deliver some 26,000 vehicles in 2024, projecting to triple its 2023 delivery results.

Lotus has never chased the status of a volume automaker, even though some of its models have been among the greatest hits of Britain's sports car industry.

But thanks to EVs, Lotus has now posted a record high in deliveries for its entire 76-year history.

The boutique car maker—once the embodiment of Colin Chapman's "simplify, then add lightness" motto—is now neither small nor confined to building vehicles with a light curb weight, having now seen its first year of battery-electric model production.

And the results on paper are impressive: Lotus delivered 6,970 vehicles in 2023 while seeing revenue of $691 million. Out of that total, $361 million was achieved in the fourth quarter of the year alone.

What's more, EVs have accounted for 63% of its total deliveries in 2023.

This is now a different Lotus from just a couple of years ago—and certainly a different automaker than we remember from decades past.

The new Lotus Eletre is to thank for this boost, but the automaker also managed to add 46 stores throughout 2023, bringing its total number of locations to 215 by the end of the year. That's impressive growth for what had often been seen as a cash-starved business with handmade sports cars.