The new mid-engined sports car from Lotus will be manufactured at the Group Lotus headquarters at Hethel in Norfolk U.K. This car, which is expected to enter production in mid-2008 will be positioned at the higher end of the Lotus range and will occupy the sector vacated by the Lotus Esprit. The Esprit finished production in 2004.

The decision to assemble the new car at Hethel follows an extensive evaluation of a number of manufacturing locations around the world by Group Lotus and its shareholder Proton Holdings Bhd.

Lotus has worked at improving the efficiencies and flexibilities within the manufacturing facility over the last 18 months to maintain its position as a leading niche manufacturer within the UK and Europe.

Over the next few months, Lotus will be undergoing a small re-organisation process within the manufacturing facility to further improve the efficiencies and flexibility at Hethel. This will lead to further improvements and gains leading up to the start of production.

Mike Kimberley, Chief Executive for Group Lotus plc says: “We are very pleased that Hethel has been confirmed by the Board of Directors as the manufacturing location for this vital new car. However the decision to choose Hethel has not been taken lightly and was influenced not only by our past achievements, but also by firm future commitments to improve the efficiencies and flexibilities within our manufacturing facility. We have a lot of work to do between now and the start of production and this will demand much commitment and hard work from us all at Lotus.”

The Hethel manufacturing facility is regarded as one of the finest facilities of its kind in the world, an accolade reinforced by the award of “World Class Manufacturer of the Year 2005” by The Manufacturer Magazine.

The Automotive Academy (the eastern spoke of which is located at Hethel) will be used extensively to train Lotus staff to further improve flexibility and efficiencies.

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