Lotus Pushes Upmarket With a Bespoke Car Service

Plucky British manufacturer Lotus is launching a bespoke build program to entice ultra-wealthy buyers in hopes of securing a new revenue stream toward the top end of the market.

Called Lotus Chapman Bespoke, named after Colin Chapman, the company’s founder, the program goes beyond what a standard online configurator can offer with three levels of customization, each progressively costlier than the last:

• Tailor-Made: The most humble degree of personalization, Tailor-Made will allow buyers to choose uniquely styled products from within Lotus’ existing color palette and design arsenal and finish their build with personal touches and details. (Imagine a buffet-style build for your Lotus Eletre where you can pick an exterior color, interior fabric, accent stitching, and more, all to your exact liking.)
• Collection: Buyers will gain access to a portfolio of limited-edition designs, often drummed up in collaboration with various artists or luxury brands. (Picture something similar to the 20 Lamborghini Murciélago LP640s built in collaboration with Versace—Lotus could create a similar collaboration with its Evija electric hypercar.)
• One-Off: As the announcement states, “build a car as unique as you are.” The sky and your wallet’s thickness are the only limiting factors here.

“The story of Lotus is the story of a bespoke carmaker,” said Qingfeng Feng, CEO of the Lotus Group. “The first cars were hand-drawn and hand-built at home by Colin Chapman, and that spirit lives on in us today.”

Lotus isn’t the only manufacturer to offer a program like this. Ferrari has been offering something similar with its “Ferrari Personalization” and “Ferrari Special Projects” programs for a while now. Ultra-exotic creations like the Ferrari SP-8 are byproducts of the latter. Aston Martin’s “Q by Aston Martin” is structured almost exactly like the Lotus Chapman program.

These ultra-personalized purchasing channels are chances for higher-end automakers to generate serious margins on their products, which can be a major lift for their bottom lines as lower-volume automakers.

Earlier this year, Lotus issued an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in New York, presumably to raise capital for the costly road ahead as it transitions its portfolio to entirely battery-electric power.

Lotus says the program will roll out first in China on April 25, followed by the gradual expansion to other key markets, such as North America, in the coming months.

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