JOHANNESBURG - South Africans can look forward to an enticing new electric hypercar, with the news that Daytona has been appointed as the official retailer of Lotus cars in South Africa.
The Lotus showroom will be situated in Johannesburg’s Melrose Arch shopping precinct, and the fully-electric Evija hypercar will form the “centrepiece” of the opening celebrations, Daytona says.
The Evija was revealed last year with the claim of being the world’s most powerful ‘series production’ road car, with target outputs of 1470kW and 1700Nm. Its one-piece carbon fibre monocoque structure also makes it the lightest hypercar around, with a kerb weight of just 1680kg. Lotus is targeting a 0-100km/h time of under three seconds, and a top speed in the region of 320km/h.
Lotus says the Evija makes a bold statement about its intentions as a future maker of electric cars, but it will also be joined in the Joburg showroom by the British carmaker’s current combustion engined line-up, which includes the Elise, Exige and Evora.
While the future is very much electric for Lotus, the British carmaker is said to be working on a final combustion engined model, which will be aimed at those seeking everyday usability. A Porsche 911 rival, in other words.
“Being appointed as the new sole distributor for this prestigious brand, a brand well-known and loved by South Africans, is truly exciting,” said Daytona CEO Justin Divaris.
“We strongly believe that Lotus will complement our current brand mix and offering to our clients and we look forward to what the future holds for this partnership.”
This adds yet another marque to the prestigious list of car brands that Daytona sells in the country, which currently includes Rolls-Royce, Pagani, McLaren and Aston Martin.
In keeping with its upmarket positioning, Daytona says the new Lotus facility features client lounges as well as a coffee bar and private meeting rooms.
The Lotus brand has endured a tough decade financially, but things are starting to look up for the brand, following its acquisition in 2017 by China’s Geely, which also owns Volvo.