New era for Lotus Australia

British sports car brand changes distribution hands and revises line-up.

Drive Team

06:4929 June 2016

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New era for Lotus Australia

Lotus has a new distributor in Australia.

Sydney-based Simply Sports Cars has taken over the Australian and New Zealand importation and distribution of the British sports cars from Ateco, the company confirmed today after months of uncertainty.

Ateco originally took over the local rights for the brand during Dany Bahar's tenure as global Lotus CEO, when he announced an all-new six-model range that would have tried to reposition the brand as a rival to Ferrari and Porsche.

Following Bahar's sacking by parent company Proton, Lotus has focused on evolving its existing models - Elise, Exige and Evora.

Simply Sports Cars began as a Lotus service centre and only become a dealer in 2013. However, CEO Lee Knappett and Director of Sales and Strategy, Richard Gibbs, believes the time is right to step up in order to look after the brand's image down under.

"We feel that the brand awareness has diminished over the years," Gibbs explained. "It's our job to make people think about the brand again.

"I want people thinking about buying a Porsche 911 to at least come in and have a look at a Lotus and experience it."

Simply Sports Cars' Sydney dealership is currently one of six in Australia and New Zealand and Gibbs said that number is unlikely to change. Simply Sports Cars runs regular Lotus Only track days, attracting more than 70 cars per day, and Gibbs said as distributors they will encourage the other dealerships to offer more than just a sales experience.

"We don't sell cars, we sell a lifestyle," Gibbs said.

As part of the change over, the local range has been updated with the Elise now known as the Elise Sport, the Elise S becomes Elise Sport 220, Elise Cup 220 becomes Elise Cup 250 and the Exige S becomes the Exige Sport 350.

The just-launched Evora 400 replaces the Evora S and will be joined by the new Evora Sport 410 by the end of 2016.

Gibbs also revealed that at least five examples of the hardcore 3-Eleven will be imported, with at least one homologated for road use.

To coincide with the new deal, Simply Sports Cars has recruited Grant Denyer as Lotus brand ambassador. The television host and GT3 racer will compete in five Targa road rallies, including the 2017 Targa Tasmania, behind the wheel of a new Lotus.

Denyer is currently testing both the Evora Sport 410 and Exige Sport 350 before deciding which one he will race.