Why did Lotus stop making the Elan so early in its life?
Lotus reportedly spent over $100 million on development of the Elan M100. To be a success the Elan had to sell in relatively high numbers, 3000 cars per year. Unfortunately the Elan arrived when its target markets in the UK and US were in something of an economic recession. It was never going to be possible to build a complex low volume sports car and succeed at the price Lotus could charge. Lotus had hoped to sell 100 units per month in the US, but struggled to sell even 40 with huge discounts. The Elan was undoubtedly a car ahead of its time, which despite its sales failure showed other manufacturers what could be achieved with FWD. The Elan did provide Lotus with an engineering showpiece, attracting consultancy work from around the World. The fact that there are so many roadsters for today’s market, and that the Elan has been used as a benchmark by some of those manufacturers’ indicates very strongly the Elan was the right car at the wrong time. CAR magazine said “Had the Elan been
