Lotus Chapman Bespoke division to build one-off Lotus cars

Lotus has established a new bespoke division that will allow owners to customise and personalise their cars more than ever before, from ordering unique colours and unusual cabin trim material to the creation of complete one-off new cars.

Known as Chapman Bespoke after company founders Colin and Hazel Chapman, the new division will launch in China before being rolled out to other markets.

Set to open its doors to its first customers on April 25, the Chinese-owned British brand’s bespoke unit will provide three distinct products.

The first is its ‘Tailor-made’ offering that allows buyers to choose their own unique combination of colours and finishes, with the possibility of adding their own personal design touches.

The next service is called ‘Collection’ and will see the bespoke division work to create limited-edition models that could be designed in partnership with other companies, artists and luxury brands.

Finally, Lotus says Chapman Bespoke will also be able to leverage the full capability of the car-maker to go ahead and produce ‘One-off’ vehicles, in a similar vein to what high-end car-makers like Ferrari and Rolls-Royce already do.

“The story of Lotus is the story of a bespoke car-maker,” said Lotus Group chief executive Qingfeng Feng.

“The first cars were hand-drawn and hand-built at home by Colin Chapman, and that spirit lives on in us today.”

The bespoke division looks to be a play by Lotus to cash in on the growing trend for personalisation that boosts the average spend (and profit margin) on each vehicle.

Bentley, for example, said 70 per cent of all its customers in 2023 on average spent an extra €40,000 ($A66,000) on personalisation via Mulliner, while Rolls-Royce Phantom buyers regularly splash out a further six-figure sum to ensure their limo is one of a kind.

Rolls-Royce recently made history by selling its one-off Amethyst Droptail for an astonishing $40 million, making it one of the world’s most expensive cars.

The new bespoke division will slot into the business beside the Lotus Advanced Performance unit that develops both one-off sports cars and limited-run specials.

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