We Think This Is The Name Of The New Lotus Elan

by Gerhard Horn Scoop / 3 Comments

And it will be the first car not to start with the letter "E."

At the end of April 2022, Lotus filed a new trademark with the European Union Intellectual Property Office.

The trademark is for the name: "Lena," which is quite significant. Since the company was founded in 1948 by Colin Chapman, apart from the racing cars differentiated by numbers, every road car since 1965 has a name that starts with the letter "E." Examples include Evora, Exige, and Elise.

Even the latest products continue the tradition. Lotus' latest sports car is called the Emira, while its inevitable EV SUV is called the Eletre.

Is Lotus going to break tradition for its 75th anniversary next year? Apparently so, if a trademark (exclusively uncovered by CarBuzz) for the name Lena is anything to go by. By the way, if you scramble the words in Lena, you come up with Elan, one of the most famous cars it ever produced. The original Elan is a legend, but in the late '80s, Elan was a flop. Lotus then sold the rights to the name to Kia, who came up with a weird Elan-like clone.

Lotus

European Union Intellectual Property Office

Lotus

We know Lotus is working on a few upcoming cars and that all of them start their lives called Type 13x. The Eletre, for example, was named the Type 132.

There are other codenames still in play. Type 133 is rumored to be a four-door coupe scheduled to be unveiled next year. Type 134 is said to be a larger SUV than the Eletre, while Type 135 is set to be an all-electric sports car.

Lotus also applied to trademark Etude and Envya. Using the magical power of speculation, we think the Etude badge will be used for the larger SUV, while Envya will likely be pasted to the rear end of the four-door coupe.

Lotus

That leaves us with the all-electric sports car, possibly representing the most significant departure from the brand's history. Yes, we know the Eletre is more controversial, but Lotus is being forced to build an SUV. Even Ferrari caved to increase income.

We think there's a good chance Lotus will use Lena for the second sports car, finally breaking ties with its old self and moving into a new era. The Elan was a two-door sports car, so it fits. And it would be a stellar way to celebrate 75 years of existence while giving a clear signal that it's keeping up with the times.

The Elan is dead. Long live Lena.