Lotus launches the Emira as its 'last hurrah' conventional petrol sports car

The Lotus Emira have been launched to appeal to a global market the car maker said

The sportscar maker Lotus has launched its new Emira model which it calls its "last hurrah" petrol car.

It follows a £100m investment at Hethel, near Norwich, the headquarters of the manufacturer.

Lotus said the new model was "inspired" by its electric Evija hypercar, which is due to go into production at the end of this year.

Managing director Matt Windle said Lotus wanted to become a "truly global performance car brand".

In 2017, the business was taken over by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Malaysia's Etika Automotive, with Geely holding a controlling stake.

Geely said an investment programme, worth more than £2bn, would see production in the UK tripled, as well as expansion abroad.

Lotus said it had invested £100m into its headquarters, south west of Norwich

The Emira aimed to increase Lotus' global appeal, particularly in south east Asia.

It described the car as a "Lotus' last hurrah with internal combustion engines, before fully embracing electrification".

Mr Windle previously told the BBC: "In 10 years' time, we will be an electric vehicle-only company."

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Natalie Sauber, market intelligence lead at engineering consultants Arcadis, said Lotus "going straight to electric is fantastic news".

She said: "Electric powertrains [the set of components that generate power] are so much better suited to sports cars, and it could also mean a major boost in its customer base."

Ms Sauber said the car maker producing its last petrol car was a "huge opportunity to refocus and reinvent" as an electric vehicle manufacturer.

But she warned that due to changes in EU rules, there needed to be a "local" source of batteries, from so-called gigafactories, for exports to Europe.

"That means that car manufacturers such as Lotus need to invest in the UK in order to continue to enable its UK cars to be exported to the EU," she added.