Good news: Lotus is back in Malaysia!
We've not heard much from Lotus Cars locally, not since Lotus Cars Malaysia was quietly dismantled by new owners Geely after partnering up with previous owners Proton.
Even the famed Lotus Cars brand centre in Sungai Penchala, TTDI has since been converted into a flagship Proton centre.
Since then, the Chinese auto giant hasn't revived the brand locally, though we won't discount this from happening just yet. As you can probably guess, this was a huge bummer indeed for avid prospects and existing owners... until now that is.
TG Malaysia has learnt that a local private firm has stepped up to answer this calling, and they go by the name of Toycarz Private Garage. TG Malaysia reached out to the firm earlier today and managed to get a clearer picture of things and how it operates.
Established in 2008, Toycarz Private Garage is located in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam, and is no stranger to the local Lotus owners community. Operating for over a decade, the specialist firm offers a wide variety of services including maintenance, performance tuning, detailing and much more, though its website does stress its strong focus for Lotus cars in particular.
Fast forward to the present and, based on the dealers listing at the Lotus Cars website as well, Toycarz has been appointed as the brand's official Malaysian dealer, though we are uncertain as to when exactly this took affect. Nevertheless, our brief correspondence with Toycarz earlier today revealed plenty.
For starters, orders for any of the Lotus brand's current models and variants can be made through Toycarz. The firm doubles up as the official after-sales service provider too, and welcomes all existing owners.
As for prices, things start from RM220,000 for a base Elise, from RM360,000 for the harder-cored Exige, and from RM470,000 for the Evora. Mind you, these figures EXCLUDE duties, options and on-road costs, so the final on-the-road prices will be much higher.
For now, Toycarz will serve Lotus prospects and owners at its Bukit Jelutong base. It also confirmed that a new dedicated Lotus brand centre is in the pipelines, but no location or dates were disclosed – understandably so due to the current Covid-19 pandemic situation.
Nevertheless, this news is undeniably good. Avid local driving enthusiast with the pocketbooks to match yearning to bask in the great Colin Champan's “Less is more” performance credo can do so with both ease and peace of mind. That alone is cause for celebration indeed.
