Lotus has returned to London after a six-year absence with the addition of the franchise to London Group’s Park Lane showroom.

Mike Kimberley, CEO of Group Lotus, officially opened the new showroom, which is Park Lane’s only family-owned dealership, at a VIP party last week.

It is the second time Geoff Hodge, managing director of London Group, has represented Lotus.

Forty years ago, he worked for Ian Walker, who ran Team Lotus in north London.

Hodge said: “We are looking forward to exhibiting the Lotus brand. Park Lane provides a great ‘shop window’ for what will be a valuable addition to London Group’s portfolio.”

The dealership, which began trading in February, sold three cars during the official launch. Its end-of-year target is 40 new and 80 used Lotuses. All new Lotus cars are sold with two years free servicing.

The new franchise gives London Group wide coverage of the specialist car market in the capital. The group also represents Land Rover, Jaguar, Noble, PGO, Morgan, Wiesmann and Marcos, and sells Ferraris and Aston Martins.