- Joined
- Aug 25, 2021
- Messages
- 450
- Reaction score
- 757
- Location
- Tokyo, Japan
- Emira Status
- Emira on order
Thank you PsymonR for clarifying that Lotus indeed used the i4 designation both orally and in print. As a multiple BMW (and Alpina) owner myself, of both i6 and i4 models, I have difficulty to understand why BMW seemingly have trade marked the term i4. But I am not going to loose sleep over this. As a previous Saab 9000 Turbo owner, I have equal doubt that Porsche could trade mark the term Turbo as a part of a model name of a car, but then I am not a trademark lawyer.Lotus have indeed previously called it the i4 (for inline-4), the chap I was speaking to on the Lotus stand at Goodwood confirmed that it was a BMW complaint that caused them to move away from it.
An example of prior use, screenshot from my (May '23) order confirmation e-mail:
View attachment 48071
I guess the reason for using it initially is that i4 is a snappier designation than 4-cylinder when comparing to v6. Also, if they had called it Emira Turbo from the off this may have drawn comparisons with the 911 Turbo which may not have been good for expectation management, it's easier to transition now to including Turbo in the designation now the car is a known quantity.