The Royal Automobile Club has named Group Lotus plc as the recipients of the historic Dewar Trophy for 2008. The Dewar Trophy is awarded for an outstanding British technical achievement in the automotive field and the Dewar Trophy Technical Sub-Committee unanimously agreed that Lotus should be recognised for the company's development of its Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) chassis technology. Lotus Versatile Vehicle Architecture (VVA) has been developed to exploit the benefits of producing at low to medium volumes but for niche markets. Engineering a bespoke low-volume platform is an expensive, time-consuming solution, whilst sharing a mainstream chassis normally results in compromises in performance and design. VVA exploits Lotus Engineering's expertise in aluminium, steel and composite body engineering, joining techniques, and vehicle systems integration. This innovative technology offers a fast-to-market, cost-effective approach without the compromise that stems from conventional 'platform sharing'.