Lotus unveiled a new �3m test track yesterday with a parade of F1 cars past and present led by racing legend Nigel Mansell, and promised its ambitious program of six new production models was on target.

Once a pot-holed collection of concrete and tarmac roads with sprouting weeds, it is now a smooth, modern 12-metre wide and 3.6km long track where production and F1 cars of the future can be tested.

Nigel Mansell led a unique convoy on the track yesterday afternoon in the T81 car in which he made his first appearance in F1 in 1980.

Next came his son Leo in a blue T88b F1 car, and older son Greg Mansell in a Lotus T125 consumer track car.

Behind them were the current Lotus Renault GP F1 cars driven by Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov and three Lotus Evoras, the newest model from the marque.

After the laps Mansell said that the new track represented a much-needed investment in the site and was an 'enormous credit' to Lotus' achievements.

It is part of a massive multi-million investment by Lotus which will also include a pits and paddock area, new factory buildings, an after sales office and a museum.

The construction will take place over 24 months, with the new track being the first visible sign.

The work comes after Lotus lost out on �27.5m in cash from the government's Regional Growth Fund earlier this year.

It later managed to source �270m from a syndicate of Malaysian and Chinese banks.

The firm also claimed that following the investment its 'New Era' plan of introducing six new models was on schedule.

A new Esprit will launch in March 2013, an Elite in October the same year, and an Eterne and Elise in 2015.

However, the Elan has been delayed until 2017 after customer feedback showed it was too similar to other models.

To reduce costs and development time the cars share a common chassis, engine, suspension and steering as well as much electronics.

The firm is also nearing completion of its own V8 engine for use in the cars, to be manufactured in Hethel.

The first working model is expected to be fired-up on August 18, and tested in cars later this year.

Development was launched when customer feedback showed that the public would be unwilling to buy a �120,000 car fitted with a Toyota engine, as originally planned.

The firm has also developed a small city car called the Ethos, which it confirmed will be sold as a Proton in Asia and as a Lotus in Europe from early 2014.

Engineering work is also almost complete on the T125 car, which will sell for around �500,000 and be stored for customers to use solely on the track under supervision.

This week the carmaker announced it would be looking to increase sales in China, unveiling plans for nine dealerships in the country.

Lotus China will be based in Beijing and open its first dealership in the capital in October, followed by others in Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou later in the year.

But despite the positive announcements from the firm, it is currently undergoing a redundancy process to slash as many as 100 of its 1,800 staff.

Leaked documents showed that by June 17 it had hoped to have final figures on how many people would be made redundant and from what areas of the business.

The company declined to comment yesterday.