It is primarily targeted at the premium touring market and went into production in late 2008, replacing Plaxton's pre-existing Paragon and Profile coach bodies.

The Elite was first unveiled at the Euro Bus Expo at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham in November 2008 on Volvo B12BT tri-axle chassis, the first new Plaxton product since the company was purchased by Alexander Dennis.

[8] Eight Elites built on 13.5 metres (44 ft) Scania K440EB chassis were exported to New Zealand for use by Ritchies Transport in 2017, uniquely featuring a HVAC air conditioning system as well as single-glazed windows, including a split windscreen, to confirm with New Zealand's vehicle weight regulations.

Elites delivered to Stagecoach Yorkshire for National Express work have replaced Caetano Levantes on the long-distance 560 service to London.

[17] In Plaxton's first delivery to a bus and coach operator in Poland, twenty left-hand drive Elite is on Volvo B11RT chassis were delivered to PolskiBus, owned by Brian Souter's Highland Global Transport, in August 2014 for use on an intercity network across Continental Europe based from Warsaw and Wrocław.