Geely will launch the premium crossover Lotus at its new plant in Wuhan

22 January 2019

British supercar manufacturer Lotus is going to do the coolest SUVs in China

2017 a controlling stake in the legendary British sportscar brand Lotus road from Norfolk owns the Chinese Corporation Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which plans to start production under this brand of premium SUVs in China, opening a new plant worth ¥9 billion ($1.3 billion) in Wuhan.

This step is consistent with the ambition of Geely for the production of more prestigious cars and overcoming reputational losses due to allegations of plagiarism of design and poor quality products. For Lotus, this could mean an increase in production volumes and an appearance in the lineup of new models to increase sales, such as crossovers.

Lotus Elise Cup 250

LMC Automotive analyst Alan Kang from Shanghai, said: "For Geely the output in the premium segment can be a springboard to expand its market share. Geely need to do so to strengthen their competitive position relative to foreign brands".

In a joint statement, Geely and Lotus announced that although Norfolk was a manufacturing center for Lotus, but now a key part of the strategy of the company for the revival of the brand will be the expansion of production on a global scale.

"Details about the location of new plants and the expansion of the model range will be revealed in due time," the company said.

The Directorate of planning of Hubei province, whose capital is Wuhan city last month approved plans Geely for a new plant with an annual capacity of 150 thousand cars a year. Development zone Wuhan, where it will be based factory, posted last month on its website a statement which implies that the new company will carry out "project Lotus Geely", however, in response to a Reuters query about the details did not answer.

So that from the available documents it is not clear when exactly the new plant will come into operation. Property has been approved for the production of electric vehicles (BEV), rechargeable hybrids (PHEV), and vehicles with internal combustion engine (ICE), including sports cars Lotus.

Vacancy announcements on the website of Geely show that the automaker is looking for candidates to at least 20 jobs for project Lotus Geely in Wuhan.

Powerful ambition
Although as yet it is unclear what part of the new Chinese factory will be designed specifically for the British brand, the increase in production corresponds to the declared ambitions of Geely to expand the presence of the Lotus brand in the market by expanding its model line.

Lotus Exige Cup 430

In 2018, Geely sold around the world 1630 supercars, which is 2% higher than in 2017 and was the best result for the last 7 years.

Today Lotus is producing models of supercars like the Evora and Elise. At the time, the Lotus Esprit 1977 was the car (and even a submarine!) James bond, which he famously drove in "the Spy who loved me", and Lotus owned team in Formula 1 until he was forced to get rid of it, sold to Renault for a nominal £1 in 2015.

Two well-informed source indicated that Lotus now breaks with the past and preoriented from sports cars to luxury SUVs at an early stage development project in Wuhan.

One of the sources said Geely would like to emulate producers of premium cars such as Porsche, whose model premium crossover Macan and Cayenne are sold well in China.

The share of premium SUVs on the car market of China rose from 4.1% in 2014 to 5% in 2018, according to consulting firm JD Power. Lotus sales increased the most, for example, in Sweden, where the growth was 87%. In Japan sales increased by 59% in Australia by 50%, the middle East showed an increase of 39%, while Italy increased by 14%. Good sales performance was also in most countries of continental Europe and in the United Kingdom (267 vs 274 sports car units in 2017).
So that Geely expects stable sales this year even after the Chinese automobile market for the first time in more than two decades, dipped in 2018. Recall that Geely made a splash in the automotive world, buying over $9 billion share of the German Daimler AG for $1.8 billion for Swedish automaker Volvo Cars. In 2017, she bought 51% stake in Lotus from Malaysian carmaker Proton.

Lotus Exige Sport 350 70th anniversary

P.S. In 2018 Lotus celebrated its 70th anniversary, and made a number of appointments of top managers, including Phil Poppema, who has held the position of CEO. Commenting on the sales in 2018, Phil Popham said: "the results of the year show success on many levels, which is a new dawn for the brand and business. Strong sales and a growing presence in many international markets emphasize the growing confidence of the company, as the support of new shareholders starts to shape our future. A lot of appointments in the company as part of our management team and across the business to demonstrate real confidence and ability to realize our ambitions for the Lotus in the world"..