Future of Lotus

[jonwat]

Sunday July 03 2022, 12.01am, The Sunday Times

Lotus Cars raises £74m in drive to go electric

Luxury marque Lotus Cars has raised £74 million to fuel its transition to electric vehicles, as the Norfolk-based firm scraped back into profit.

 

The sports car maker has tapped owners Geely of China and Malaysia’s Etika Automotive for a £24 million loan, while Santander has supplied a further £50 million in borrowings to “support the continued growth of the group”. The funding is primarily for Lotus’s switch to electric vehicles and the development of a new car body that will form the basis of models from 2026, including the cryptically named “Type 135”.

 

According to its latest accounts, revenue at Lotus Group International climbed to £94 million in the year to December, from £73 million the year before, as it shipped 1,566 cars — a 30 per cent rise. Lotus swung back into the black with a pre-tax profit of £16 million, although this was flattered by a one-off licence payment of £104 million, which it earned from a spinout company called Lotus Technology that will produce Lotus-branded SUVs in China. Stripping out the gain, it made a loss of £88m.

Lotus described 2021 as a “year of transition” as it launched the £60,000 Emira sports car — billed as its last vehicle with an internal combustion engine — and retired its Elise, Exige and Evora models. From next year, it will begin producing the all-electric Evija sports car and the Eletre SUV. It also plans to turn out a range of SUVs from a new facility in Wuhan, China, built in conjunction with Geely. And it aims to be making 100,000 vehicles a year by 2028, its 80th anniversary.

Sports car production will stay in Norfolk, with a target of about 10,000 cars a year — much higher than Lotus has ever achieved in the past.

 

[C8RKH]

I'm assuming this will also apply to Lotus.

Top Gear: European supercar makers have been given a reprieve on their switch to electrification.
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/supercars/european-supercar-makers-have-been-given-reprieve-their-switch-electrification

 

Will be interesting if this gives the Emira a longer potential production run 

[NedaSay]

Interesting indeed, but with a company gearing up to abandon ICE more than it is gearing up to keep them in production, it would require Emira to sell in considerable numbers past 2025/6/7/8.  The car was given a lifespan which was supposed to keep it in production for 6-8 years so 2028 or 2030... I don't think that with a factory, by then, fully dedicated to EV, they will keep a department working on ICE vehicles, but time will tell.

[NedaSay]

http://www.china.org.cn/china/Off_the_Wire/2022-07/18/content_78327562.htm

 

Lotus Tech Wuhan factory is now open.

[hedgerley]

It seems to there is no limit to Geely's ambition. Not sure how Aston would sit alongside Lotus but I guess there wouldn't be any overlap?

https://www.ft.com/content/c8d74fb3-7fc2-4f04-977c-c97b27cb762e

[NedaSay]

Well L.Stroll turned them down, for now, so I guess this is not a problem for the time being.  With the new positioning that Aston wants to have, there would be overlap... Lotus will go head to head with Aston Martin at the top end of the market. But Aston's number one problem is finding or sorting  an electric platform for the short term future. Geely would have likely granted them straight access to SEA but I guess Lotus and Polestar will remain the very edge of the spear for now. Aston being logical they should go for Mercedes architecture but nothing appears to go rationnally at Aston right now so time will tell

[Frickin_idiot]

I’m sure that I read in a report somewhere that Aston Martin turned down the Geeky offer because the Chinese overestimated the funding required. It wouldn’t surprise me if Aston are out with the begging bowls again in a year or so.

[NedaSay]

I'm pretty sure Stroll turned them down because if he allowed Geely in along with Investindustrial to buy in, he would then become a minority shareholder, and right now he wants to stay at the helm. I don't think Geely has underestimated  the funding required to rescue one of their brands so far, Volvo was properly funded, so appears to be Polestar, Proton, Smart and our dear Lotus. the money he got from PIF is not inconsequential but appears to be dedicated to clear some of the debt, which would, in turn, allow the company to fund their upcoming cars. PIF becomes the second biggest shareholder while Mercedes remains third and Investindustrial the fourth and very marginalized.  As far as the public knows, AM is still looking for an EV platform, and their sales volume are flat-lining, some 2600 units sold last year, when DBX was supposed to push that in the high 8k to low 10k, the pandemic took a toll as well as the production and procurement. The Vantage doesn't appear to be selling like hot cakes and Valkyrie, Valhalla, are somewhat still vaporware. The company is failing to get any traction and F1 is not really helping marketing the cars or the technology right now.

[Bibs]

https://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/lotus-cars-news/new-group-lotus-global-brand-centre-structure-establised/

[exeterjeep]

So he will also continue his responsibilities as Executive Director of Communications for Lotus Cars Limited, I am sure those with Emira's on order will be pleased. 

[mdavies]

I expect that James Andrew is a very pleasant chap, but he doesn't seem to have a much of a friendly greeting smile in that photo. Surely no accident, in what is effectively his first PR release! 

I'm taking his frown to carry a message: perhaps "I'm hard, and you'd better believe it"!  Reporting directly to the Group CEO he carries a big stick anyway! 

So, when he's sorted out any tiny blemishes in Lotus' current communication activities, how long I wonder before he turns his attention to TLF?  Possibly to impose rules: all future postings to be "on brand", and to support a theme that "if it's Lotus, it's marvellous - or will be very soon anyway".  Even perhaps a "cleansing" operation as, for instance on Twitter, whereby all historic posts now deemed "regrettable" disappear!

Bibs, you may have to bring TLF into line - get rid of undesirables as a start!  Oo-er.........!

 Only joking, James, honest....!

Edited July 20, 2022 by mdavies

[Bibs]

I've known James for a couple of years, he's been there a while and he is a very pleasant chap! 

Here's his first press release...

https://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/lotus-cars-news/lotus-further-bolsters-senior-team-with-new-comms-pr-marketing-directors/

[TdM]

Would it be a good idea for Lotus to join Volvo in their rental system? Something like a Geely group scheme (probably wouldn't want to frame it like that but still).

Volvo people who may have fancied a Lotus but were a bit scared of jumping in can try it out. Lotus drivers can have access to the Volvo range when they need a new fence or something 😜.

It also works to lure people away from other brands. Suddenly they have a broad and interesting offer and can switch cars fairly regularly. They can try out Lotus without risk and still have access to Volvo cars. The thing that puts most off of Lotus is they are status of practicality and reliability. Not that reliability is an issue but this scheme would eliminate both those issues instantly.

Could be really good for Lotus and the group as a whole.

[thebartman]

Wow !! 😉 

Cars-as-a-service "CAAS" - how Millenial/Gen Z can we get ?

Just suppose - It's a lovely sunny afternoon - "I fancy a drive in a Lotus (which I don't own)" or "I need some logs taken from the field to the store in winter (and my Electre can't manage)" how many "rental/loan" cars would need to be produced ?

In actual fact, CAAS already exists in the UK in the form of PLPs or PCPs - so why not extend within-group Geely and start to ensure that the competition for car ownership is mitigated ?

Thanks @TdM  for the initial idea - but actually - it is a whole-life car rental  scheme:  just whose mast are one's colours to be nailed; and it's not about the cost - it's about the value ...

I'm sure, also, that @Bibs will be working on a dark-web comms platform ..  😉 

 

[DaveC72]

On 20/07/2022 at 22:44, Bibs said:

I've known James for a couple of years, he's been there a while and he is a very pleasant chap! 

Here's his first press release...

https://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/lotus-cars-news/lotus-further-bolsters-senior-team-with-new-comms-pr-marketing-directors/

@Bibs Source on confusion identified.  Thank crunchy I was wrong!

[Bibs]

@DaveC72, phew!

 

[thebartman]

Centimetric GPS - Nice one ..... for the future of ADAS

http://global.geely.com/media-center/news/geespace-successfully-launches-first-nine-satellites/

 

[Bibs]

https://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/lotus-cars-news/unique-lotus-engineering-and-iprova-partnership-brings-ai-accelerated-approach-to-transportation-sector/

[Matt W]

On 19/07/2022 at 19:00, exeterjeep said:

So he will also continue his responsibilities as Executive Director of Communications for Lotus Cars Limited, I am sure those with Emira's on order will be pleased. 

Lotus has a director of communications? Does he work in a dark room with no Internet or access to a phone? 

[tim_marra]

New role. Give it a day or so.

[C8RKH]

What, to find the light switch?

[tim_marra]

Maybe. All communications will now be in semaphore 

[Matt W]

It's making sense now, do you recall the morse code at the start of the Emira teaser adverts? Seems he was busy communicating back then. 

[Rambo]

On 19/07/2022 at 19:00, exeterjeep said:

So he will also continue his responsibilities as Executive Director of Communications for Lotus Cars Limited, I am sure those with Emira's on order will be pleased. 

Sounds more like from what I've read about you chaps with Emira's on order that Lotus need to appoint an Executive Director for Lack of Communications 😐

Hopefully it will all come good in the end, once you get your handa on your new toy

 

[Bibs]

https://www.evo.co.uk/lotus/204149/lotus-looks-to-the-future-hethels-plans-unwrapped