When it comes to this year's New Year file, the most unexpected is probably Han Han's "Four Seas", in the face of one-sided "word of mouth", even the author I am afraid of being taken to the rhythm, so simply choose to wait and see, wait for this time to see this movie that makes me look forward to.
In fact, it is not because the "reputation" is not good, I think this movie is ugly and give up, maybe after "Four Seas" was labeled as a "bad film", even I myself could not avoid wearing colored glasses to find stubble. Just like in the current restless Internet age, what we see is often only the tip of the iceberg, and it is difficult to be objective and impartial before understanding the whole picture.
The automotive industry is the same, the launch of each new product, may be to open the window of traffic, but may be a "self-hi" that cannot change anything. As an automotive clerk, when "identity" and "denial" are intertwined and collided, it is difficult for us to correct our mentality to ask more "why".
Just like yesterday, Lotus officially announced that its first SUV model, the Lotus Type 132, will debut globally in March this year, and plans to conduct trial mass production at its factory in Hannan, Wuhan in the fourth quarter after the new car is released. Obviously, this is after the official establishment of Lotus Technology Company, after six months, Lotus has been another piece of news that people are talking about.
Of course, with the launch of Lotus Type 132, as well as the completion of Lotus Technology Company and Wuhan Lotus Factory, it seems that Lotus will fully enter the domestic new energy market and begin to fully transform into the direction of electrification. However, the author is somewhat skeptical about this. Will these tidal waves of "praise" really help Lotus come back to life?
Does Lotus still have the value of existence?
In fact, when it comes to the Lotus brand, domestic consumers are not familiar with it, but I believe that many fans should be quite impressed, after all, in the car world, there will always be people who call it the three luxury supercar brands with Porsche and Ferrari. For example, at the 2021 Guangzhou Auto Show, the last fuel sports car, The Emiira, is the most eye-catching focus of the whole scene.
As for the famous Lotus, why don't most domestic consumers buy it?
In fact, it is not difficult to understand, turn over the history of Lotus, you will know. At present, the name of the world's three major sports car manufacturers has long been the history of the 1980s and 1990s, as early as 1996, after the acquisition of Lotus by Proton Group, Lotus began to decline, and then, the entry-level version of Elise was launched, which was the last glory of Lotus.
Or, after the millennium, while other car brands are striding forward, Lotus is still confused. You know, you can't keep up with the changes of the times, can't keep up with the needs of consumers, and can only fall into a declining fate. For example, lotus currently feels like a totem of "ancient" times, and you can lament its unparalleled "aerodynamics" and lament its unattainable honorable status. But so what? Now on the street, we can see more and more Porsches and Ferraris, but we just can't see Lotus.
Some people may say that Geely's acquisition will make Lotus look new. Turning the clock back to 2017, when Geely bought a 51% stake in Lotus from Malaysians, Lotus became Geely's supercar brand.
But what is intriguing is that according to the transaction documents when Geely acquired Lotus at the time, Geely only paid 51 million pounds for the acquisition of a 51% stake in the British Lotus Automobile Group, equivalent to 450 million yuan at that time. Compared to the "snake swallowing elephant" when it bought Volvo in 2010, it is a small witch. (When Geely bought Volvo, it paid $1.3 billion in cash plus $200 million in bank notes, equivalent to 10 billion yuan at the time.) ）
Therefore, at the time, Lotus seemed more like a "hot potato", and for Geely, this supercar brand was really too "cheap".
What exactly did Geely bring to Lotus?
Of course, Geely's acquisition of Lotus is not just a sentimental move, for any company, the budget-conscious Geely will not do a loss-making transaction, after all, the profit-seeking capital will not miss any opportunity to make money.
Therefore, in Geely's view, Lotus is useful, whether it is to enhance the tonality of Geely's brand or the layout of the brand front, Lotus this "hot potato" can find its own position. However, Geely has also struggled with Lotus's future plans, and compared with Volvo, the brand of Geely Automobile, Lotus has never made a big move, so that in 2017, before it was recruited, Lotus has always been very low-key.
Until recently, Lotus's actions have become more frequent, in July 2021 released the last fuel sports car Emira as the finale of lotus fuel era, followed by Lotus's new era of electrification, according to Lotus's planning, from 2022 onwards, Lotus will successively launch E-class pure electric intelligent SUV "TYPE 132", E-class pure electric intelligent four-door coupe "TYPE 133", and pure electric intelligent new species "TYPE 134" and so on...
At least in the eyes of the outside world, with the continuous introduction of new products, as well as the completion of Lotus Technology and Wuhan Lotus factory, Lotus is fully catching up with Ferrari and Porsche. Indeed, if Lotus still stuck to the "high-displacement sports car" route, it would be difficult to turn over. There is no doubt that in the context of the current new four modernizations, electrification is a major opportunity for Lotus, and actively embracing electrification has a glimmer of vitality.
Of course, the ideal is very happy, but the reality is bone, and this is not the focus of our attention, and it may not be the place that Lotus wants to pay attention to.
Lotus is a traffic window?
According to Geely Group's positioning of Lotus, Lotus wants to be Geely's "highest end of sports and ultra-luxury of sports". Perhaps, this is the purpose of Geely Group, I do not expect you to bring considerable sales, considerable revenue, I just need you to be a traffic window, always active in the consumer's field of vision.
Perhaps, this is also the point that Lotus cares most about at this stage, and what he is most afraid of is the lack of attention.
However, Lotus is indeed a good hand in engaging in hilarity, always "golden sentences" frequent, in the previous Emira conference, Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng's sentence "Only people who do not understand aerodynamics will miss large-displacement engines." "Being too anxious to overturn one's own past sounds intriguing indeed.
Another example is the sentence "In the next ten years, with the assistance of Lotus intelligent driving, as long as you can get a driver's license, you can win the F1 championship", which is comparable to the sentence of Li Bin, CEO of Weilai, "I can't understand why there are still people buying oil cars now, how nostalgic will buy oil cars!" "Come domineering.
Perhaps, this will remind people of the "best pure electric vehicle in the Eastern Hemisphere" when Geometry A was listed in Singapore, and even have the illusion that Lotus is geelyized. But in the final analysis, the main meaning of these words is only to win some heat and expectations for Lotus. After all, Lotus has not yet officially landed a product that can continue to attract attention, and in the process of transition to full electrification, it is difficult to avoid embarrassment in the empty window of the market.
Auto Network Review: Lotus's electrification transformation is not easy to go
Returning to the product, take the first electric SUV Type 132 as an example, this SUV will be based on the vast electric architecture developed by Geely, but the engineering design and tuning of the body and chassis are independently completed by Lotus. This is no different from Lotus, which has been purchasing engines for a long time and returned to renovate them.
As Feng Qingfeng said, "Applying the concept of Emiira to SUVs, it is not an SUV for everyone, the genes will not change, but it opens up a larger audience." Lotus seems to be creating a different antithesis than a traditional sports car. But is that all there is to it? Is it too pale and weak?
After all, before everything landed, it was still PPT. Although niche brands are independent, survival is difficult, and they can only be attached to large groups in order to still have vitality. But it seems that Lotus does not have much new energy advantages, even if it is auspicious, the transformation is also in the mud. Obviously, being overly optimistic is not a good thing.