edit
This article is the 438th original work of deep diving atom
On February 21, many media reported that Lotus, a sports car brand under Geely Holdings, is accelerating the process of electrification and making sufficient preparations for the listing of Lotus Technology. It is reported that Lotus intends to raise 8.6 billion yuan, and the listing location may be in the United States or Hong Kong. Lotus is currently in contact with potential investors.
Last year, the long-established sports car brand split its business into two separate business units — the UK-based sports car manufacturing company and the Wuhan, China-based luxury smart electric car company. Geely Holdings owns a 51% stake in Lotus, and in 2021, Lotus Technology headquarters will be located in Wuhan, China, for which Geely invested 26.3 billion yuan in research and development and construction of factories. Construction of the plant has been completed and large-scale production is expected to begin at the end of 2022.
Compared with Volvo Cars, which has a high reputation in China, the sports car brand Lotus, which was once on par with Ferrari and Porsche, is not well known in China. Many people don't even know that this global sports car brand has become a brand of Geely Automobile as early as 2017. In 2017, Geely Holding Group acquired a 49% stake in Proton Malaysia, and the transaction was accompanied by Geely's acquisition of a 51% stake in Proton's Lotus.
01
"Fallen Nobleman" Lotus
Lotus's first model was released in 1948, when it was a top supercar brand on a par with Ferrari and Porsche, and founder Colin Chapman was the highlight of Lotus at the helm of the brand.
Lotus became famous very early, and in 1957, its Lutos Eleven model won the Le Mans 750cc performance index championship. In the 1960s Lotus entered the Formula field with the design of a mid-engine and won the first Formula Competition, and Lotus continued to shine in F1.
Until 1990, eight years after the death of founder Colin Chapman, Lotus was runners-up in the American Automaker Championship.
△ Lotus
But since 90 years, Lotus seems to have died down, as a luxury sports car brand with the same name as Ferrari and Porsche, Lotus was in a state of loss and small-scale operation for a long time before being acquired by Geely Holdings.
In the new century, while the other two were striding forward, Lotus was 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.
Lotus feels like a fallen aristocrat whose ancestors once lived, and you can lament its unattainable honor and marvel at its unparalleled "aerodynamics". But so what? Now on the street, we can see more and more Porsches and Ferraris, but we just can't see Lotus.
Of course, compared with some sports car brands that have disappeared in the long river of history, Lotus, which is still alive, is undoubtedly lucky, but it is still difficult to escape the fate of being changed hands many times. Lotus has been taken over by Toyota, General Motors, Italian capitalists, Proton and others, and the last time it changed ownership was in June 2017, when it was acquired by Geely for a 51% stake.
02
Geely bought it and was confused
For a long time since 2017, when Lotus was brought under his command, Gilly has not made a big move against Lotus. At the time of the acquisition, most reports focused on Proton, intentionally or unintentionally ignoring Lotus, or seeing it as a giveaway to the acquisition of Proton.
Because, Proton is of greater significance to Geely, Geely entered the previously blank Southeast Asian region in a joint venture to complete the market layout, which is a huge market of about 600 million people, and zero tariffs in the ten ASEAN countries, compared with simple exports, Proton provides Geely with an aircraft carrier that expeditions overseas markets.
Relying on Proton's sales network in Southeast Asia, Geely Automobile has made a breakthrough in exports, with exports of 11,755 vehicles, 27,768 vehicles, 57,991 vehicles and 72,691 vehicles in 2017-2020, respectively, achieving a six-fold increase.
However, after the acquisition of Lotus, which has annual sales of only more than 1,600 vehicles and no new cars since 2008, has not brought significant benefits to Geely for a long time, and the accelerated transformation of the "new four modernizations" of automobiles has given Geely and Lotus new ideas.
On July 9, 2021, Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng said the following at a press conference with a "top-tone" naming:
“
"If Lotus goes to build a series of traditional things such as large-displacement sports cars, the chances for Lotus are slim. So since Lotus was acquired in 2017, we have also been confused about finding the right path for Lotus. However, at that point in time, electrification, intelligence and autonomous driving came, and I think this is the opportunity given to Lotus. ”
Subsequently, Lotus Technology was officially announced and released the product matrix for the next five years. According to Lotus's planning, starting from 2022, Lotus will successively launch the E-class pure electric intelligent SUV "TYPE 132", the E-class pure electric intelligent four-door coupe "TYPE 133", and the new species of pure electric intelligence "TYPE 134" and so on.
03
The mascot is also a golden doll
Lotus's role in Geely is generally two views on the market. One believes that according to Geely Group's positioning of Lotus, Lotus should do Geely's "ultra-high-end of sports and ultra-luxury of sports". In other words, Geely does not expect Lotus to bring considerable sales and considerable revenue, but only needs Lotus to be a traffic window and always active in the consumer's field of vision. Because, "ultra-high-end" determines the niche of Lotus, and since it is a niche, this sea cannot turn over the waves no matter how blue it is.
But although Lotus is a down-and-out aristocrat, it was also one of the world's three major luxury supercar brands. At present, Geely already has Geely, Lynk & Co, Volvo and other brands, but at the level of sports cars or super luxury brands, it is still not enough, through the revival of Lotus, Geely is expected to improve the strategic level of brand deployment.
Just like in 2019, Geely handed over the product answer sheet for the first time after the acquisition of Lotus - pure electric supercar Evija, 1680kg of car weight, the maximum downforce can exceed the body gravity, the maximum four motors of 2000 horsepower, a large number of key technical indicators are ranked first in the industry.
△ Lotus Evija
This reflects Geely's thinking, even if this car is completely unable to bring considerable benefits to Geely and Lotus commercially, but the use of Lotus's technical capabilities, in terms of electrification, preemptive, become a pioneer in the field of pure electric supercars, to achieve card slots.
Another view is that Lotus's future products will be global, rather than taking the niche personality route, which is obviously Lotus's transformation path to imitate Porsche. To achieve similar porsche from the 911 single model to cayenne, Panamela, Macan transformation, from the supercar market sinking mainstream luxury market, to achieve annual sales from thousands to break 10,000, or even break 100,000 growth.
Supercars lead the brand, and sports models and luxury models achieve sales breakthroughs, which is the same route as Porsche. Moreover, through Geely's technology empowerment, Lotus will establish its strongest competitive advantage over Porsche in the field of intelligent electric vehicles.
However, compared with Porsche, which is backed by the Volkswagen Group, Lotus's scale and electrification process are still significantly lagging behind. In the first half of 2021, Porsche's global sales reached a new high of 301,915 units, of which the Taycan, a pure electric car, sold 412.96 million units, surpassing Porsche's iconic model, the 911. Lotus's annual sales are less than 2,000 vehicles, and its large-scale mass-produced household-grade pure electric SUV is expected to be launched this year, and it has started relatively late.
Although it is not easy to draw conclusions about what the future development will be, lotus seems to be compromising to the wider market under the leadership of Geely, but this is not a bad thing, because only by surviving well can it be qualified to talk about feelings. Just the electrified Lotus, the feeling of engine roar seems to have gone farther and farther.
At the same time, in the business system of Geely Holding Group, geely, Volvo, Geometry, Lynk & Co, JiKr, Polar Star and other sub-brands have not yet established a leading edge in the field of intelligent electric vehicles, and are facing greater transformation pressure and require continuous high investment. Obviously, these brands have a higher priority than Lotus. In this way, there is still great uncertainty about whether Geely can continue to give Lotus enough support, which will also become an important factor affecting whether Lotus can achieve brand rejuvenation strategy in the future.