Geely plans to start producing Lotus cars in China for the first time with the opening of a new USD1.3 billion factory in the city of Wuhan. This new factory will have the capability to produce up to 150,000 Lotus Cars in a year which would put Lotus back on the global automotive map as a serious sports car contender. Last year, Lotus Cars delivered a measly 1,630 cars from its current historic Norfolk plant in England. Meanwhile, the new factory in Wuhan is being designed to deliver all electric and also petrol driven Lotus Cars.
Lotus Cars will also be delivering a new range of crossovers to compete head on with premium supercar brands, Porsche and Lamborghini as Geely had earlier announced grand plans to dominate the growing SUV segment in China which has seen a rise from 4.07% in 2014 to 5.01% in 2018, according to data from consultancy JD Power.
Geely who owns 51% of Lotus Cars already owns Volvo and this would allow it to easily share Volvo EV and plug-in hybrid technology with next generation Lotus Cars which will bring cost down and increase efficiency. Plus, Volvo’s “performance electrification division”, Polestar could be easily employed in all future Lotus Cars.
