The Lotus Technology Division might be listed on a stock exchange soon.
When Geely Auto became Proton’s Foreign Strategic Partner, part of the deal was that they’d acquire a 51% stake in Lotus Cars. Now Lotus Cars is in the midst of a turnaround and has plans to sell loads of EVs in the near future through its Lotus Technology division.
Today, Autocar shared that Lotus is aiming to sell 100,000 vehicles annually by 2028. For context, Porsche, the benchmark in the performance car segment sold 302,000 cars in 2021, its best sales year in history. For even more context, Lotus’ best year was also 2021 and they sold just 1,710 vehicles. Forget 0-100km/h times. The more important metric for Lotus will be how they can get from 1,710 to 100,000 in 6 years.
How Will Lotus Increase Sales By A Factor Of 58 In Just 6 Years?
We know that car brands can rebound, and we know that Geely’s other darling, Volvo Cars, is a prime example of this. Volvo Cars went from 304,000 cars sold in 2009 to nearly 700,000 cars sold in 2021. If Volvo can add 400,000 cars sold annually in 12 years, maybe Lotus can add 99,000 cars sold in half that time.
After all, Lotus is only now beginning to push newer, more competitive products into the market. Just about half a year ago, the company showed the Emira, a replacement to their legacy products, the Elise, Exige and Evora. They’ve also got their all-electric hypercar halo product, the Evija to bring in the capital and technology required for future electric products
Lotus is also in the midst of promoting and teasing their upcoming electric SUV, the Type 132. The company is also reportedly speaking to potential investors about an IPO, which will happen between 12 and 24 months from now. It’s unclear where they will list Lotus, but it’s indicated that it’s the EV-focused Lotus Technology Division that will be floated.
In fact, of the 100,000 units that the company says it will sell annually by 2028, 90,000 will be electric vehicles. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary’s Etika Automotive still retains a 49% stake in Lotus Cars.
