Earlier this year, it was revealed that Zhejiang Geely Holding, owners of Volvo, was set to purchase a 51% stake in Lotus; this deal is set to close later this month.
Despite 2016 being its first profitable year in the past four, Lotus has been struggling with sales. The profits it made last year was mainly attributable to a number of special editions as well as some undisclosed cost-cutting measures.
Considering what Zhejiang Geely Holding has done to turn Volvo’s fortunes around, we can but hope the Chinese company will succeed in growing the Lotus brand. According to Lotus CEO, Jean Marc Gales, “This [acquisition] is fantastic. It’s the best thing that could have happened to us.”
Future plans for Lotus, according to Gales, is to explore an EV route. The brand is no stranger to this, as it helped develop the Tesla Roadster back in 2008.
“In two or three years, battery cars will be much higher performing than they are currently because technology moves on,” Gales said. “It could be a really good thing to be the first one to do an electric car that doesn’t weigh two tonnes.”
Gales also hinted that, with this investment, a performance SUV is on the cards.
