RAUNHEIM Nov 30 (Nikkei): In a brand-new office building a stone\u2019s throw from Frankfurt Airport, receptionists are switching on the illuminated Lotus logo for the first time, and workers are adding the finishing touches to the entrance as throngs of Italian, Portuguese and German speakers walk through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Observers say the language mixture reflects the effectiveness of Lotus\u2019 recruitment drive among carmakers, automotive suppliers and Formula One racing teams across Europe and Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Four years after Zhejiang Geely Holding Group acquired a controlling stake in iconic UK-based sports carmaker Lotus from Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom, Geely is completing a Lotus Tech Innovation Centre (LTIC) in the small German town of Raunheim staffed by roughly 150 engineers from more than 15 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Engineers and other staff were snapped up from such carmakers as Porsche, Audi, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, Mercedes and Opel, as well as suppliers like Continental, Hella, Faurecia and Bosch. The goal is to grab market share in the premium segment from Porsche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lotus sales have hovered around 1,500 cars a year for the past few years, and its existing combustion-driven fleet is about to end its sales life. Now the Raunheim team is tasked with turning the brand into an electric vehicle (EV) one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contrary to what might be expected, the team\u2019s first model will not be the typical two-seater sports car historically associated with Lotus, but a crossover SUV tentatively named the Type 132.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new Lotus is expected to enter the Chinese market next year, before moving on to North America and Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An 8 billion yuan (US$1.3 billion) plant is being built in the central Chinese city of Wuhan to turn out the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given that Lotus\u2019 newest UK plant in Hethel has a capacity of 1,500 cars per year, the Wuhan facility\u2019s projected capacity of 150,000 indicates a decisive shift in the company\u2019s manufacturing gravity to China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fueling this notion, Lotus in August announced that a new division, Lotus Technology, had opened its global headquarters in Wuhan. The division will be responsible for \u201cintegrating a new generation of lifestyle products\u201d, while the UK-based Lotus team will be responsible for the development and production of sports cars, among other tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Li Bin, founder of Chinese EV maker Nio, has invested an undisclosed amount in Lotus Tech. The funding valued the unit at around 15 billion yuan. Malaysia\u2019s Etika Automotive remains the minority shareholder in Lotus Cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLotus has always been produced in small batch sizes only, but we will change this and take on Porsche in the premium segment with cars that still have all the sports car characteristics, while being safe and comfortable enough to bring one\u2019s kids to kindergarten with,\u201d Flavio Friesen, a senior chief engineer who joined Geely in 2018 after having worked for Volkswagen do Brasil, General Motors and Opel, told Nikkei Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will widen Lotus\u2019 portfolio from sports cars to SUVs and sedans by adequately transferring Lotus\u2019 traditional strengths, such as extremely racy aerodynamics and innovative lightweight materials, as found in Lotus\u2019 Elise, a sports car that with less than 1,000kg (of) weight is perfect fun on curvy countryside roads,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Emira, Lotus\u2019 last gasoline-powered car, is due to start rolling off the line in Hethel next spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the Type 132 has been turning in test laps at the nearby Nuerburgring F1 racetrack. In early-November, Lotus released a cryptic PR video clip titled \u201cBreathe\u201d, which shows a grill shutter on the Type 132 that moves as if it were breathing in and out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geely seems to be taking its cues from Porsche, which last year delivered nearly 90,000 cars to customers in China, making it the largest single market for the German carmaker and representing an outsized contribution to the global profits of its parent company, VW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Chinese customer traditionally expects more comfort on the back seat than in the driver\u2019s seat, but we at Lotus remain committed to build cars for the driver,\u201d said Ralph Stenger, Lotus\u2019s senior chief engineer, who came to the Geely group in 2019 and formerly worked for GM, Opel and PSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will sell different versions in China and the other markets, and the cars will have mechatronic systems that will allow you to press a button to shift from an urban mode to a racy rural driving mode,\u201d Stenger added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Geely already has \u201cboots on the ground\u201d on the continent through its ownership of European brands including Volvo Cars and London EV, previously London Taxi. Geely is also the largest shareholder of Daimler, with a stake of just under 10%, and now co-owns the Smart brand with the German automaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Observers see potential in Lotus. Tu Le, managing director of Shanghai-based Sino Auto Insights, believes it possible that within the next several years, Lotus could raise its sales enough to push the Wuhan plant to its annual capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tu stressed Geely\u2019s success in turning around Volvo\u2019s fortunes after it bought the fading brand from Ford in 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVolvo has never sold more cars in its history. It created a new brand, Polestar, and recently went public at a US$23 billion valuation, compared with the US$1.8 billion Ford sold Volvo to Geely for,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLotus also announced that they would aggressively open more retail stores in China as well. And with Geely\u2019s help and money, they are able to broaden their product portfolio outside of just high-output sports cars to more lucrative and popular segments, while also making it easier for their products to be sold,\u201d Tu added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, a professor at the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen, in Germany, said he sees Geely\u2019s new German engineering team in Raunheim bringing thrilling EVs to the roads, with high odds for marketing success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLotus has shown that it is an interesting company, capable of creating auto emotions, and it could well become an insider\u2019s darling that shows that Geely\u2019s success with Volvo is replicable,\u201d Dudenhoeffer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Nikkei\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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