The Lotus Cars Community banner
  • Hi there! Why not register as a user to enjoy all of the benefits of the site? You may register here. When you register, please pick a username that is non-commercial. If you use a name that appears on any search engine commercially, you must pick another name, whether it applies to you or not. Commercial usernames are for supporting vendor use only. If you want to become a supporting vendor and grow your business, please follow this link. Thanks!

Chinese Car Giant Geely has bought Lotus

9K views 92 replies 39 participants last post by  cornbeef 
#1 ·
#3 ·
Agreed. I think it bodes well for the Lotus community and should help ensure a brighter future. I especially like this:

Beyond just finding efficiencies, Geely CFO Daniel Donghui Li says that his company wants to “unleash the full potential of Lotus Cars.” An all-new phase of development and accelerated product rollout strategy will see new Lotus cars rolling on the street much sooner than what was planned at the brand.​
 
#4 ·
Lotus has been gaining good momentum as a company so I hope this change doesn't distract them internally.
 
#17 ·
Exactly. This is only good news if they retain Gales.
 
#6 ·
I'm glad there will be a new owner for Lotus. I've always said Proton/DRB-Hicom didn't understand the brand and worse, the US market. Here's hoping for a better future in Lotus :up:
 
#8 ·
Agreed. There has been little progress in investment, or development with the struggling Malaysian ownership, who were strong on promises but failed to deliver. The targa version of the Evora was in mothballs and Proton was stifling the Lotus brand. It looks like the Chinese at the very least have a plan to revitalize Lotus. So far, this is just an "agreement" pending regulatory approval and a vote by stockholders. Overall it looks like a positive move, and just in the nick of time IMHO.
 
#13 ·
What does the volvo turbo supercharged 4 weigh and what can it put out.

From the current volvo polestar website
362 hp, 347 lb. ft. torque,Direct-Injected Turbo & Supercharged Engine,

Ill bet Lotus can get a bit more from that mill than that.
Hopefully we will escape the blight of paddles only.
 
#15 ·
Wouldn't be the first sports car...or even the first British sports car...with a Volvo-derived engine.

The Noble M600 uses a Volvo engine (out of the Volvo XC90 SUV) to power it. They slap on two turbos...and get 660 HP out of it. Hello!
 
#19 ·
Lotus USA under Geely

I hope that this will be a key moment in Lotus USA history where they consider some changes to improve the brand. Money is helpful but I think it requires more than that. Looking at any brand, there is really 3 arms to a car brand in my mind, sales, service, and marketing. They all work hand in hand but should not necessarily be tied to each other as they are now.

For sales certainly more dealerships at first seams like a no brainer but in reality is not the ideal solution. People who are interested in lotus will travel as long as you have cars in stock and have a great sales team. So if lotus focused on major markets and large dealers which catered to sales and sales related events, I think that would be best and most efficient to spend money. If they look at Tesla, maybe they could adapt a model of sales like that it would be great.

This should be separate from service. Most dealers cannot handle lotus service as well as good indie shops. So they should really empower the indies to handle service volume. That way if you bought a car from a major sales center you could still have service closer to home. They could have an online conscierge service to facilitate service nationally. Again, making warranty work convenient.

Finally marketing should not be focused on ads but rather experience. As you know when a person drives a lotus they usually don't walk away unless they own one. So really empowering current owners to be liaisons. Grass roots like how Saturn and now Subaru encourage ownership. Can you imagine more involvement from lotus Usa in club meets and track days? I think that would be more powerful than any print or tv campaign.

I hope that Lotus Usa uses this opportunity to do something unique to turn the brand around. Money alone won't do it, although it sure helps.

Finally why do people buy Porsches, because they haven't driven a lotus and if they have they are afraid they can't get it serviced.
 
#20 ·
Lotus needs to race again.

In the future Lotus must field a factory Pro team at some level of International racing. If not, the marque will drift towards obscurity as a possibly over-priced personal luxury car that claims to have a racing heritage.

Too many other sports car companies have decided to make a quick buck/greater profit by building what I hope Lotus never builds........an SUV. A Lotus SUV would make me want to puke.

Lotus is still on out on track....what the heck - I had my Esprit on track at Daytona in April - but marque/Club events or Vintage Racing events will not advance the future of the Badge.
 
#21 ·
OH NO!!
I just read the link provided that started this thread..............Lotus is going to build an SUV.........I'm going to have to wash my keyboard now. At least the article from TopGear said the word never in reference to SUV and USA - so I shall survive this mental trauma.
 
#22 ·
The Cayenne saved Porsche. If Lotus needs a bread-and-butter SUV to help keep the lights on and fund sports car development, then everybody wins.
 
#23 ·
Yes. Whatever keeps the company solvent is fine with me.
 
#24 ·
+1. In 1986, Porsche had over 30,000 sales in the US & Canada, and by 1993, that was down to about 3,700. By 2002, US sales had rebounded to around 22,500 - which was still probably 7,000 units below 1986's US sales level - but just one year later, and following the introduction of the Cayenne, sales were up to 30,000. That's an average increase of about 20% for the previous 10 years, versus a 33% increase for the 2003 year. Now, there are a lot of other reasons for sales activity, including general economic conditions, exchange rates, whatever, but sales in 2016 were over 54,000 in the US. For 2017 through March, total sales were just over 12,700 and the Cayenne and Macan represented 71% of that total. Consider that total 911 sales were about 2,000 for the same period, or only 16%.

Porsche Reports March 2017 Sales
 
#25 ·
I guess neither of us understand the other viewpoint. I don't think Lotus could legally force future Elise buyers to also buy an SUV.

One facet of Porsche turnaround is sort of funny.

They knew they needed help with learning manufacturing efficiently.

They reach out to a group of former Toyota engineers. Toyota had the right to not allow the group to work for certain companies. But, Toyota said OK to this consulting.

But, when the Toyota engineers arrived, the German engineers were very unhappy.

Apparently, this lead to assaults and fistfights.

The Japanese gentlemen had to hire bodyguards.

But, in the end, Porsche learned what they needed to increase profits from production.

Yay.
 
#26 ·
I put my name on the top of the list for a sweet performance oriented compact SUV! You know, a Macan without the ugly Porsche face. Face it, the sedan is a dinosaur, impractical blah blah. I'm loving my little Lincoln MKC which makes the Evoque seem like a bad joke, esp in the powertrain dept (specifically the transmission).
These small "SUVs' are nothing more than 21st century hatchbacks which I grew up loving for the do it all practicality. Good old Accord hatchbacks got me thru college, dental school, and have always had something that provided rear access. If they can make it perform like a Macan or F Pace I'm all there. Face it, F Pace will be the savior for Jaguar even if it is kind of bland. Even Alfa has the Stelvio on the horizon this fall.
 
#27 ·
Good for Lotus and good for Geely. Hope they do something similar as they did with Volvo. I am cautiously optimistic because Chinese money doesn't always solve everything (see Fisker and Faraday Future) and sometimes doesn't even really materialize. Geely has a proven track record though so here's to hoping.

FWIW, I would totally buy a Lotus SUV as a family hauler (after a few MY cycles to work out kinks). Any purists that whine about the idea probably didn't buy their car new from Lotus anyway
 
#29 ·
As the owner of both an Elise and Evora, I would love the opportunity to buy a lotus SUV for my wife.

She insists on auto trans, 4x4 and enough space for groceries and child gear. Since she doesn't drive a manual transmission, she doesn't fully appreciate my "quirky" lotuses. Let Porsche have a high HP SUV...lotus could make a SUV that handles like a dream on pavement (and could handle snow). It wouldn't be the car for me but I would buy one for my wife in a flash.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#30 ·
Right.
Call me a purist or whatever name you like............but do call me a racer in the process. I bought a '97 Esprit V8 from an original run of 175 of 'em and have poured more money since into it than I might ever get total out of it.......I don't care, it's not about the money.......it's about the car.......and of course what a car it is........turns out mine was the 12th of the lot of all V8s. During the 20 odd past years I bought Formula Fords / Formula Continentals / trailers.... and one new F250 Diesel tow vehicle for all of the former.......so, yup!........I didn't buy a new Lotus. A 10 year old Lotus is not exactly an investment.......or a beast that will beat my Esprit on the track [or at a show]..........unless at the track your name is Alonzo or someone like that.
An SUV is merely a sad admitting by the maker that the stock holders needs to make money at all costs.........repeat.......it's not about the money.
Lotus needs to race again.
.
period

Who here would......because some badge made a great SUV years ago......go out and buy that company's latest SUV?....sorry - not me.
I saw something the other day that said Porsche has now made one million 911s.........cool....... but name me any race a Porsche SUV has won.
I can't rest my case..........I'm not a Lawyer..........I'm a Driver.
Talk amongst yourselves and spend your cash where it makes you happy. Me? - I just bought another set of new slicks for the Continental to use up at Sebring in 2 weeks.

My Wife will buy what she wishes to no matter what I might say.......so it's Subaru.
 
#31 ·
Well, you may not be in the market for an SUV, but they sell very well.

Uh, Porsche doesn't race their SUVs...and no one cares.

As long as you're happy, I am.
 
#33 ·
Lotus does not need an SUV, additionaly any lotus SUV couldnt be built at hethel, have you seen the factory.
Mcklaren and Aston do not have an SUV, and untill recently neitehr did lambo, or bently. these comanies all sell what 5-10k cars per year.

Before lotus can even think of being a bigger manufacturer it needs some volume with its sportcars and market cred for the badge. That means a new range of sprotscars doing what lotus does best light and minimalist using off the shelf motors.

Porche could sell an SUV because there was a known brand and had brand cred/status. Amongst the great unwashed car as appliance masses Lotus stands for what. Masser SUV I dont think sells at all.

You want a sporty SUV, does anyone seriously think lotus stands a chance of more than a fews ales against porche or Alfa with the stelvio. An suv would absorb huge development costs and sell too few. Unless of course maybe its a restyled volvo.

Basicaly Lotus needs to build its brand, that means superlative relatively affordable exotic sportscars. Lotus can own the 50-100k market with soemthing thats simply better and more exotic than a porche. Think of Lotus as the junior Mclkaren.

They need a new elise/exige. And then somethign thats not the evora, whoever thought a car like this needed a back seat(unuseable) was a fool. What they need is something evora priced, a bit lighter lower and more exotic looking. Then after covering those two segemnts, and selling a few cars, they can make their next move.

Engines, well the volvo 4 is maybe great for the elige. For the bigger evora type car, 6cyls is premium product and thats what it needs.

lastly all the intial evoras to coem in were auto boxes. For the love of god please someone explain to lotus thta whoever in the USA is considerign this type of car is unlikely to be lookign for paddles or an AT. Lotus has enaging drivign cars they own that space and its their appeal, now make them less crude with great sounding and feeling motors, and some new styling.
 
#65 ·
Lotus does not need an SUV, additionaly any lotus SUV couldnt be built at hethel, have you seen the factory.
Even before this, takeover Lotus has always talked of building the SUV in China as it would be their biggest market.

Mcklaren and Aston do not have an SUV, and untill recently neitehr did lambo, or bently. these comanies all sell what 5-10k cars per year.
McLaren is floated with Middle East investment money, Aston Martin teeters on the edge of bankruptcy.

Before lotus can even think of being a bigger manufacturer it needs some volume with its sportcars and market cred for the badge. That means a new range of sprotscars doing what lotus does best light and minimalist using off the shelf motors. ... Basicaly Lotus needs to build its brand, that means superlative relatively affordable exotic sportscars. Lotus can own the 50-100k market with soemthing thats simply better and more exotic than a porche. Think of Lotus as the junior Mclkaren.
Lotus needs to increase volume to support a larger dealer/service base, specialty sports cars will never provide a large volume be it a 30k, 50 to 100k, 150k or 500k+ car ... just look at the market sales figures.


Engines, well the volvo 4 is maybe great for the elige. For the bigger evora type car, 6cyls is premium product and thats what it needs.
Volvo has a Polestar 2.5L 5 cyl in both long and transverse configuration, twin turbo that has output 300, 400 and 500 Hp, they even have manual boxes.

lastly all the intial evoras to coem in were auto boxes. For the love of god please someone explain to lotus thta whoever in the USA is considerign this type of car is unlikely to be lookign for paddles or an AT. Lotus has enaging drivign cars they own that space and its their appeal, now make them less crude with great sounding and feeling motors, and some new styling.
Tell that to McLaren
 
#35 ·
I think we've lost sight of the topic: Many of us don't care if Lotus needs an SUV to thrive. That's all.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top