Lotus SUV closer to reality under Geely ownership

Lotus SUV closer to reality under Geely ownership

Remember that SUV Lotus once presented in Geneva? That was over 10 years ago and the car, more accurately referred to as Crossover Utility Vehicle (CUV), was called the Lotus APX (short for Aluminium Performance Crossover). However, due to financial constraints, the APX never made it to the assembly line.

Lotus Cars’ dark days may soon be over though, after ending the 2016/17 financial year on a positive note, and more importantly now that it is under the stewardship of Geely following a RM556 million acquisition. “Thanks to a brand image that hasn’t faded, Lotus can be transformed into a moneymaker,” said Carl-Peter Foster, a Geely board member.

Former Malaysian prime minister and Proton chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad once told us that a Lotus SUV has already been in development since 2014, and that it would be developed largely for the Chinese market. To add to this, Lotus’ CEO, Jean-Marc Gales boldly claimed that the Lotus SUV would be “better than arch rival Porsche Macan”. Now, that was said over two years ago, but whether or not it still stands today remains to be seen.

Lotus SUV closer to reality under Geely ownership

Details of the SUV are sketchy at best, but if our previous report is anything to go by, then expect the Toyota-sourced 3.5 litre V6 engine to be within the lineup. It’s reported to weigh 200 kg less than the Porsche Macan S (1,865 kg, pictured below), and a hybrid variant may also be spawned to cater to the Chinese market. Mahathir also revealed that the Lotus SUV (and the Lotus sedan) could have been rebadged as Protons.

Lotus currently sells between 1,500 to 2,000 cars annually, but Geely remains optimistic of its potential. Foster said Lotus can produce “any size of car” while remaining true to its ethos of being lightweight and fun-to-drive, and that the model expansion will inevitably lead to greater production and sales numbers. He also said it will not dilute the brand, citing Porsche’s runaway success with the Cayenne when it was launched in 2002.

The acquisition will also see Lotus lending their expertise to fine-tune Volvo and Polestar cars, ranging from affordable hatchbacks to executive sedans and high-performance models – much like Mercedes-AMG‘s approach. Thoughts, anyone?

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Matthew H Tong

An ardent believer that fun cars need not be fast and fast cars may not always be fun. Matt advocates the purity and simplicity of manually swapping cogs while coping in silence of its impending doom. Matt's not hot. Never hot.

 

Comments

  • lotusftw on Sep 26, 2017 at 10:48 am

    Lotus UK : Proton?? thx but no Thx!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 14
  • Kuinosan on Sep 26, 2017 at 10:53 am

    Why Proton held back on the production of a mass produced SUV really doesn’t make sense. It’s the hottest category in the automobile industry and yet Proton did not capitalise on it. All i can think of is Proton management at the time really ha a bad business sense!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 4
    • kzm (Member) on Sep 26, 2017 at 11:55 am

      small money to spent n boleh market is too small.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
    • It’s a capex that Proton can’t afford. You have to spend first & ROI in 5-10 years if the model is successful. If not?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
      • karam singh on Sep 26, 2017 at 5:22 pm

        Lotus closer to go under Geely ownership.
        Geely closer to exiting Proton.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 2
  • Slirh on Sep 26, 2017 at 10:57 am

    These thoughts and ideas should have been developed eons ago while Proton has the full ownership. We had all the components and process as well as the brand to make it to the world. But a lot of messing about by people who knows nothing about automotive business scuppered all this. Now we wait and see how the Chinese took everything and will just good business leadership reap in all the rewards. As the Malay proveb goes,”Ayam menang sabung tapi kampong tergadai!”

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 4
    • mabuketum on Sep 26, 2017 at 11:42 am

      Sadly, the same burdening Msia –
      But a lot of messing about by people who knows nothing.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 0
    • Just like Volvo of past, we had the brand name and tech but not the monetary resource to develop further. And just like Volvo after acquisition, now China brings the money to make it reality. So nothing wrong with b4 (except hiring Bahar), but money tight was alwiz the problem.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 7
      • Hasni on Sep 26, 2017 at 12:55 pm

        we never had a brand name. And btw, Proton has got more billions than any other car company in the world.

        Officially Proton has been given RM15 bil according to mustapa. Unofficially, maybe double that.

        Get your facts right

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 3
        • Really? No brand name? Then what is Lotus, huh? And 15B or even 30B throughout 30 years is very little ekceli. HyundaiKia gets annual $100B. Thats per year basis.

          Developing new cars & mass-pro them is NOT cheap. Get ur facts right.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 3
          • Rightwinger on Sep 26, 2017 at 3:15 pm

            Like I said, they love myths instead of facts…

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
          • Topstriker on Sep 26, 2017 at 4:56 pm

            The fact is Maslan cakap betul, GST kurangkan kos hidup, makin ramai beli Honda. Taknak proton…

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
          • Ex proton user on Sep 26, 2017 at 5:46 pm

            It may not be cheap but if they got the strategy right, they will be able to significantly cut the development costs while making significant design changes to their products which will help to push up the sales. Look at what Hyundai Kia did and their sales volume globally.Proton had the facilities for mass pro but they only utilised 30% of the capacity.So don’t talk about no money to go mass pro. It’s because of the lousy product due to lousy management strategy. That’s people are not buying the cars.Pls check your facts.

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
    • kzm (Member) on Sep 26, 2017 at 11:58 am

      During those time Lotus is bleeding money.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
  • tokmoh. on Sep 26, 2017 at 11:38 am

    Lotus > all
    Geely > all

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 6
    • tokmoh. on Sep 26, 2017 at 11:40 am

      Should consider plonking in Volvo Drive-E powertrain rather than the heavy 3.5L V6. Lower emission too, so cheaper road tax.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 5
      • Lotus Drive-E ckd…Volvo > all

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 1
      • Jimmy on Sep 26, 2017 at 10:15 pm

        Good suggestion.

        If you price Volvo XC 60 at RM388 888, nobody wants to buy.
        If it is a pure breed Lotus XC60 made in England, capable of 0-100k in < 6 seconds, serviced by proper service centres, I think people may be willing to spend Rm388 888 which is higher than X3 and GLC.

        And please lah, this cute APX cannot be as qecil as an Iriz, it has to be similar to Macan size, wider than X3, with ground clearance of minimum 200mm. Otherwise, you might as well ditch the project.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • 12yrsold on Sep 26, 2017 at 12:13 pm

    Ha ha ha ha. Jean-Marc Gales boldly claimed that the Lotus SUV would be “better than arch rival Porsche Macan”. I don’t know want to laugh or cry !!? Thanks for the joke Jean-Marc.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 5
  • Mikey on Sep 26, 2017 at 12:17 pm

    Lets see if Jean-Marc Gales are correct:-
    Like for Lotus SUV
    Dislike for Macan.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 4
  • The company also sold 2 times since they first talk about this model and they are still talking about it?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
 

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