Lotus is on the verge of another major evolution, one that will see the brand cast its nets on a more global scale. In fact, future Lotus models will feature a new design language and incorporate the wide array of autonomous and connected technologies within the Geely family.
Geely Auto’s vice president of public relations, Victor Young told us that a new design centre has been established in the UK, and the facility will utilise cutting-edge design technologies for upcoming products. “The next-generation of Lotus cars will have very beautiful designs,” said Young.
A new research and development centre has also been set up in Germany to work on high-end electrified architectures for Lotus. When asked if the move will dilute the purity and essence of Lotus cars, Young said: “No, no. Firstly, we really respect the distinctive values of each brand, like Volvo, Lotus and Proton. But we want to bring something new to the brand.”
“Lotus is a very famous brand in high-end sporty cars and they are very strong in lightweight technologies, engineering and racing heritage. We all like that and the Chinese consumers actually like that. But of course, in the modern car industry, you must have the economies of scale. If you don’t have bigger scale, you do not have the chance to survive.”
Speaking of scale, Geely is in the midst of building a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in China, with Young stating that it will help the brand achieve economies of scale and enjoy lower manufacturing costs. Plans to expand Lotus’ sales and service network have also been set in motion – the existing range of Lotus cars will be sold in China starting this year, before being exported to the US at a later stage.
However, Young said despite having a larger scale, the company also has to move fast because the demands from the consumer move fast. “You always have to think from the demands of the consumer,” Young said, adding that “all the young consumers, no matter where they are, have a common trend of enjoying and embracing new technologies, as well as new services.”
“They want to enjoy the driving dynamics of the car, but they also want to have more environmental responsibilities. That means the cars can be fast, can be fun, but can be green as well,” Young explained. “I think if you see Geneva, you’ll see a lot of hypercars that are either electrified, or pure electric.”
Besides having new designs and hybrid propulsion tech, Young also said that Lotus may benefit from Geely’s suite of intelligent driving tech. “The intelligent part of driving makes driving more safe and more fun. Autonomous driving technology can be adopted and applied to Lotus cars as well,” he said.
In fact, Young hinted that Lotus cars could also feature connected technologies. “In five to 10 years from now, the world will be connected in every way, so a car won’t be a single item. It has to be connected to other cars, with other signs on the road, with your home appliance – it all has to be connected, so it has to be a standard offering on the cars,” he added, although it remains to be seen if the sports cars will get them.
On the product side of things, Young said Lotus’ portfolio will have to be diversified, but did not elaborate on the specifics. In any case, expect models such as an SUV to be offered in the near future.
To recap, Lotus recently teamed up with Williams to develop a the hypercar, dubbed Project Omega. The car is said to be the most ambitious project Lotus has undertaken in its history, and it’s tipped to be the fastest and most radical model to wear the Lotus badge.
Lotus, now backed by an automotive stronghold which facilitated Volvo’s impressive record-setting turnaround, is on track to establish a more globalised brand presence. Anyone excited for this?
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Abesla Toyota! Even Lotus is ditching your outdated dinosaur engine that cannot meet modern emission standards! Who else are you going to sell your outdated dinosaur engines too? I see Perodua is jizzing themselves to get these ancient lumps.
Hahahahaha! Gud one!
Lotus became well only when Geely took over. Under Proton, Lotus went downhill
Sorry to burst your fake news, but throughout Lotus history they only started to become sort-after and profitable during Proton ownership.
Lotus can create their own Game Changing cars, Proton only can rebadge Geely’s Game Changing cars.
Proton is a Game Over company so Habisla Plontong!!!
please la.. cant even say something better than that lame childish immature attempt of a post?
let me try and help you.. both lotus and proton are owned by Geely. they are each very different companies and at different points in their evolution with different needs. they will also have different strategies, plans, etc… but at end of the day, its very simple.. Geely is spending money on them because ultimately, they see the potential in both of them and only want both companies to succeed.
Still the same habisla this, game over that! Can’t you be more creative? Otherwise, Paultan really should permaban your butt for being a nuisance to public.
Since bought by Proton in 1996, Lotus Cars was suffered in darkest period. No mgmt direction and tech breakthrough at all, the Elise launched then still on sale in showroom now. Unbelievably disgraceful incompetent of a kind.
It’s so obvious that he’s trolling, yet you guys all layan him sangat LOL
Lotus now doing so well. Because of China brains. Last time use abang abang brains, cannot make money also
While Malaysian companies doesnt have a great record on owning foreign brands, I thank the stars we r smart enough to not ruin Lotus and Lamborghini and pass them on to better hands. That too takes good business acumen…
Yeh, Lotus and Augusta. Government have to look at other national projects, airlines, aircraft, motorcycles (make tons of monies by rebadged Indian products) and etc.
Hmm, while I applaud Lotus for seeking the technologies available in Geely, I do think incorporating intelligent and autonomous driving aids will dilute the essence of a Lotus car, which is full driver involvement.
Maybe we will see a button on the dash which has ‘Disable all non-Lotus thing’ written on it.
Geely is aiming female buyers.
Gads! If the fems wanted a hairdresser car, they can go for Audi TT
Making SUV is heresy for a brand like Porsche.
But they had to for their own survival.
Rest assured, new Lotus will be lightweight and have very competent chassis.
its nice to see that the brand will be getting a new lease on life at long last. there are definitely a lot more lotus fans out there right now, they just haven’t had access to the right product thus far.
volvo architecture and powertrain, add lotus chassis tuning and voila….u hv a lotus branded sports SUV…
but ill be more excited if lotus can go head to head with either boxter/cayman
And eventually, with the economies of scale, a truly affordable sports car to against the mx-5 / gt86 / brz
Not good. Malaysia will have flying car this year. Just rm1.5 m cost r&d
Proton please rebadge this car.
Hi Lotus!