Lotus is about as British as a cup of afternoon tea, but with new part-owners, the brand’s cars may soon be built in China.
Chinese automaker Geely recently acquired a 49.9 percent stake in Malaysian automaker Proton, which has owned Lotus since 1996. As a result, the deal also saw Geely adopt a 51 percent majority stake in Lotus, leaving the Chinese company in charge of the relatively small British manufacturer’s operations.
The Geely-Proton transaction is expected to be complete within the next three months. Geely’s main goal with both Proton and Lotus is to ensure both brands are profitable and enjoy sustainable growth, objectives that will be achieved in part by embracing electrification and lightweighting technologies, along with artificial intelligence.
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Moving Lotus production to China, where manufacturing costs are much lower than the UK, would be a simple way for Geely to boost the automaker’s profits. With the sportscar maker eyeing an SUV that would likely be produced in much greater numbers than models like the Exige or Evora, the effect of the cost savings would also be amplified.
The good news here is that Lotus’ headquarters will remain in the United Kingdom, meaning the majority of its engineering ventures will also remain there.
[Source: Bloomberg via Autocar]
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