New owners likely to move Lotus to China...

Geely Could Move Lotus Production to China - The Drive

New owners likely to move Lotus to China... and add an SUV...

Yikes.

Robb

 

So, it will basically become a Chinese sports car.

No thanks.

 

It's likely that even if some production moves to China, the Lotus will still be designed and engineered in UK.

I wouldn't judge before seeing what's the outcome of that decision if and when it happen.

 

+1

Everyone thought TATA would destroy Jag and Land Rover when they bought them, but both companies have been doing really well.

 

Yes, but Tata didn't move production to India; they kept British management and know-how in place.

Only now, some cars are assembled in India for that market.

 

"could" and "will" are two different things

I can see a large injection of foreign money into the brand and some new models coming out.

Is that a bad thing? It's better than it dying with a whimper. If Lotus closed it's doors tomorrow not many would be crying.

 

Hey Robb: How I missed your thread when I started mine (after your's) is beyond me. Mine should be merged into your's, I think.

 

It's the fast and the dead...

Robb

 

I don't have any problem with some things made in China - take apple products as an example, but a legendary British sports car would not be one... multiple sources have said it is likely lotus will move production to china.

I am happy to see stability for Lotus and improvements with all their shortfalls including hopefully dealer stability, availability and servicing... but I have zero desire to buy a car made in China.

I know that's shallow. Will wait and see how it goes.

Robb

 

There is no way Geely would close Hethel and move everything to China. That would be throwing away the investment they have just made.

The press are being quite irresponsible in even suggesting this.

Li Shufu, Geely boss:

"engineer in Britain, design in Britain, build in Britain. We see no reason to move 50 years of combined experience to China – let them do what they do best – in Britain,"

 

Well... the issue is they could keep the R&D, sales, and marketing in the UK and even some final assembly.

But the parts or a rolling chassis may be made in China to reduce costs and then just the final assembly and inspection done in the UK.

Its hard to tell but if I were the new owners, I'd be paying more attention to the bottom line than purists.

If Lotus survived from the purists, it wouldn't need to be sold to survive.

We all said that Tata would kill Jaguar. Ironically they saved it after Ford nearly killed it.

 

I can see them building an SUV in china and an entry level sports car But not the entire range
Geely owns Volvo they never closed down Swedish operations

 

Now that it's part of Geely, a SUV at Lotus doesn't really make sense, IMO.

Volvo does the SUVs, Lotus the sports cars.

 

+1

I hope the future of Lotus will be along these lines.

I like the brand, and it has its own niche in the market.

 

I exactly see you point but some people would rather be seen in a Lotus SUV than a nerdy Volvo

 

Every brand must stand on their own. Lotus has been a sports car brand only and they've had little success financially. The plan still is to move forward with a Chinese built SUV for the Chinese market since the demand there is strong however depending how it does, it wouldn't surprise me to hear it make its way to Europe or North America.

 

I have not changed my opinion Lotus in the U.S. is probably finished, the Chinese have little patience with money loosing ventures. I am already talking to a Lotus dealer (there are still dealers like this one with new 2014's they could not sell), with 7 Evora 400's about taking one off their hands (at a substantial discount off sticker) in the coming days. Volvo announced no more gas only cars in a couple years, so forget about them selling a Lotus sports car with Volvo

 

The "No more gas only cars" thing is a very clever ploy to maintain Volvos pioneering credentials which go back in history, for example being the first cars to have seat belts.

This will not affect Lotus, but you might still be right. Lotus have always had a tough time in the US, a combination of US buyers not wanting to buy cars with anything smaller than a V8 and also constantly fighting against US legislation which almost seemed to be brought out to deliberately thwart them.

 

Any insider news on the ramifications of this purchase?

 

Why would they bother to gain control of Lotus if they don't plan to sell them world wide? I think currently US Lotus dealers are or have given up already...years without a new car.. now one model that is over 100K with the previous model being heavily discounted so everyone thinks they should get 20K off on a new model...got to be a tough sell. Hope some deep pocket cash flow can buy some advertising, finance specials, trunk money... something to help get the cars moving... I hope they can get the targa top out quickly, then maybe a refresh with volvo switch gear and electronics. fingers crossed that they can make it work

 

Lotus was not why they bought this, it was Proton and the markets they have in Asia. My guess Lotus will be gone from this country by year end. You need to look at this not from a car lovers standpoint but from a business only one. Lotus is worthless (sorry but it is) and no one who wants to make money would have bought it to sell cars no one wants. They would need to invest a very large amount of money just to reestablish the dealer network. Some dealers do not even have salesman or any one to answer the phone. Call Lotus of Princeton (you get an answering machine), they you hear back from someone from their Jeep dealership. I am a fan of Lotus going shopping for one today, (because I do not care if there are dealers or not) but it is over for the company we all loved (just like gearshifts in Ferrari). There is no future for Lotus selling sports cars that make no money.