The British brand Lotus has decided to abandon the strategy presented in 2018, which aimed for the brand to transition to a 100% electric range within 10 years.
According to the “AutoCar,” the change in Lotus’s strategy was revealed by the brand’s CEO, Feng Qingfeng, to journalists at the recent Guangzhou Auto Show in China.
In this sense, Lotus seems to be focused on developing “Super Hybrids” with a 900V architecture to enable ultra-fast charging, featuring a turbo engine and a battery for an extended range of up to 1094 km. This way, it is possible to combine high performance with greater range, thanks to an engine.
Moreover, range is not the only issue for Lotus, as Feng Qingfeng reportedly stated that “the sale of electric vehicles in the luxury car segment is quite slow because the engines of luxury models are already very powerful, and the driving experience is very similar, with eight and twelve-cylinder engines that offer good performance, which leads consumers to be less interested in electric mobility”.
This position from the CEO of Lotus comes at a time when European brands are facing greater difficulties in selling their electric models in China, the world’s largest market.
Despite this, Lotus recently announced that in the first nine months of 2024, it delivered 7,543 vehicles, representing a 134% increase compared to the previous year. However, the British brand reported an operating loss of €415 million in the first half of 2024.
This situation led Lotus to revise its sales forecast for this year downward, which initially projected 26,000 units, and has now dropped by more than 50% to 12,000 units due to market realignment.
