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Lotus signs joint venture agreement with China's Goldstar

Lotus and China's Goldstar Heavy Industrial Company are forming a joint venture that will bring the historic British sports-car maker into the country. "The collaboration seeks to accelerate the development of Lotus cars in the premium sports segment in China," according to the announcement. The JV will include research projects on efficient and advanced technology, and ultimately lead to sales of cars there, Lotus said. China's auto market is no longer experiencing the double-digit growth of the past, but it still continues to expand. Meanwhile, Lotus saw sales jump 55 percent in the last fiscal year and it opened 36 new dealers, according to CEO Jean-Marc Gales. The joint venture announcement also hints at the possibility of Chinese-made models, but it shouldn't dilute the brand. Lotus is clear that core vehicles like the Evora, Exige and Elise would remain exclusively in production at the headquarters in Hethel, England. Just a couple years ago, Lotus appeared to be on its deathbed after losing a quarter of its workforce, but since that setback the company has started to crawl back. PROTON, LOTUS GROUP AND GOLDSTAR SIGNED JV AGREEMENT KUALA LUMPUR – PROTON Holdings Berhad ("PROTON") the ultimate holding company of Lotus Group, announced that it has signed a Joint Venture ("JV") Agreement with Lotus Group International Limited, United Kingdom ("Lotus Group") and Goldstar Heavy Industrial Co. Ltd. ("Goldstar") for a possible business expansion of Lotus cars in the People's Republic of China. The collaboration seeks to accelerate the development of Lotus cars in the premium sports segment in China, leveraging on the incentives offered by the Fujian Provincial Government. Both PROTON and Lotus Group are subsidiaries of DRB-HICOM Berhad. Signing on behalf of PROTON was the Honourable Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Chairman of PROTON and former Prime Minister of Malaysia and witnessed by Dato' Abdul Harith Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of PROTON. Signing on behalf of Lotus Group International Limited, United Kingdom was Jean-Marc Gales, Chief Executive Officer and witnessed by Mr Rohime Shafie, Director of Lotus Group and Chief Financial Officer of PROTON; and signing on behalf of Goldstar was Mr Zheng Qianghui, Chairman of Goldstar and witnessed by Mr Zhai Wenliang, President of Goldstar.

New models, new markets: Lotus plans major expansion in the 2020s

Lotus was so quiet during the 2010s that some enthusiasts wonder if it still exists. It's alive, it's healthier than it's ever been in recent memory, and it's orchestrating a major expansion that will put it back in the spotlight. Its renaissance starts with the Evija, an electric hypercar packing a 2,000-horsepower punch that Matt Windle, the company's engineering boss, called a trailblazer. Future models will all be influenced by this limited-edition coupe. Beyond that, the company is taking steps to overhaul its entire business, from the design language that characterizes its cars to the restaurant its employees eat at — seriously. Even the cafeteria is getting a makeover. "We're building the brand, building the product range, building the dealer network, and building facilities. There's a huge investment program going on," Windle told Autoblog. "We need to shoot the arrow far enough ahead so that we don't get stuck in the day-to-day problems and instead keep an eye on what we need to do long-term," he added. The company's to-do list is long, and rebuilding a brand is difficult, but Lotus believes it can pull it off. The executive team is betting on an array of new products to reach customers in markets Lotus has little or no presence in; the United States comes to mind. The ultimate goal is to increase the brand's annual volume. Windle understandably couldn't shed light on the product plan, but unverified rumors point to a born-again Esprit powered by a 500-horsepower hybrid powertrain made up of a mid-mounted, Toyota-sourced V6 and electric components provided by sister company Volvo. Another one of the company's future models is an SUV —its first — allegedly built on Volvo bones and aimed at the Porsche Macan. We hear a new Elise is coming, too. The engineer explained his team doesn't feel the least bit constrained by the decades-long heritage Lotus is built on, and it's ready to embrace new technologies as it moves forward. "Electrification has given us the ability to look at things differently," he explained, while clarifying the company's core values (aerodynamics, ride, handling, and lightweight construction) won't be overlooked as it expands. "We will stay true to them," he pledged. "Light is right," the phrase famously coined by Lotus founder Colin Chapman, will live on, then. China-based Geely purchased a majority stake in Lotus in 2017 and it's helping turn it around.

Lotus Eletre electric SUV reveal: Tune in today at 2:30 p.m Eastern

The upcoming electric Lotus SUV formerly known as the Type 132 officially has a name. It will be called the Lotus Eletre, and the vehicle’s full reveal is today, Tuesday, March 29. For those curious, Lotus says that Eletre means “coming to life” in some Eastern European languages. If you want to pronounce it properly, Lotus provides the phonetic spelling: “El-etra.” Basically, the "e" at the end is to be pronounced as an "a." Beyond the name announcement, Lotus doesnÂ’t have anything extra to share with us today. The name itself was revealed in a dramatic fashion, as a specially-made yellow cube containing the car was piloted up and down the River Thames in central London. Boats and cars being in the same news story as of late havenÂ’t always been for good reasons, but thankfully, this one seems to have gone just fine. If you want to watch the reveal live, make sure to tune in here at 2:30 p.m. ET Tuesday. WeÂ’ll have the live stream in this post waiting to start, so you can check back in right here at reveal time.