Lotus wants role on global stage

LONDON — After buying Lotus in 2017, China's Zhejiang Geely Holding Group pro-mised to invest billions of dollars to turn the struggling U.K. sports car maker into a rival to Porsche or Maserati. The first fruits of that promise appeared in July, when Lotus unveiled the full-electric Evija hypercar in London. The car is a $2 million statement of Geely's intent, but the hard next step will be transforming the famous but under-resourced brand into a global player.

Lotus CEO Phil Popham, 53, explained how the company plans to achieve such a feat during a roundtable discussion that included Automotive News Europe Correspondent Nick Gibbs. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: You define Lotus as a high-end luxury sports car manufacturer. What does that mean in terms of price positioning and rivals?

A: The range we currently have is between £50,000 ($62,000) and more than £100,000 ($125,000), and with the exception of the hypercar, that's where we see our core range in terms of pricing in the future.

That said, we do believe the Lotus brand has the potential to go beyond that, which is why we have made the step into hypercars. But that's not our immediate strategy.

What are Lotus' sales aspirations, and where will the vehicles be built?

You will see a big investment at Hethel [Lotus' global headquarters in eastern England], not just in terms of the Evija but other future products. The skeleton building won't be a skeleton by the end of this year.

We are a relatively small company — we will sell just under 1,700 units this year. But we have aspirations to quickly go beyond that. Hethel has a capacity of more than 10,000 on two shifts, and we will outgrow Hethel. So that gives you an indication of how far we will grow.

We have opportunities to invest in manufacturing in China because of the infrastructure Geely has, but we will need to look at either something radical at Hethel or other facilities in the U.K. in the longer term. One thing we won't be doing is double tooling — building cars in multiple locations.

How many models does Lotus hope to sell?

That will depend on how many segments we enter. Our Vision 18 10-year plan is ambitious in terms of volume growth.

We can go right from sports cars to sporty GTs to sporting sedans to crossovers to SUVs.

What will dictate our decision is, one, can we make money out of it? And two, is it a car that truly reflects the Lotus DNA, which is very specific and focused around the driving experience?

Will there be further electric cars after the Evija?

Electrification is part of our future. The Evija is our first step, if you discount the first Tesla being Lotus-designed and -engineered. Our next sports car will have an internal combustion engine. You will see it before the end of next year. Beyond that car, every car we produce in whatever segment will offer a full-electric version.

Will Lotus skip hybrids?

That is an option. One of the challenges is that hybridization brings unnecessary weight for sports cars. You have got an internal combustion engine, an electric motor and batteries. That is a real challenge in terms of light weight.

How will Lotus collaborate with other Geely-owned brands?

Geely's size gives us huge opportunities in investment and access to technology, resources and expertise. But we won't take a Geely platform and just make a Lotus with it. If we do that, we would have to be involved in the engineering of that platform from the start to make sure the car that comes off it is a true Lotus.

The Lotus tag line "For the driver" will have a short shelf life if autonomous vehicles take off. What is your plan for AVs?

I don't think it has a shelf life. The move to electrification, connectivity and autonomous driving is going to increase commoditization, but as that grows so will the desire for a driver's car that you can use during your leisure time.

We won't ignore autonomous driving. We will harness the technology.

What's your message to a U.K. government looking to exit the European Union with no deal?

We need to get the deal done. Even if we exit without a deal, a deal will be done. We are a trading nation, always have been. It will only be a matter of time before we do a deal. It doesn't change our long-term strategy to be a global organization with its heart in the U.K.