This Year Is Already a Success for Lotus

You can be excused for forgetting that Lotus is still making and selling cars. The brand sold just 573 worldwide last year, and 1,566 in 2021. This year is a completely different story. Just eight months in, the company is already touting an extremely successful year.

Mike Johnstone, Chief Commercial Officer at Lotus Cars, sat down with Newsweek following a model test drive at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering to share stories of the complete turnaround the brand has had, and what is to come.

"In terms of that growth journey, as part of the Vision80 plan that we set out five years ago, we've been super clear about some key tenants of that plan, which will enable us to get to 150,000 sales per year by 2028," Johnstone told Newsweek.

Vision80 is a long-term, multi-faced business strategy that was developed to completely transform Lotus following the company's majority share acquisition by Geely in 2017.

"The first part of that was the revolution in the product range, which you can see now the first signs that come in through we've got a Evija, we've got Eletre and you've just driven an Emira. And then next month, Type 133, which is our next electrified product, will be launched," he shared.

Evija is an all-electric supercar that costs upwards of $2 million. Eletre is a more palpably priced battery-electric (BEV) sport utility vehicle (SUV) expected to start around $100,000 when it comes to market in the U.S. next year.

Emira is a last hurrah for the automaker. The internal combustion engine (ICE) sports car will be the last ICE vehicle the company ever creates under Vision80.

Two transitions are happening at Lotus Cars. The company is in the process of transitioning from ICE to BEV, and massively upping production.

"What's been happening behind the scenes, is a lot of investment into product development, R&D, ensuring that we've got the right product range that meets the right segments for the future, and enables us to get to that point of 150,000, which, when you sell just over 500 last year, seems like quite a lofty goal," Johnstone acknowledged.

To get to 150,000 units of sale per year, the company needed a new factory. Geely financed a $1 billion USD state-of-the-art facility in Wuhan, China for them. That doesn't mean that Lotus isn't committed to its historic England home.

"That factory is up and running now," Johnston said, "This is probably one of the is the most technologically advanced factories within the Geely family. It even has its own kind of internal race circuit for testing product. We're super proud of that."

Geely has invested over £100 million in its UK manufacturing home to prepare it to produce the Emira. "I'm sure in the future that further investment [will be necessary] as we look to Type 135, which is our electrified sports car, which comes in a few years time," he said.

Lotus has other facilities that are instrumental to its success. The company has a technology center outside Frankfurt, Germany. There's a research and development area in China. Lotus recently opened an office in London. Commercial teams also have offices in the U.S., Amsterdam and China.

Those investments have yielded a model that has made new vehicle shoppers across the world stand up and take notice. Lotus has 17,000 orders (not reservations) for new models in the books, nearly a decade's worth of sales under the previous model lineup. "We've got the right product in the right segments at the right time," Johnstone said.

"Lotus has been a niche brand, associated with lightness and performance cars; EVs have acceleration but aren't known for being nimble or light," Stephanie Brinley, associate director of research and analysis at S&P Global told Newsweek.

"Today's buyers are showing appetite for performance SUVs, and Lotus may be able to shift its image to meet where buyer interest is. Transitioning to EV performance and more luxury appointments, as in the Eletre, is a pivot. But the market for the types of vehicles Lotus built its reputation on is fading. Lotus needs to adapt to survive. To be successful is an execution that connects with its past as well. It's a tricky line, but may be possible to walk."

Part of Johnstone's work includes raising brand awareness. "For me, it's making sure we get as many people as possible in front of the kind of product and then have an understanding of what the brand stands for," he said.

Asia, the U.S., Europe and Scandinavia hold the keys to the Lotus future, Johnstone explained. "When you've only sold 1,500 cars a year for the last few years, obviously only takes a few few extra cars in one market to make over index. I think Japan was one of our biggest markets a couple of years ago ... U.S. and China are the two biggest markets, we collectively, that's probably gonna be 60 percent of our volume.

"But then if you also look at within Europe, you know, UK is obviously important for us, because that's where the brand comes from. Germany is a very, very important market for us as well. And I think, particularly in the first few years, the kind of Nordic markets are important as well, the the adoption of electrification, particularly in a country such as Norway, has been really, really fast."

For Johnstone, the history of Lotus weighs as much on him as the future. He's become one of the company's torchbearers, part of a long lineage with a chance to make new automotive history.

"We respect completely our history, because, that's an incredibly important thing for us as individuals in the business, but also is a strength, that equity that 75 years of history has ... We reflect the values that have been with us for 75 years.

"And we talk about the pioneering, rebellious and sophisticated - these kind of three brand tenants that we discuss internally - we try and, not literally, express those and everything we do ... We're always looking to the future, we never kind of forget the past, we want to make sure that value has come through.

"And for me, electrification and the jump that we're making forward, is exactly in tune with what the latest brand's been about. It's about pushing the boundaries, it's about going to the next level, it's about trying to find that competitive advantage in the marketplace that can help you win," he said.