Economic Observer reporter Gao FeichangOn February 25, the day after Lotus Technology was listed on the NASDAQ exchange in the United States, Feng Qingfeng, CEO of Lotus Group, rushed back to Shanghai from New York and accepted an interview including the Economic Observer in the afternoon of the same day.
Regarding the completion of the U.S. stock listing of Lotus Technology, Feng Qingfeng believes that on the one hand, it is in accordance with the original plan, and on the other hand, it shows the recognition of the capital market for the new stage of the company's development.
Back in early 2023, Lotus Technology announced plans to complete a listing with L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp ("LCAA"), a consumer private equity investment firm, through a business combination. It is worth pointing out that Lotus Technology achieved a market value of more than US$9 billion on the first day of listing, becoming the largest Chinese concept stock IPO listed in the United States since July 2021.
The completion of the listing is an important moment in the development of Lotus Technology. Since its acquisition by Geely Holding Group in 2017 (which holds a 51% stake), the 76-year-old global sports car brand has started a brand revival process called "vision80", and at that time it has determined the strategy of comprehensive transformation to electrification and intelligence.
In the past two or three years, Lotus has focused on the Chinese market, and it has built a relatively complete R&D, production and sales service system in China. Now, with the completion of the listing work, Lotus Technology has expanded its focus to the global market, and will carry out sales and service work at home and abroad to continue to promote the brand rejuvenation process.
The ratio of domestic and domestic sales will be 4:6
The Lotus vision80 ten-year brand revival plan is designed to complete the brand's comprehensive transformation to electrification and intelligence on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Lotus brand in 2028.
Although there was a lot of uncertainty at the time, we still had insight into the trend of electrification and intelligence. In the era of fuel vehicles, Lotus only focused on the track segment and had a good performance. Since the times have given us opportunities, we must seize them. Feng Qingfeng said.
So far, Lotus has introduced four new products to the market, including the evija and emira in the U.K., as well as the Eletre and Emeya electric sedan in China. From the perspective of product layout, Lotus strives to continue the fuel sports car business while developing more in the direction of intelligence and electrification. Among them, China, as an important regional market for Lotus, is responsible for the manufacture of luxury lifestyle cars, while the models built in the United Kingdom are focused on track-level sports cars.
As a UK-born sports car brand, Lotus's previous global landscape has also been continued and innovated. Today, Lotus' German Innovation Center focuses on intelligent chassis, the styling design center is set up in the United Kingdom, the intelligent research and development of cockpits is in China, and the global marketing headquarters is located in London.
According to Feng Qingfeng, in 2023, Lotus will receive 19,000 orders, which he believes shows that the market has a preliminary recognition of Lotus' products and brands. "In the future, the Chinese market will account for about 40% of the sales, and the rest of the world will account for 60%. Elletre has been delivered in Europe and the UK for the first time this year.
Deliveries will begin in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand markets in the first and second quarters, and in the United States and South Korea in the third quarter. Feng Qingfeng said.
Based on the differentiation of the global electric vehicle market, Feng Qingfeng made the above arrangement for the proportion of Lotus's global market sales. He said that the start of electrification in the global market is different from that in China. The start of electrification in China started with mass consumer goods, and the electrification of cheaper cars started first, so the (sales) volume is very large. China's auto market is already the world's largest market for electrification, with a pure electric penetration rate of 22%, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles as a whole is more than 30%. Overseas, however, the opposite is true, and the start of electrification is coming from the high-end market. For example, the penetration rate of electric vehicles in the United Kingdom has reached 30%, and the penetration rate of electric vehicles in the segment with more than 80,000 US dollars has reached 30%, and in China it is only 7%-8%. In other words, the demand for this segment in China has not yet been fully unleashed.
I believe that the market penetration rate of China's overall electric vehicles will grow again this year, and although the absolute sales volume of the luxury electric vehicle market is not large, the growth rate must be higher than the industry average. Feng Qingfeng judged.
It is understood that while entering multiple markets around the world, Lotus will continue to expand its global distribution network, aiming to increase the number of stores worldwide from about 200 to more than 300 by 2025.
Focus on sports car positioning and invest in new resources
The listing on the NASDAQ will address the financial support needed for the development of Lotus Technology, which is important for a new EV brand to operate independently. Among China's new car manufacturers, NIO, Li Li, Xpeng, and Leapmotor have taken the lead in achieving listing. Compared with these companies, as a brand under Geely Holding Group, Lotus also has a unique advantage, that is, it can form resource synergies with other brands of Geely Holding in terms of manufacturing, technology, and chain.
For Lotus, one of the immediate benefits of bringing it to market is that it can give a new impetus to the development of the next generation of automotive technology. In terms of technology, Lotus has long focused on lightweight, aerodynamics and handling, as well as the core "three-electric" technology. In terms of products, in addition to the four models already on the market, Lotus will also introduce new sports car products in the future.
As a sports car brand, we will firmly occupy the label of sports car, and our product characteristics are life cars, electric vehicles, and smart cars with sports car performance. Feng Qingfeng said, "We (insisted) on doing 80,000 14."The $90,000 segment is not going down. ”
In recent years, with the deepening of the new energy transformation of China's automobile market, in the market segment with products exceeding one million yuan, there have been new brands such as BYD Yangwang to set foot. In addition, traditional luxury brands such as Porsche and Bentley are also testing the waters of luxury new energy products. For Lotus, these brands are potential competitors.
In this regard, Feng Qingfeng said that all peers are very welcome to enter the luxury electric vehicle market, which is beginning to be lively, which shows that (the prospect) is optimistic about everyone, and also proves that Lotus is in the right direction. At the same time, he emphasized that the characteristics of the luxury electric vehicle market lie in non-homogeneity, and to make their own personality, the product is not only to meet the needs of users, but also to create new desires.
It's like Lotus has always insisted on 'born on the track', and although it has evolved to the stage of smart cars, it still cares about the user's driving experience. This is Lotus's definition of a 'driver's car'. Feng Qingfeng said.
This year, Lotus will ramp up its UX marketing efforts. Feng Qingfeng said: "Every time a user comes into contact with Lotus, whether it is coming to the store or attending an event, it is a good exchange and communication, which can give users a better understanding of Lotus. We will do more user operation activities this year, and we hope that users can fully interact with us. ”