On February 23, with the ringing of the NASDAQ trading market, Lotus Technology officially completed its listing in the United States.
As the largest SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) transaction at the start of 2024, Lotus and special purpose acquisition company L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp (LCAA) have finally entered into a merger agreement. The merger agreement stipulates that upon completion of the transaction, the combined company will retain Lotus Technologies as the company name. On the day of listing, Lotus Technology shares closed at 13$8 shares, with a total market capitalization of about 929.4 billion US dollars, equivalent to 66.8 billion yuan.
For China's new energy automobile industry on the other side of the ocean, Lotus Technology, which has successfully completed the listing and financing at this point in time, also has a special significance: in the "red sea" where the new and old forces have "rolled" into a piece of the "red sea" at the beginning of the year, the news of Lotus Technology's listing can be called a warm current.
Recognized by overseas capital, Lotus got the ticket to the finals.
As we all know, for a luxury car company, the transformation of electrification is a game of "burning money", and it is also a protracted battle across the cycle. Even if it is the three major sports car brands, Lotus's transformation road still needs to continue to upgrade and fight monsters, and constantly consolidate its financial power.
Looking back on 2023, although the new energy market is growing rapidly, the players in it have not ushered in the expected bumper harvest, and many new forces have even handed over negative profits. From the perspective of car companies, the research and development of new energy technology, the innovation of the manufacturing chain, the expansion of overseas territory and even the battle of terminal sales all require a large amount of capital investment, so the support of capital has become the key to breaking the situation.
From another point of view, under the chicken feathers of more and more new car-making forces who hurriedly withdrew after burning tens of billions of investments, the capital's scrutiny of investment objects has also begun to become more cautious, without hard power and real innovation, the era of attracting investment only by PPT is gone, and car companies like Lotus that can not only enter the "finals" but also win the favor of overseas capital are rare, and "without a few brushes" is impossible to "dialogue" with the capital market.
As one of the world's three legendary supercar brands, Lotus has taken the lead in the road of comprehensive electrification transformation of luxury brands since 2018, and after nearly 6 years of hard work, its growth has undoubtedly gained the affirmation of capital, not only becoming the largest listing in the United States in the past three years, winning a market value of 6.8 billion US dollars, but also achieving more than 8$800 million in financing.
Compared with the difficulties faced by many car brands around the world in the listing stage, Lotus Technology's rapid arrival at the bell seems to be particularly smooth. The reason for this is that its profound heritage accumulated over the past 76 years and its forward-looking technical layout for new tracks have become its best recommendation.
As one of the few supercar brands with complete vehicle engineering know-how, Lotus has always had a unique technical advantage in aerodynamics and suspension, and the ultimate driving experience that has fascinated fans has also excelled on the track: 7 F1 Manufacturers' Championships, 6 F1 Hands Championships, 81 F1 Race Championships, 9 Le Mans Group Championships, ......These brilliant achievements have shaped Lotus's track DNA and brand culture, and have also become shining medals on the road of technological innovation.
Building on the success of the past, Lotus' technological innovation continues. As the culmination of Lotus brand technology research and development, Lotus Technology has brought together the core technologies in the fields of three-electric technology, intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving in the transformation process in recent years, and will further integrate global resources in the future, create a unique brand technology moat belonging to Lotus, and bring a unique luxury electric experience to users around the world.
Judging from the feedback from the market and Lotus's clear plan for the future, it is a veritable "potential stock". On the first trading day after listing, Lotus Technology started with ***
Based on the world, it competes for the "number one player" in the transformation of luxury supercar brands
As a luxury brand born in the United Kingdom, with a global presence, spanning both Eastern and Western cultures and a 76-year history, the Lotus brand conveys the spirit of innovator courage and challenger, which is rare among the current luxury sports car brands. Among the three legendary sports car brands, Lotus was the first to see the opportunity to transform and enter the market - it was the first to propose the transition to electrification as early as 2018, and now the successful launch of Lotus is the best reward for the brave.
For Lotus, its biggest strength lies in the luxury sports car genes rooted in the brand for the past 76 years, and the layout of the British sports car factory, the German R&D center, the new energy industry chain rooted in China and the layout of more than 200 retail stores around the world give it a unique confidence. In other words, while other luxury brands are still studying how to "go global" from home, Lotus has gone faster and more steadily in the layout of transformation and globalization.
According to the plan, Lotus will continue to explore new markets on the basis of the existing four products in the future, and launch high-performance SUV products at the level of 80,000 US dollars, which will undoubtedly further open up sales and enhance the brand value for Lotus. Together with the four existing products, these products will continue to expand the global market for Lotus, bringing consumers more innovative and differentiated options in the luxury electric vehicle segment.
In the next year, Lotus will complete the official landing of products in the North American market, according to the official disclosure, this year, Lotus Emira in the United States market orders have been full, the first quarter will officially land in the United States. In addition, in the first half of this year, Lotus plans to introduce the Eletre electric supercar SUV to Malaysia, the Middle East, Australia & New Zealand, Japan and other countries, and expand the number of global sales stores from about 200 to 300 by 2025. With the continuous expansion of the global territory of existing products, Lotus's global sales performance in 2024 is also worth looking forward to.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the birth of the Lotus brand, the company proposed a 10-year "vision80" plan, and when this strategic plan was more than halfway through, Lotus not only made good progress in execution, but also injected stronger chips into itself through its listing and financing on the NASDAQ.
Nowadays, under the proposition of high-end electric vehicles, global car companies are in the stage of seeking up and down. In the whirlpool of the involution of traditional luxury brands, Lotus took the lead in jumping out of the comfort zone, and opened a new idea for the high-end proposition of new energy with the courage to enter the game.
76 years of legendary road, and now we are stepping forward from the beginning. After successfully achieving overseas listing, Lotus, which is running fast on the road of globalization, has been promoted to become a veritable "number one player" in the electric luxury car market. Next, what kind of legendary story will this car company with no shortage of courage and creativity tell? In the second half, Lotus has set off "fully charged".