Lotus to float new EV division on stock market

Apologies if this has already been discussed. The article is from February 2022. I was thinking that in these uncertain economic times where would be a good place to invest. A luxury company that has already spent a huge amount bolstering their infrastructure sounds very tempting to me.


Lotus to float new EV division on stock market

Also curiously it has an artists impression of a 4 door 2+2 emira!

 

[Mctaff]

My experience of lotus to date - as a new to brand emira customer - is they may have moved forward, but they still have a long way to go, which will involve significant investment and growing pains.

I’d stay well clear as an investment…

I’d have the 4 door emira though!!

 

[EM33RA]

My experience of lotus to date - as a new to brand emira customer - is they may have moved forward, but they still have a long way to go, which will involve significant investment and growing pains.

I’d stay well clear as an investment…

I’d have the 4 door emira though!!

I totally concur they have achieved nothing to date . They are still at treading water and are an uncertain investment at best.

Nevertheless I love the brand and wish them all the success matched to their hard work.

 

[Nova]

That artist rendering is a little too similar to a Tesla Model 3 on the profile and rear roofline. With the engine removed and batteries in the floor, there could definitely be some room for more properly sized "healthy adult" seats. I'd go for a shooting brake design, like a Ferrari FF/GTC4Lusso.

 

[TomE]

That render is a very poor attempt by Autocar to show the Type 133 four-door coupe. It'll look nothing like that.

It'll draw more from the Eletre design than the Emira:

Lotus Emeya spyshots: electric Type 133 goes testing

Everything you need to know about the new 2023 Lotus Emeya, aka the Type 133 EV saloon

www.carmagazine.co.uk

 

[digilotus]

Apologies if this has already been discussed. The article is from February 2022. I was thinking that in these uncertain economic times where would be a good place to invest. A luxury company that has already spent a huge amount bolstering their infrastructure sounds very tempting to me.


Lotus to float new EV division on stock market

Also curiously it has an artists impression of a 4 door 2+2 emira!

The Lotus Panemira!

 

[frazzer]

Geely's IPO of Polestar on the Nasdaq this week
https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/psny

and they're actually selling very good EVs, you know ones you can buy and drive.

 

[Cachaco131]

Emotional investment general equates to a bad investment . There are many better ways to play the energy transition, EV space. Best to enjoy the cars while someone else faces any underlying financial risk.

 

[frazzer]

Emotional investment general equates to a bad investment . There are many better ways to play the energy transition, EV space. Best to enjoy the cars while someone else faces any underlying financial risk.

My poorly made and slightly confusing point was that despite Polestar being in revenue and producing an excellent well received product it would not have been a good investment and may not be for a while. A lot of Tesla driven FOMO out there, much of which will end in tears.

 

[Eagle7]

Putting money into the stock market right now is really dicey, especially in manufacturing. Not the best time for Lotus to be introducing an investment opportunity. They need to get the Emira in production, and build a support network to build investor confidence.

 

[eclat2emira]

That render is a very poor attempt by Autocar to show the Type 133 four-door coupe. It'll look nothing like that.

It'll draw more from the Eletre design than the Emira:

Lotus Emeya spyshots: electric Type 133 goes testing

Everything you need to know about the new 2023 Lotus Emeya, aka the Type 133 EV saloon

www.carmagazine.co.uk

Spot on Tom, I can sense you are on the money there.

And that photoshop hack job is a travesty.

 

[Lotustoronto]

I'll leave this here; - Looks like troubled waters for US stock listing

Lotus EV unit warns of China risks ahead of Spac listing

Geely-owned division lost $353mn in six months, as it lines up reverse merger on to New York’s Nasdaq

www.ft.com

 

[dgrace]

I'll leave this here; - Looks like troubled waters for US stock listing

Lotus EV unit warns of China risks ahead of Spac listing

Geely-owned division lost $353mn in six months, as it lines up reverse merger on to New York’s Nasdaq

www.ft.com

Paywall. Care to summarize?

 

[Lotustoronto]

The electric vehicle arm of Lotus has disclosed a $353mn half year loss and warned about risks to its business from the Chinese government, in a filing ahead of its planned $5.5bn stock market listing. Chinese carmaker Geely took control of British sports car brand Lotus in 2017, and plans to float shares in a new unit within the company, called Lotus Technology, which makes electric SUVs in China. This business is aiming to merge with L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition vehicle, or Spac, listed on the Nasdaq exchange and founded by LVMH-backed investment group L Catterton. Lotus’ UK sports car division, which is based in Hethel in Norfolk, is not part of the listing, which is expected to take place later this year. The Lotus Spac marks the latest effort by Geely’s owner Eric Li to unlock the value from a collection of auto investments built up over a decade. His deals include an initial public offering of Volvo Cars and floating EV brand Polestar through a Spac. The listing also points to a bid by Geely to tap into investor appetite for high-end carmakers and the higher valuations afforded to manufacturers solely producing EVs, even if they lose money. Lotus Technology’s stock market filing, issued this week, laid out extensive risks to the business, as well as previously undisclosed financial details of the new unit, which was set up in 2021. Lotus Technology lost $353mn during the first six months of this year, on revenues of $130mn. China was its largest market, with $93mn sales, followed by Japan with $16mn and the UK with $7mn. During 2022, before it had begun producing vehicles at scale, the business lost $724mn after recording just $10mn in sales. At the end of June 2023, it had $729mn of cash available, $10mn less than at the start of the year. The Lotus filing also warned of several risks to the company, including several stemming from its Chinese ownership and location, as it plans to list on the New York Nasdaq exchange. One of these is the changing view of US stock market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, towards Chinese auditors. If the SEC cannot verify the audits of Lotus’ accounts for two consecutive years, it is able to prevent the company’s shares from trading. This is complicated by the SEC’s shifting view of China-based auditors. During 2021, the SEC agency responsible for audit checks was “unable to inspect or investigate completely registered public accounting firms headquartered in mainland China and Hong Kong”, the Lotus filing said. Although that changed in 2022, the agency makes an annual assessment. The agency “had historically been unable to inspect our auditor in relation to their audit work”, the company added. If the SEC cannot inspect Lotus’ Chinese auditor — KPMG Huazhen — for two years running, then Lotus’ “securities would be prohibited from being traded on a national securities exchange”. The filing also said the Chinese government “has significant authority in regulating Lotus Technology’s operations and may influence its operations”. In addition, “more [Chinese government] oversight and control over offerings” could hit its share price once listed. It also flagged that “cash transfers” outside of China are “subject to PRC governmental control on currency conversion,” and that funds “may not be available to fund operations or for other use outside of mainland China”. The risk factors highlighted by Lotus are in line with the SEC’s guidance for China-based businesses seeking to list in the US. In addition, the group disclosed the extent of its reliance on its parent company Geely, which it leans on for “research and development, procurement, manufacturing, and engineering”. Lotus Technology said its “supply chain efficiency also relies heavily on Geely”. The company added: “Our ability to successfully build a luxury lifestyle vehicle brand could also be adversely affected by perceptions about the quality of our strategic partner’s vehicles.”

 

[dgrace]

There are $16m worth of Eletres sold in Japan? @Tokion or @ino seen any around?

 

[Tokion]

There are $16m worth of Eletres sold in Japan? @Tokion or @ino seen any around?

I would expect that even though some contracts probably are signed, I doubt that the homologation process is over yet, so I doubt this model can yet drive on Japanese streets. The only Eletre I have seen so far is sitting in the LCI Harajuku showroom (they had to widen the doors of the showroom to get the Eletre to fit). Another thing I heard is that potential buyers in Japan are mostly corporations.

 

[dgrace]

I would expect that even though some contracts probably are signed, I doubt that the homologation process is over yet, so I doubt this model can yet drive on Japanese streets. The only Eletre I have seen so far is sitting in the LCI Harajuku showroom (they had to widen the doors of the showroom to get the Eletre to fit). Another thing I heard is that potential buyers in Japan are mostly corporations.

Are you seeing any Chinese EVs? When I lived there I never once saw a Korean car in 7 years. It would surprise me if Chinese brands could overcome the local preference for domestic products.

 

[Tokion]

Are you seeing any Chinese EVs? When I lived there I never once saw a Korean car in 7 years. It would surprise me if Chinese brands could overcome the local preference for domestic products.

So far I have seen only one single BYD on the street. I have also noticed that it is on sale. One thing to know is that Japan has a considerable Chinese and also Korean population. First of all, this population are likely to invest in some of these cars. Attitudes may (very) slowly change in the general Japanese population too. But at a glacial pace.

 

[ino]

There are $16m worth of Eletres sold in Japan? @Tokion or @ino seen any around?

Same as @Tokion san, I have seen one sitting in the Showroom. Nothing more…

Emira looks larger when there sre Exiges, but now looks smaller next to Eletre.
BTW, the color was “blossom grey”.

 

[dgrace]

The wide angle lens does the Eletre front end no favors!