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Highlights
- UK-based sports car maker, Lotus, is planning to go public as early as next year.
- Lotus is reportedly planning to manufacture its first Lotus 4×4, an executive car with zero emissions, and an all-electric vehicle at its manufacturing plant in Wuhan, China.
UK-based sports car maker, Lotus, is planning to go public as early as next year. The Norfolk-based company already has plans of opening a manufacturing plant in China next year, and the IPO would further help in its global expansion.
Exploring the IPO option
In 2017, the leading Chinese automotive firm, Geely, took over Lotus. Lotus was primarily involved in the manufacturing of sports and racing cars, though Geely assured that funds worth £1.5bn would be channelised towards the revamping of Lotus and transforming it into a lifestyle vehicle brand giving competition to brands like Audi and BMW.
Geely intends Lotus to enter the electric vehicle (EV) race and become a market leader. Global investors are already being pursued by Geely as it prepares for Lotus’s potential IPO which could take place in a year or two.
According to Autocar, which is a specialised trade publication, the IPO of the company’s Lotus Technology division would be valued at around £5bn- £6bn. Despite additional inspection in the traditional IPO route, the company is allegedly choosing it over the SPAC method.
Although Geely prefers the floatation of Lotus in Shanghai, as per media reports, it hasn’t rejected London and New York as of now. Lotus going for a London listing could potentially lead to a multi-billion-pound floatation along with the initiation of manufacturing in its Wuhan production plant next year.
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Lotus’s plans to boost production
The loss-making sports car maker is aiming to be a mainstream motoring business player and is reportedly planning to manufacture its first Lotus 4×4, an executive car with zero emissions, and an all-electric vehicle at its manufacturing plant in Wuhan. By 2030, the company strives to sell a total of 100,000 cars per year.
The Lotus SUV manufactured in Wuhan would be sold at approximately £100,000. Even though Lotus’s priority is the Chinese EV market, the car would be sold in the UK and the US as well. As per Lotus, more than 50% of its total sales could be attributed to China over the next five years.
Currently, 1,500 sportscars are manufactured by Lotus per year. In its Hethel plant situated in Norfolk, 1,700 cars were manufactured by Lotus last year, and the Wuhan-based factory would further enhance its manufacturing capacity significantly. By the end of the decade, Lotus strives to manufacture approximately 10,000 cars in its Hethel plant and 90,000 in the Wuhan plant. As per Lotus, 90,000 out of these 100,000 cars would be EVs and SUVs.
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Bottomline
With the goal of expanding its production and becoming a leading lifestyle vehicle brand, Lotus is planning to make a debut on the stock market, though whether it will choose London, New York, or Shanghai is still not clear. The IPO may be launched in the coming 12-24 months, and more details are awaited.
(Note: IPO information provided here are, as of 21 February 2022)
