Today, Greely Automobile Holdings announced it will be purchasing a majority stake in Lotus. It will also be acquiring 49.9% equity interests in Proton Holdings, the company with prior ownership of Lotus. So what does all of this mean? Since Greely is a Chinese company, how is this acquisition going to pan out for Lotus as a brand?
There’s no indication that the Lotus factory will be moved from Norfolk UK, at least for now. So your brand new Lotus will still be made by British engineers with Chinese money. But what about Lotus’s of the future? Specifically, hybrids & electric cars? First, you should know Volvo is also a new subsidiary of Greely. You may remember our article at the end of April reporting Volvo’s announcement that it’s first all electric car will be made in China. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Greely could chose to manufacture Lotus Hybrids or EV’s China.
No matter what the case, this relationship between Greely & Lotus should be a good one, especially if the recent success of Volvo is any indication. Global sales of Volvo were up about 10% for April, & overall things seem to be working out. Sure, Lotus’s & Volvo’s are worlds apart, but hopefully the management style & vision can be applied to both brands properly.
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