Lotus Tech, which develops vehicles for the Lotus brand, is working on preliminary plans for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong or the US to help fund the sports and racing cars firm to an all-electric automaker.
The company is studying a potential IPO as soon as 2023 if sales go well, Group Lotus chief executive officer Feng Qingfeng (馮擎峰) said in an interview yesterday.
There is also the possibility that Lotus Cars would list in the UK, but no timetable has been set, Feng said.
Photo: Reuters
Lotus Tech, which broke ground on its global headquarters in Wuhan, China, last week, is tapping the potential for sports vehicles in the world’s biggest auto market against a small pool of competitors including Porsche Automobil Holding SE and BMW AG.
Lotus is part of the auto empire of Li Shufu (李書福), who founded Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co (吉利控股集團) and has long held ambitions of developing top-end sports cars.
The unit plays an important role in the group, which offers products ranging from affordable mass-market vehicles to the ultra-luxury racing cars made by Lotus.
The appetite in China for high-performance sports cars has proven to be surprisingly strong, with pre-orders for Lotus Emiras topping 3,000 since opening on Aug. 20.
While a price has not been set, British media have reported that the vehicle would start at about ￡60,000 (US$83,000).
The demand more than doubled company estimates, Feng said.
Half of Lotus’ total sales might be from China in five years, when annual global deliveries are forecast to reach about 120,000 to 150,000 units a year, he said.
Lotus vehicles made in China would be exported to markets including Germany, the Netherlands and the UK starting in 2023, Feng said.
Lotus Tech, which last week announced an investment pact with a unit of Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio Inc (蔚來), plans to start another fundraising round at the beginning of next year, he said.
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