Lotus, the British luxury car brand, has begun an international roadshow that is designed to lead to an initial public offering (IPO) as early as next year, reports say.
China’s Geely Automobile Holding, which controls Lotus via two divisions, has begun exploring a listing of a Lotus business to fund the development of electric sports utility vehicles.
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The brand plans to sell 100,000 vehicles worldwide by 2028, a massive jump on the 1,500 sports cars produced by the company’s plant at Hethel last year, Matt Windle, managing director of the Lotus sports car division, told the Financial Times in an interview.
Last year, Lotus divided into two business units: the UK-based company making sports cars and a China-based luxury lifestyle company that plans to make electric sports-utility vehicles.
Lotus chief executive Feng Qingfeng told Bloomberg last September that Lotus Tech, which develops vehicles for the Lotus brand, was working on preliminary plans for an IPO in Hong Kong or the US to help fund a shift to an all-electric automaker.
The Times reported today that the IPO would probably be in Shanghai, although a listing in New York or London has not been ruled out.
The first Lotus SUV will go into production in China later this year or early in 2023, the FT reported, adding that a sports saloon will follow, with a smaller SUV expected around 2025.
“We are in early discussions” about an IPO, said Windle.
Volvo Cars, also owned by Geely, floated in Stockholm last year.