Luxurious sports activities automotive and EV maker Lotus accomplished its SPAC merger final week within the U.S. and its inventory was publicly traded for the primary time on Friday. It’s an fascinating flip of occasions for the Geely-backed automaker now referred to as Lotus Tech given the unsure EV market, however one that will show an exception to the struggles of different pure-play EV makers.
Buying and selling below the ticker LOT on the Nasdaq, Lotus Tech will give attention to the upper finish of the EV market with its Eletre SUV and Emeya sedan, which won’t solely be provided within the US but additionally in Europe and, extra importantly, China.
“What’s most necessary right here is that we’re undoubtedly going to extra markets on the identical time by extra fashions and thru extra shops,” stated Lotus Tech CFO Alexious Lee to Yahoo Finance from the Nasdaq market website.
By the top of the 12 months Lotus may have 4 automobiles in manufacturing, three of them EVs. “These 4 fashions are at the moment obtainable in Asia Pacific and a part of it’s also obtainable in UK and EU,” Lee stated. “We’re having the brand new [Eletre] SUV mannequin coming into the U.S. within the third quarter of this 12 months, so totally different markets have totally different methods and totally different product choices and totally different situations.”
Lotus is ready to go to market in various territories as a result of backing of its majority proprietor, Chinese language auto big Geely. Nevertheless it additionally raised a substantial amount of cash by its SPAC merger. Lotus Tech stated it raised greater than $880 million in pre-closing and PIPE financing commitments, with a focused valuation on itemizing day of practically $7 billion.
Lotus Tech additionally had an fascinating companion with its SPAC merging, combining with L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp (LCAA), which is backed by French luxurious conglomerate LVMH.
As Lotus targets the posh section with its automobiles — the Eletre and Emeya can be enjoying within the $80,000 to $150,000 ballpark — having a companion like LVMH, with its deep connections and insights into the posh shopper, may very well be vastly useful.
“Now what’s extra necessary right here is Anish Melwani, who’s the CEO for LVMH North America, can be on the board of Lotus Tech,” Lee stated. “It is a large alternative for us to develop a possible partnership by way of co-branding, co-marketing, and others in a approach to assist Lotus execute a method and develop our full potential within the fast-growing, underserved EV luxurious section market.”
Whereas the LVMH partnership is a pleasant feather within the cap for Lotus, opponents corresponding to Mercedes, BMW, and Polestar would beg to vary that the worldwide luxurious EV market is underserved. One factor for certain, nonetheless, is that these legacy manufacturers are pulling again investments and rollout of their EV plans whereas Lotus goes full bore.
Plus, Lee sees the posh section really rising over the following decade.
“If I have a look at Oliver Wyman’s analysis, you will see that this explicit section [$80,000-$150,000] is the largest quantity contributor in the entire luxurious house. On the identical time, it is very underserved,” Lee stated. “Now, primarily based on this market analysis, this explicit section is gonna develop about 35% CAGR [compound annual growth rate] for the following 10 years.”
With a method tailor-made to the high-end luxurious market, monetary backing by China’s Geely, and a brand new companion in LVMH with its SPAC merger, Lee believes Lotus is ready up for achievement. The large query is whether or not Lotus’s expensive luxurious choices will resonate with high-end patrons.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You possibly can observe him on Twitter and on Instagram.
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