Team TCI interviews top Lotus executive
Lotus’ managing director talks revised product line up with expansion plans in his maiden Dubai visit
The post-pandemic era has seen one carmaker turn it around like no other – Lotus. From surviving as a small volume car manufacturer to racking up an electrified product line-up capable of taking on the biggest brands, Lotus has announced its arrival. And more recently, strong sales performances have influenced the brand to venture out to untapped territories.
Last year, Lotus reported the best sales record in the past decade, with global sales witnessing an increase of 21 per cent. Among other markets, the UAE appears to be one region significantly fruitful for the car brand. Adamas Motors, the UAE dealer for Lotus, is already reporting leading numbers for Q1 2022 and acknowledging this potential market, the dealership invited the Managing Director of Lotus Cars, Matt Windle, to his maiden visit to Dubai.
Matt Windle toured the facilities and visited the showrooms of Adamas Motors, including an all-new flagship one for Lotus. Lotus’ ambitious Vision 80 strategy of achieving brand transformational goals, including a revised product line-up before Lotus’ 80th anniversary in 2028, was also discussed.
Shivaum Punjabi from The Cornea Impression got an opportunity to conduct an exclusive one on one interview at the flagship new showroom in Dubai. Here’s how it went –
Shivaum interviews Matt Windle
Shivaum: Congratulations on this brand new showroom. It is beautiful.
Matt: Yeah, it is a fantastic space. And I think it suits the brand well.
Shivaum: It is definitely. I think you needed a presence in the region, and this looks like a strong presence. So how important is the Middle East market for the sales and growth strategy of Lotus?
Matt: We see it as part of strategic growth. This is a vital region for us. This year alone, year to date, is our biggest selling market. So we have tripled sales in this area already. And with the introduction of Emira and Evija coming later in the year, we expect that to grow even further.
Shivaum: Being the most important market for you at the moment. What will be the expected sales ratio of SUVs over sportscars?
Matt: We are expecting a split of about 90:10. 90% for SUVs, 10% for sports cars. And particularly in this region, we know you love your SUVs.
Shivaum: The SUV market is very competitive. Talking about production, have you been able to resolve chip shortage issues?
Matt: So the good news is that it is not an issue with the sports cars. We are still a relatively low volume manufacturer. But what we are also doing within the business is we are future purchasing parts. Geely, our parent company, they have some purchasing clout. So we can use them as we need to, to help us with any shortages.
Shivaum: This is very good when you have such a significant joint production partner to back you up in these situations.
Matt: Exactly. And it is a position Lotus has never been in before.
Shivaum: So let us talk about sustainability since you are going down the EV route. Have you developed new ways of production and developed any sustainable materials, adapting those into your production line, maybe in cars or in the factory production line itself?
Matt: In the UK, which I can talk about specifically, we have gone to green energy. We are using 100% green energy. We are just about to install a solar array. And we are looking for efficiencies through the business as well. We are going to offer all staff access to an electric car. The factory built in China is just about to be completed and will be used to manufacture lifestyle cars. That is a fully self-powering factory with the latest technologies. Sustainability is really at the forefront of everything we are doing.
Shivaum: Will the majority of the production will now move to China?
Matt: What we have needed to do because of the global upscale of production, we could not manage that in the UK. But it was also vital that we did not lose the DNA of the sports cars and their history. We said we would continue sports car manufacturing in the UK. The lifestyle cars will be manufactured in Wuhan in China. And the UK will transition to electric in 2026 and 2027.
Shivaum: You announced Lotus Advanced Performance. Please give us some insight into that and how it will impact the business.
Matt: So I am excited about Lotus Advanced Performance. It is going to deal with the experiential side of the business. So the driver academy, the factory tours we are going to do world tours for customers and things like that. But it is also accessories like bespoke orders. And if you buy a Lotus, you can customize it how you like it, particularly with Evija, which is at the top end of the range. You can have a unique car for yourself. We will enter motorsport as well. So we will start this year with GT4 based on the Emira that will race next year, and then we will see where we go as we build for the future.
