Lotus Cars has announced Focus 2030, an updated business strategy to strengthen the company’s competitiveness and create a more flexible and sustainable business model to support resilience amid challenging market conditions.
Built on four core pillars – brand reinforcement, a multipowertrain strategy, close partner collaboration and financial discipline – Focus 2030 marks a significant reset for the brand.
Lotus Group CEO Qingfeng Feng said, “Lotus was born from the rebellious spirit of Colin Chapman, and that is not lost today. Focus 2030 will reset both the brand and the business to keep us true to our DNA. We are obsessed with engineering, obsessed with performance and obsessed with building drivers’ cars, and that is what will grow this business.”
Lotus Cars said it will continue to base all vehicle development decisions on its core principles of lightweight design, aerodynamics, engineering performance, and driver engagement, regardless of product type or powertrain. The company said its design and engineering operations will remain rooted in the UK, while research and development activities in China will support faster scalability and market delivery.
As regulatory requirements and consumer demand continue to evolve at different rates across global markets, Lotus Cars said it will adopt a flexible approach across internal combustion engine (ICE), plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and battery-electric vehicle (BEV) technologies. In the near term, the company is targeting an electrified portfolio mix of approximately 60% PHEV and 40% BEV, while supporting what it describes as a customer-led transition toward full electrification.
The company has said the first product initiative under its new strategy will be X-Hybrid, which combines Lotus’s ICE and BEV expertise. The system is reportedly designed to offer long range, flexibility, practicality, sustained performance and Lotus’s characteristic driver engagement.
The proprietary X-Hybrid technology was first launched on the Eletre, as Eletre X. Customer deliveries in Europe are expected to begin in Q4 2026, making it the first technology of its kind to come to market, according to Lotus.
Reaffirming its performance-focused DNA, Lotus Cars said its next step in developing proprietary hybrid technology will be the unveiling of its first supercar, Type 135, planned for 2028. The model is expected to feature a V8 hybrid powertrain producing over 1,000ps and will be manufactured in Europe, with further details due to be announced later this year.
Daniel Li, chairman of the board of directors at Lotus Technology, and executive vice chairman of Geely Holding Group, said, “Geely has believed in Lotus from the beginning, and that belief has not wavered. We are committed to giving Lotus the resources it deserves to compete at the highest level. What Lotus brings is irreplaceable, and Focus 2030 is proof that we take that responsibility seriously. We are excited for the next chapter in the brand’s story.”
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