Geely-backed luxury EV maker Lotus Tech to launch autonomous driving cars in 60 Chinese cities this year

Lotus Tech will offer car owners a better experience with its navigation on autopilot system, CEO Feng Qingfeng tells the Post

Firm to start delivering its second mass-production EV model to Chinese customers next month

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Lotus Technology’s first EV, the Lotus Eletre. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:05pm, 23 Feb 2024Updated: 3:45pm, 26 Feb 2024

Lotus Technology, a luxury electric-vehicle (EV) maker, plans to put its semi-autonomous driving system into operation across 60 mainland Chinese cities this year.

The company, a division of British sports car company Lotus Group in which Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holding owns a majority stake, will focus on the premium segment even as cheap models dominate the mainland EV market amid an economic slowdown, CEO Feng Qingfeng told the Post on Friday.

“We will offer car owners a better experience with our NOA [navigation on autopilot] system this year,” he said. “Lotus will also improve the voice-activated control system to display our technological muscle.”

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADASs) allow cars to navigate their way automatically through city streets. These systems have the capability to recognise traffic lights at intersections, conduct full lane changing, overtake and turn left or right.

Lotus Tech raised more than US$880 million in financing ahead of the completion of its merger with L Catterton Asia Acquisition, a Nasdaq-listed special-purpose acquisition company. Shares of the EV builder rose 2.2 per cent to close at US$13.8 on Friday, when trading in the shares of the merged firm started.

The company will start delivering its second mass-production EV model to Chinese customers next month, with the aim of carving a niche in the world’s largest automotive market.