Lotus China Plans To Open 30 Showrooms By End 2013

From Noor Soraya Jamal BEIJING (China), Nov 3 (Bernama) -- Lotus China is confident that the British sports car will be well received in the country and is thus planning to open 30 showrooms by the end of 2013. "Even without a showroom, we have sold 300 cars over the past four months, mainly from our current range which is the Elise, Exige and Evora. I consider that to be a good response," Lotus China chief executive officer, Li-Chen Zhang said. He was speaking to Malaysian reporters at the grand opening of Lotus China's first showroom and the debut of the Lotus T123 and GTE here, on Wednesday night. Zhang said he is extremely confident of the business endeavour due to the strong Lotus brand name. "I have witnessed the rapid development of the luxury car industry in China. Although over the years, many luxury car brand names have entered China's market, the industry has yet to take off. "The percentage of sports cars being sold is still small compared to the SUV or sedan. China, however, is on the way to becoming the largest luxury car market in the world," he added. Zhang is certainly no stranger to the luxury car industry in China, having brought in brands such as the Lamborghini and Aston Martin before. He said in China now, the so-called "second rich generation", have discovered a big interest and enthusiasm for car racing and sports cars. "This will fuel demand for sports cars. "Lotus' core technology, lightweight chassis and low fuel exhaustion give its a competitive edge. What Lotus' has been doing from half a century ago, is what people today are really concerned about. "Take for example, environmental issues. Back then, when the global trend revolved around the American dream where everything was made big, including big gas tanks, big engines... Lotus was already focused on being lightweight and on aerodynamics," he added. Zhang said, within the next three months there would be four more Lotus showrooms in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou and by next year, 15 more. All showrooms would adopt the lifestyle concept complete with the Lotus owner's club, a customer service lounge and the Lotus racing club," he added. He said the company would also develop a Lotus racing track next year. Lotus is wholly-owned owned by Proton Holdings Bhd. Proton managing director Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir was also present at the event. -- BERNAMA