From For Me, We See the Commitment to "True Luxury," Why Does Lotus Technology (LOT.US) Deserve a Valuation Premium?

As electrification makes horsepower cheaper and intelligence makes driving more “convenient,” a fundamental question has emerged: for cars, is luxury merely a pile of features, or is it an irreplaceable connection between people and their vehicles?

If you ask Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng this question, the answer would undoubtedly be the latter. Over the past 78 years, Lotus has been doing one thing repeatedly: defying the laws of physics and staying true to pure driving. In the context of a century of automotive history, this is arguably the most lively phase—car companies blooming everywhere, with vastly different philosophies on vehicle design, and the definition of “luxury” more divided than ever. Today, as the industry develops, fewer automakers like Lotus insist on making “driving pleasure” a core brand asset. But in Zhitong Finance’s view, being a minority doesn’t mean being outdated. On the contrary, Lotus’s choice is not based on sentiment but on clear business judgment: there will always be a segment of users unwilling to be replaced by “convenience.” They seek control, and Lotus, representing ultimate driving mastery, remains their first choice today.

The Core of the “Small and Beautiful” Narrative: Seeing Lotus’s Commitment to “True Luxury” Through For Me

Kang Guowei’s famous “Three Realms of Reading” in “Words of the World” includes the third realm: “Searching for him among the crowds, suddenly turning around, only to find him in the dim light.” This metaphor describes the enlightenment and understanding that come after realization. I believe that applying Kang Guowei’s three realms to the modern automotive industry is quite fitting. When the industry is obsessed with “searching among the crowds” and chasing luxury through screens, sound systems, even refrigerators, Lotus chooses a different path—one of return.

On March 4th, during a technical presentation, Feng Qingfeng spent an entire hour explaining not luxury features piled on top of each other, but fundamental vehicle performance often overlooked in today’s noisy market: even with only 10% battery remaining, Lotus For Me, tuned with LTS “Lotus Engineering-specific calibration,” can still accelerate from 0-100 km/h in 3.5 seconds; after 100 consecutive full-throttle launches from 0-100 km/h, the performance remains nearly identical from the first to the hundredth. Behind this extreme performance, Lotus has stripped away 500 kg of weight. While competitors tirelessly add features to their vehicles, Lotus has taken the hardest and most expensive route—“subtraction”—making the car lighter and more precise, so ordinary people can experience professional racing control.

This seemingly “out-of-tune” choice positions Lotus at that “turning point”—when the market, amid clamorous voices, searches for the true meaning of luxury, Lotus remains stationary, using its 78-year-old brand core to tell the world: true luxury is never distant. It exists in every sense of control when pressing the accelerator, in every corner where man and machine become one.

The driving experience approaching perfection is the most immediate feeling I had during the test drive of For Me. When the 5.1-meter-long car weaves through narrow cones, it feels agile without a hint of sluggishness. Its steering is so precise that it feels more like a flying four-door coupe than an SUV. Only Lotus can allow non-professional racers to handle 952 horsepower without dizziness, drifting, or losing control. The key to this balance lies in For Me’s integration of a six-dimensional dynamic chassis and F1 driving master’s toolkit, truly bringing “innate talent” from the racetrack into daily life.

Beyond powerful performance, Lotus’s most admirable trait is making “horsepower controllable.” The size and high power of For Me mean that if not controlled well, it could be a beast on the road. During test drives, the emergency braking distance from 100 km/h is only about 33.9 meters, a top-tier performance even under strict German AMS standards.

Automotive experience returns to its essence, but for Lotus’s parent company, Lotus Technology (LOT.US), a deeper business question remains: in a fiercely competitive industry, how does a company committed to “driving pleasure” survive?

Feng Qingfeng’s answer is that Lotus does not aim to be the biggest but must be the most irreplaceable. He believes that personalization is beauty, profitability is beauty— the former is a legacy of Lotus’s 78-year brand DNA, and the latter is a clear-eyed understanding of business reality. When the industry is caught in homogeneity, extreme driving control remains Lotus’s unwavering commitment. When competitors prioritize scale above all, Lotus does not blindly join the scale race but leverages its advantages within Geely’s ecosystem, using shared resources “beneath the iceberg” to reduce costs, then amplifies its unique strengths. Ultimately, it seeks the optimal balance between individuality and profitability through careful choices.

A Strong New Product Cycle Begins, Profitability Expected

For Lotus Technology, the launch of For Me marks the official start of a robust new product cycle, signaling the company’s move onto a “fast lane” for accelerated investment value realization.

Currently, Lotus For Me began pre-orders on March 10, with mass orders starting on the 29th of this month, and delivery scheduled soon after. With its unique personality and the “true luxury” experience of extreme driving control, For Me’s performance in the Chinese market is highly anticipated.

Looking abroad, Europe is also expected to be a stage for Lotus’s “reblooming.” It is reported that Lotus For Me is expected to launch in Europe mid-year, widely regarded as a milestone product for the region. The key reason is that For Me’s powertrain is a European first—unlike previous hybrid models mainly based on engine-driven plug-in hybrids, For Me is electric-first, capable of being charged once a week and refueled once a month, aligning better with local driving habits and needs.

From a secondary market perspective, Zhitong Finance believes that 2024 and 2025 will be critical periods for Lotus Technology to validate its growth and investment value. Achieving annual sales of 30,000 units and a 20% gross margin would be enough to turn operating cash flow positive.

By Q3 2025, Lotus Technology has achieved eight consecutive quarters of sequential reductions in operating expenses, indicating accelerated cost-cutting efforts. With the launch of key new products and the realization of previous cost reduction and efficiency measures, Lotus Technology is actively practicing its “small and beautiful” strategy.

In an era of “anti-involution,” scarcity is the greatest moat. Lotus’s approach to car-making echoes the policy of “counter-involution”: as the CEO states, “There is only one lotus in this world. Lotus will not become someone else, and others will not become Lotus.” This is both the core of the brand’s philosophy and Lotus’s strongest investment logic.

Lotus’s scarcity is first reflected in its “positioning power” in the technological race. It is the second global automaker and the first Chinese company to pass UN R171 certification—at a time when the regulatory threshold for Level 2 assisted driving is rising, Lotus’s early certification gives it a leading edge in autonomous driving compliance.

External policy winds also open valuable market windows for Lotus’s global expansion. Earlier this year, Canada announced a reduction in tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles from 100% to 6.1%, likely to be the best catalyst for Lotus’s growth in North America. Recently, Deutsche Bank published a research report stating that this policy shift will enable Chinese-made luxury EVs to set more competitive prices, significantly boosting local demand. Notably, Lotus was the only Chinese automaker to enter the North American market above $80,000, having completed North American compliance in 2024. Additionally, Lotus has established a comprehensive authorized dealer network in Canada, with the number expected to grow to 12 this year, providing a solid foundation to capture market dividends. Benefiting from this policy, the price of Eletre in Canada has already been cut by about 50%, with wholesale volumes expected to grow exponentially.

Conclusion

Returning to the initial question: is luxury merely a pile of features, or an irreplaceable connection between people and cars? Lotus’s For Me provides its answer. Lotus’s unwavering focus on driving control forms the most scarce investment asset of Lotus Technology: it does not compete on scale but leverages “beneath the iceberg” synergies within Geely to control costs, while amplifying its unique qualities “above the iceberg.” From launching a strong new product cycle with For Me to aiming for profitability next year, Lotus Technology proves that in an “anti-involution” era, sticking to that one-of-a-kind lotus is the greatest moat. Such Lotus Technology undoubtedly deserves a valuation premium.