They seem to be a very forward thinking firm with a longterm view sadly lacking in US automakers such as GM and Ford. They've done wonders turning Volvo around and have invested a lot of money in LTI. Essentially they seem to be happy to pour money in and accept short term losses to build a brand.
It pains me that Lotus has such unrealised potential, their chassis development skills will be a great asset to Volvo and vice versa Lotus will benefit hugely from Geely's volume and access to different markets and technology while quality can only take a step upwards. Volvo also have a range of new 4cyl petrol engines which might be a good match especially the 1.5 turbo, though there's little wrong with the Toyota units they currently use.
Proton promised much with Lotus but never had the financial stability to deliver and Proton itself had a great start in the U.K. as a well made and robust budget offering before getting too greedy and too ambitious for their limited R&D capacity. Hopefully they'll return with a sensible Dacia style budget range. Start off with a sensible supermini and a solid family sized hatch/saloon that's strong enough to stand up to the taxi trade and it'll sell like hot cakes at the right money.
I'm very positive about this, especially after Geely have proven they're also prepared to keep bulk production of Volvo in Sweden and LTI in the U.K. to retain brand image and quality, they'll do the same with Lotus but finally they'll have the money to develop new models. I just hope they don't leave the core market behind. There's nothing more enjoyable on a lovely twisting Scottish B road than a lightweight normally asperated Elise on a nice day.
Edited by SLO76 on 24/05/2017 at 21:23
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