Lotus Technology's market capitalization is $9.3 billion, higher than Xpeng's $8.1 billion and slightly lower than Nio's $11.2 billion.
(Image courtesy of Lotus Technology)
Lotus Technology, a luxury electric vehicle (EV) company majority-owned by Geely Holding, rose slightly in its Nasdaq listing on Friday after completing a merger with a special acquisition company (SPAC).
Lotus Technology, which trades under the ticker symbol “LOT,” rose 2.15% to $13.80 at the close of trading on the U.S. stock market on Friday, giving it a market capitalization of $9.3 billion.
This is higher than Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) at $8.1 billion and slightly lower than Nio (NYSE: NIO) at $11.2 billion. Li Automobile (NASDAQ:LI) has the highest market capitalization of any Chinese EV manufacturer listed in the US, currently at $36.9 billion.
Nio fell 7.69% at yesterday's U.S. stock market close after JPMorgan downgraded the company's EV manufacturer rating from “neutral” to “underweight” and lowered its price target from $8.50 to $5 on Friday. It became $5.40.
Lotus Technology's listing on Nasdaq was achieved through its merger with L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp (LCAA), which was closed on February 22nd.
(Intraday performance of Lotus Technology stock price on Nasdaq on February 23, 2024.)
The listing of Lotus Technology, headquartered in Wuhan, Hubei province, is the largest listing of a Chinese concept stock so far this year.
“We are proud to carry Lotus's heritage into the future and open a new chapter in Lotus' history with today's listing,” Lotus Technology CEO Feng Qingfeng said in an evening statement. .
Founded in 1948, the Lotus Group is a long-established luxury sports car company. In the 1980s, Lotus was in serious financial trouble, and in 1983 Toyota purchased a 16.5 percent stake in the company.
In 1986, General Motors acquired a 58 percent stake in Lotus, increasing its stake to 97 percent in 1987.
In 1993, GM sold Lotus to an Italian businessman for 300 million euros. In 1996, Lotus was sold to Malaysia's Proton Holdings.
In May 2017, Geely acquired 49.9 percent of Proton and 51 percent of Lotus. Currently, Malaysia's Etika Automotive holds the remaining stake in Lotus.
At the end of August 2021, Lotus established a new company in China, “Wuhan Lotus Technology,'' with investment from Nio Capital.
Lotus Technology's Nasdaq listing will support Lotus Technology's development of next-generation automotive technology and expansion of its global distribution network, which is expected to grow from about 200 stores to more than 300 stores worldwide by 2025, the company said in a statement. said in a statement.
Lotus Technology says it plans to become the first traditional luxury car brand to achieve a 100% electric vehicle portfolio by 2027.
The company has already released two EVs, including the Eletre Hyper SUV and Emeya Hyper GT, and plans to release two more luxury EVs over the next two years.
Lotus Eletre “Hyper SUV” officially launched, price starts at $114,000 in China
