More Lotus developed cars for China

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They have 3000 mu of land, invested 100 billion RMB and have plans to make 150,000 cars per year. Jinan Youngman have big plans, plans that include making a sports sedan, and an MPV/SUV combo.

From their Tai’an production base, Youngman plan to become a leader in their segment, however, as a relative newcomer to an already ‘established’ market, can they pull off what the big boys like Renault failed to do in the PRC? Possibly, and then again, possibly not.

Sales of the recently launched Europa RCR compact sports sedan are far from well, with them averaging around 30 cars per month. Hardly breakthrough territory. How will the new Lotus developed Proton cars, which are rebadged Europa for the Chinese market going to hit the big time in China? China Car Times can guess that selling them at high prices that are usually associated with the popular Ford Focus type compact cars cannot help their sales figures, it seems the Europa, or rather Youngman, are trading on the fame of the Lotus branding, which may not actually be all that famous in China. China didnt really have a car culture until the year 2000, and models from Lotus have yet to hit the roads en masse in the PRC.

Perhaps what Europestar really need to do is, have a proper think about their marketing plan and sales plan, then come back to the table once they have altered their price tags down to the likes of Great Wall, Chery, etc. Only this way, could they guarantee themselves sales above 30 cars per month.