Shanghai (ZXZC)- Lotus, a British sports car brand 51%-owned by China's Geely, will see its first China-made model manufactured in Geely's Wuhan vehicle plant, An Conghui, president and CEO of Geely Auto Group, revealed on March 21.

In May 2017, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group acquired 49.9% stake in Proton Cars (Lotus's former owner) by signing an agreement with DRB-Hicom, thus taking over 51% stake in Lotus Cars. The sports car brand's local production in China suggests that Geely's product lineup will be further expanded by adding luxury sports car.

In last December, Zhejiang Geely had obtained a governmental approval to build a passenger vehicle (PV) manufacturing base with an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, according to an announcement issued by Hubei Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

With a registered capital of RMB2.859 billion, the new program has four investors in total. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group makes a contribution valued at RMB2.031 billion, accounting for 71.06% of overall registered capital. Its legal representative is An Conghui.

The PV production base, involving a total investment of RMB9.044 billion, which is scheduled to commence construction in early 2019 and be completed at the end of 2021. It is designed to build a mixed-model assembly line featuring an annual capacity of 150,000 PVs, covering traditional fuel-burning models, all-electric models and hybrid models.