Lotus Technology - Earnings Call - Q1 2025

Transcript

Operator (participant)

Today, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Lotus Technology Inc First Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in the listen-only mode. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Ms. Demi Zhang from the company. Please go ahead.

Demi Zhang (Head of Investor Relations)

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, everyone. Thank you for joining Lotus Tech's First Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. This is Demi Zhang, the Head of IR at Lotus Tech. I'm honored to introduce and welcome company management with us today, CEO Mr. Qingfeng Feng and CFO Dr. Daxue Wang. Before we continue, please be reminded that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, forward-looking statements involving inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the company's actual results may be material and different from the views expressed today. Further information regarding risks and uncertainties is included in relevant filings of Lotus Tech with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Please also be noted that our earnings press release and this conference call will include disclosure of unaudited GAAP financial information as well as unaudited, non-GAAP financial measures. You can find the reconciliation of these figures in the press release available on our investor relations website at ir.group-lotus.com. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to our CFO, Dr. Wang. Dr. Wang, please.

Daxue Wang (CFO)

Good day and good evening. Distinguished shareholders, analysts, and members of the press, thank you very much for joining our Q1 2025 earnings release. This is Daxue Wang, the Chief Financial Officer of Lotus Technology. I'm honored to take this opportunity to brief you on the company's unaudited financial results. In Q1, the company delivered nearly 1,300 vehicles to the distributors, down 42% year-on-year. Unusual vehicle deliveries exceeded 2,000 units, up by more than 10% year-on-year. These numbers reflect the scheduled transition period before our gridded model started delivery in Q2, in addition to the effect of the prior destocking activities in Q4 last year. As you may know, we started revamping our electric hybrid SUV and the Emeya hybrid GT lineup with upgraded configurations.

We kicked off customer delivery on these upgraded models in China during the second quarter and expect to begin deliveries in Europe in the upcoming third quarter. Although quarterly revenues narrowed to $93 million in the first quarter, the company achieved a notable gross margin recovery, improving from the negative Q4 last year to the current 12%, placing us firmly in positive territory as the impact from prior destocking effects eased. Now, I'll break down our sales by category and by regions. By category, lifestyle vehicles accounted for 56% of the total Q1 deliveries, consistent with the full year 2024 figures. By region, Europe, China, and North America each contributed approximately 1/3 of the company's total deliveries, while the rest of the four region accounted for the remaining 4%. Regarding our sales channels, the total number and composition of the sales stores by region remained stable during the first quarter.

For the key financial indicators, deliveries, revenue, and gross margin profit margin have just been reported. Cost of revenue decreased by 43% year-on-year to $82 million. Consequently, gross profit was $11 million. We reported an operating loss of $103 million for Q1, a 56% year-on-year decrease. The net loss of the quarter was $183 million, representing a 29% reduction. For your information, the adjusted net loss under the non-GAAP measures for the quarter was unchanged. Behind these financial numbers, we want to highlight our achievement of reducing operating expenses for six consecutive quarters during continued rigorous implementation of efficient enhancement plans. I will stop here and hand over to Ms. Feng. Thank you.

Qingfeng Feng (CEO)

[Foreign language]

Hello, my name is Qingfeng Feng, CEO of Lotus. Allow me to share with you the most recent business progress and the strategies of Lotus.

[Foreign language]

As a premium brand, we highlight the importance of brand establishment, particularly on sports cars, and this is something that we have been doing this year on racing track.

[Foreign language]

On May 30th, we launched a national-level GT one-make racing series, LOTUS CUP. It features five rounds, spanning China and Malaysia. We successfully completed the first race in the city of Chengdu. The racing series stands as China's premier FIA-recognized GT series, eligible for International C-license upgrades.

[Foreign language]

Among our customer group of Lotus, they may highlight the vehicle's aesthetic styling and the performance of the vehicle, and this is why this year we've been spending most of our efforts on the performance side.

[Foreign language]

As ultimate handling and riding iconic features of Lotus, we've been trying to stand out among other premium brands, and this is also one of the reasons that this year we are trying to leverage a race series to improve our brand awareness.

[Foreign language]

On May 26th, we have also released our 2024 ESG report, highlighting our progress in advancing sustainable practices, developing innovative green products, and demonstrating global leadership in clean mobility.

[Foreign language]

Back in 2024, we have launched a new technology called Hyper Hybrid EV technology. This has gained a lot of interest. What I can share you is that the progress of this technology is very good, and later I will elaborate more on the details.

[Foreign language]

As for our product pipeline and product planning, our Emeya Model Year 2026 has already started its delivery in August, and the vehicle will commence its delivery in the U.S.

[Foreign language]

In April, we've also started to deliver our Eletre and Emeya Model Year 2026. It started in China market first, and then we are going to commence the delivery in the EU.

[Foreign language]

In recent years, premium brands' BEV penetration does not tally our expectation. However, the interest on PHEV is gaining its momentum. We believe such a technology of a Hyper Hybrid can supplement the disadvantages of BEV. For customers who like ICE, they can still enjoy the drivetrain. For customers who may find a BEV, they can feel free to worry about the range.

[Foreign language]

Our new model is expected to debut at the end of this year, and the delivery of this vehicle is expected to happen in Q1 next year. Allow me to share with you some of the highlights of this particular model.

[Foreign language]

Performance will still remain our iconic feature for this model, and this vehicle is going to be the world's first mass-produced PHEV that is performance-oriented.

[Foreign language]

Particularly in the market with low penetration rates of BEVs such as APAC and Middle East, we believe such a hybrid technology could be widely accepted in those markets.

[Foreign language]

This Hyper Hybrid technology features a 300 km of range when it is driven by the pure electric battery. In high speed, for example, the combined driving range can reach over 1,000 km.

[Foreign language]

In addition to that, it also features a dual hyper charging technology: ultra fast parking charging and ultra fast on-the-drive charging. On-the-drive charging rate is 5x the power consumption of typical driving scenarios.

[Foreign language]

It can deliver a battery charge from 10%-80% within 12 minutes, pretty much on par with a battery swap speed.

[Foreign language]

As we highlight on the performance side of this vehicle, it can deliver the ultimate performance under any circumstances. Even though the battery may consume lower than 5%, the performance can still be secured. This is why I previously highlighted the features that on-the-drive charging rate is 5x the power consumption of typical driving scenarios.

[Foreign language]

Again, this world's first performance-oriented hyper SUV is going to debut at the end of this year, and the delivery will start next quarter one.

[Foreign language]

Our initial target is to deliver a balanced delivery distribution across our markets: 30% in the U.S., 30% in the EU, 30% in China, 1% in the rest of the world. Between 2023 and 2025, the main challenge is around the U.S. tariff hike, which led us to not be able to export many vehicles to the U.S. market. Given that, the current regional share of deliveries since 2024 is as follows: 22% in North America, 38% in Europe, 14% for the rest of the world, and 26% for China. This year we are expecting China's contribution is going to be a bit higher compared with the previous year.

[Foreign language]

In the future, we are trying to leverage our U.S. strategy to catch up the losses due to the tariff hike. At this moment, we are discussing with our strategic partners in the U.S. on localization plans in order to avoid the influence of U.S. tariffs.

[Foreign language]

With our strategic partners, we had an in-depth discussion around U.S. landscape, and we believe localization is a feasible plan. We will continue to explore U.S. markets with our PHEV and also BEV products.

Okay, thank you.

Demi Zhang (Head of Investor Relations)

Thank you very much, Mr. Feng and Dr. Wang. Due to the time constraints, we will not be holding a Q&A session today. However, we have received a number of questions regarding the progress of our Hyper Hybrid initiative and our global market strategies. To address these key topics, I'd like to invite Mr. Feng to share more of his insights. Mr. Feng, please.

Qingfeng Feng (CEO)

[Foreign language]

For our PHEV products, I'd like to start with an observation regarding the PHEV market. It is actually growing very fast in both China and the U.S. For Lotus PHEV, it is actually quite different from the traditional PHEV structure, which is engine-driven. We combined the advantages of ICE engine and also electric motor. It can deliver ultimate performance when it is needed for our customers. For example, on high-speed driving, if it is driven by the motor, it may not be that energy saving. For our technology, when you drive on the high-speed, this vehicle can be driven by engine. In total, the technology can deliver both performance and energy saving features, and it can satisfy the scenarios of a lifestyle as well as a racetrack.

[Foreign language]

For the Hyper Hybrid technology, at this moment, it has been widely proven and accepted in China markets, and we have also done a thorough study for the U.S. and EU markets. At this moment, there hasn't been such a product existing in those markets, but if our customers are well aware of this product, we believe they will be interested in this particular model because it can satisfy both the demands from performance vehicle as well as lifestyle vehicle.

[Foreign language]

In the future, our technology is going to be pivot around this Hyper Hybrid technology, and at this moment, we are also investigating the feasibility of a sports car Hyper Hybrid solution.

[Foreign language]

For sports car, we understand that there is a wide market for the ICE sports car, and we will definitely satisfy those Lotus fans and also petrol heads for the sports car. At the same time, we also understand that pure electric sports car is not going to attract those attentions. We are trying to investigate the feasibility of a Hyper Hybrid sports car to see if it is going to work. In the future, we will prioritize the Hyper Hybrid technology for both lifestyle vehicle and sports car.

[Foreign language]

If you look at the history of Lotus, I think many of you may be aware that Lotus has been relying on external parties or suppliers on its engines, such as Toyota and AMG. However, when it comes to PHEV, when Lotus possesses such technology, we believe we can supplement the drawback of the lack of ICE engine.

Thank you.

Demi Zhang (Head of Investor Relations)

Thank you very much, Mr. Feng, for your sharing of the insights. Again, thank you all for joining us today. We will conclude the call soon. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our IR team. This concludes the call. Have a good day, everybody. Thank you.