Hello, and welcome to the Deutsche Bank Depositary Receipts Virtual Investor Conference, DB VIC. My name is Zafar Aziz from the DR Investor Relations Advisory Team at Deutsche Bank. I am pleased to announce that our next presentation will be from Lotus Technology. Before handing over to our presenter, some points to note. Please submit your questions in the questions box. Note, all of today's presentations will be recorded and can be accessed via the Deutsche Bank website, adr.db.com. At this point, I am very pleased to welcome our speaker from Lotus Technology.
Hello, everyone. This is Michelle from Lotus Tech, a NASDAQ-listed company, and it is my pleasure today to introduce our company to everyone. First of all, I am going to go through our company presentation, which is of the slide. Hopefully, it will give a very good summary of where we are right now, and then we will open for a Q&A session. A quick summary of our key investment highlights and our core strategy. First, Lotus Tech is an iconic British brand with One Lotus strategy. What does it mean by a British brand and the One Lotus strategy? I will elaborate in details. Lotus, it was rooted in British racing pedigree and was validated by 81 Formula 1 victories.
With a very strong racing heritage, it gradually evolved into a global brand with balanced sales network post-Geely acquisition, which is a global conglomerate in the auto sector. This year, we are really embracing our One Lotus strategy with the integration between our battery electric assets under the original Lotus Tech ListCo and with the integration with our U.K. entity. One Lotus strategy unlocks unique competitive advantage through a unified brand, streamlined governance, and enhanced synergy. We have successfully closed this transaction in late August, which is a key milestone for our company this year. The second investment highlight is really that we are expanding our product portfolio with diversified powertrain solutions. We announced our Focus 2030 strategy in May publicly. It provides a clear and actionable powertrain roadmaps for the company in the interim.
Multi-powertrain flexibility really can help us capture new customer base and penetrate the untapped markets. Every Lotus product remains uncompromisingly driver-centric across every powertrain. Originally, we really have a strategy to go deep into battery electric product. Based on the customer demand and the industry involvement over the past few years, we decided to add the plug-in hybrid to expand our powertrain solutions. The third investment highlight is really our renowned R&D and engineering capabilities. Our legendary British heritage with aerodynamics and lightweight and engineering prowess is really embodied by Lotus research and development and the tuning capabilities. We continuously innovate to spearhead advanced electrified mobility technology for the new era. For example, 800 V EPA platform and 900 V X-Hybrid architectures. We are really also leveraging our strategic shareholder Geely's ecosystem synergies to deepen our R&D focus on Lotus signature technologies.
The fourth investment highlight is our asset-light model, which really enables our agile manufacturing footprint around the globe. We have a global production presence that delivers enhanced agility against geopolitical volatilities. We do have a manufacturing partnership with Geely to strengthen our operational resilience. The next investment highlight is shown by our financial results we announced for first half 2026. It shows early momentum of our announced Focus 2030 strategy via improved financials. We target annual sales of 30,000 units and sustainable profitability. It shows improvement across deliveries, revenue, and the gross margin with cost control, delivering a narrow operational loss, as shown by our first half of 2026 earnings results. Sorry, Janelle, let's go back to the previous page. Yes. Just a quick addition. Our company was founded in 1948, so it has more than 78 years histories with huge racing history.
We have global stores of more than 200 across four core regions. We have two manufacturing plants. We do contract manufacturing with Geely in China, which does the battery electric cars and the plug-in hybrid. We do have another plant in the U.K., which does ICE engine cars. We have five existing models and plus one developing models. Our first half 2026 deliveries was 3,904. Our total revenue in first half 2026 goes up to $268 million equivalent, which is a year-on-year growth rate of 23%. Our GP margin in first half 2026 was 10%, and our adjusted EBITDA narrowed by 57% on year-on-year basis. Thank you. That's a summary of our investment highlights. Next page, please. Since 1948, Lotus has really advanced through ingenuity, engineering innovation, and a pioneering spirit in racing. The picture you are seeing now is our founder, Colin Chapman.
Colin and his wife, Hazel Chapman, founded the company. From their era to champions, to racing world champions such as Jim Clark and Ayrton Senna, ours is really a story shaped by people, performance, and the enduring passion for pushing what's possible. Our key logo is for the drivers. We are really developing products with driver-centric drivabilities. Next page. With 78 years history, we keep innovating. Lotus really have shaped automotive culture by redefining the limits of performance in racing and building the most engaging road cars in the world. The pictures you are seeing are really the iconic heritage cars and racing cars in our history, which has been well received by the markets and customers until today. Next page. From 1948, since Lotus Mark 1, first Lotus- brand car, until today, the Lotus really leaves a footprint in racing history with great innovation.
Lotus, such as Lotus Eleven, Type 18, Type 25, Type 38 in 1965, and until 2020, the first hypercar, Lotus Evija, came to market. In 2023, it's the first electric SUV, which won 2023 GQ Award SUV of the Year. Lotus also won Carwow Brand of the Year in 2024, and got listed in NASDAQ in that year as well. On the below section of the page, you can see all the awards that Lotus have won in history, not only in Formula 1, but also in Le Mans and Indianapolis as well. The next page shows our brand evolution. Performance, design, and engineering is really the core three pillars that supports our brand evolution in the past few years.
With established racing brand, British brand, and racing heritage with superior aerodynamics, we are also a pioneer in lightweight aerodynamics, and we continue to carry through that heritage until today from every single product that we develop. We are originally an early mover in intelligent EV segment, and we do have strong support from Geely and with leading advanced technologies as well. On the next page, you see our brand positioning across different brands in the markets. If you see from brand heritage and luxury positioning, as well as transformation to electric portfolio, we are really a frontrunner from this perspective. The next page is our philosophy. From technology perspective, we are really carry through the succession of aerodynamic and lightweight. We remain committed to our founder's vision and always implement the concept of lightweight. We are enabling faster straight line acceleration and extraordinary maneuverabilities.
We use the aluminum alloy and carbon fiber materials, plus 17 kinds of welding process. Our active wake flow management really can eliminate side airflow with active management fans equipped, and reduce our drag coefficient for our products. Our static hubcap originated from the F1 technology and can effectively reduce our overall wind resistance. The next page is another layer that we want to show that we are really a pioneer of electric performance architecture. So for our battery electric product, we have advanced technology in chassis, dynamics, and the EDS motor and E drivetrain, as well as battery system and hyper-intelligent EE architecture connectivities. The next page is really something I want to highlight. We have been an innovator of hybrid performance architecture. This year, we launched our X-Hybrid technology. It demonstrate Lotus Technology innovation leadership and designed to deliver our Lotus core brand principles.
Our plug-in hybrid, which is showcased by our Eletre, it is called For Me in China. We start deliver in March and early April, and start roll over in, for example, Europe and other regions. The hybrid has 900-volt architecture and up to 955 horsepower and 935 newton per meters of torque, putting the vehicle in super SUV territory and amongst the luxury high-performance benchmarks. Its EV-only range is up to 420 km. Its comprehensive range exceeds 1,400 km under CLTC standard without refueling or charging. Zero to 100 km per hour accelerates in 3.3 seconds with sustained performance and minimal degradation. It has a 70 kW battery, and it can charge from 20% to 80% in just nine minutes, making it one of the fastest charging electrified vehicle to come to market.
Its 48-volt active anti-roll system and a dual-chamber air suspension with dual valve dampers reacting in as little as two milliseconds, and six-piston brakes from Brembo, all delivering the world-class dynamic handling and driver feel that customers known from original Lotus. The next page, we are going to show some iconic cars in our history. From 1948 to 1978, we are really pioneering in racing. Team Lotus remain one of the most successful racing team of all time, winning seven constructors and six drivers titles in Formula 1 with motorsport legends such as Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, and Ayrton Senna I mentioned earlier. The next page shows our history from 1977 to 1996.
Lotus really becomes immortalized in popular culture with Lotus Esprit starring in two James Bond films and Hollywood blockbusters, *Pretty Woman* and *Basic Instinct*. Off the screen, the brand changed ownership multiple times and with Proton eventually acquiring the company. The next page shows our history from 1996 to 2010. Lotus established as a niche sports car brand with the launch of the Exige, Evora, and Elise, and its multiple derivatives. Lotus produced the game-changing Tesla Roadster in 2008 to 2012. There was a partnership at that time. From 2017 onwards, Lotus is transforming into a global relevant premium performance brand with the launch of its electric hyper Evija in 2019 and its first lifestyle electric vehicle 2022 with Eletre and a hyper SUV. The next few pages, I am going to showcase our great products. For example, the EV hypercar, Evija.
This is roughly about $3 million USD equivalent. It has won awards such as the One to Watch in 2021 and Production Design of the Year in 2020. It has 2,000 hp and 1,704 N-m torque, and acceleration from 0 to 300 kp h in 9.1 seconds. It is super lightweight with 1,887 kg. The next page is our battery, is our mid-engine sports car, with ICE engine, Emira, and it has been sold in the U.S. as well. It has won Car and Driver Pleasure of Driving Award in 2024. 400 hp, 4.5 seconds acceleration, and 180 mph , and just 1.4 tons for weight. We recently facelifted the Emira with a new derivate for Emira 420 Sport. This is the lightest and most powerful Emira as compared to other Emira models.
This one is available to order right now, and we have customer deliveries commenced in August 2026. The next page is our first electric SUV, Eletre. It is a hyper SUV, 20 minutes charging from 10% to 80%, 372 mi range, and 905 hp. The next one is our EV hyper GT car. It is a sedan. It is called Emeya, and similarly has a strong performance as the Eletre I mentioned earlier. The next page is the one I want to highlight. This is Eletre X, which is named For Me in China market. This is the first Lotus hybrid hyper SUV, and we start delivery Q4 2026 in the Middle East in year-end, targets in year-end, and the U.K. next year. The next page, I just finished introducing our products. Next page is our driver, which is customer demographic.
The first group of people we are really attracting is car enthusiasts, who like racing and who really know the history and who loves Lotus for a long time. The other group of customers we are penetrating into is emerging high net worth individuals, they are young drivers, tech-savvy, and those people really are attracted by our new products, such as the battery electric products and hybrid products. Drivers of Lotus are really defined by shared mindsets, and we identified the four mindsets in the categories you are seeing right now. Understanding these really mindsets enable us to determine how to better resonate with wider audience while driving deeper engagement and delivering our brand experience for our customers. The next page is a little bit more details for customer characteristics across different regions.
As you may see, for example, in China, in Europe, and in the U.S., the age group and the key motivations to buy the car and the market insights that we derive from those experiences are very different. I said a very simple example. For example, in China, the core age is from 26- 40, whereas that in Europe is around 40 - 60, and in the U.S. it's 35 - 55. In the U.S., people are more like a strong connection and individualistic to car culture, and they are garage collectors or tech-first early adopters. In Europe, for example, they are traditional professionals, and they are heritage Lotus enthusiasts, but they do have shown deep appreciation for engineering heritage. In China, this is the customer group is really a more from new economy pioneers, tech-savvy, aesthetics, young, successful, and seek unique identities.
The next one, page, is our ESG. We continue to have strong focus on our sustainabilities. We have won different awards and recognitions, and we do publish annual reports from ESG perspective to show the investor base and the general public that our focus towards our sustainability strategy. The next few pages is our first half 2026 results. In the first half of 2026, the company recorded total deliveries of 3,904 units, up 39% year-on-year, outperforming our reference to traditional premium and luxury peers, which you can see from our footnote. The page is published on our Lotus IR website, so if you are interested into the details, you can always download a copy from our website.
Our total revenue were $268 million, increase of 23% year-on-year, with strong growth in China, especially on back of the newly launched For Me car in first half 2026. Our gross margin expanded to 10%, driven by optimized product mix, with the operating loss continuously narrow, down 63% year-on-year, reflecting disciplined financial management and improving operational leverage. We also had a one-off refund of the license fee in connection with our adjusted product pipeline. We do show the early progress of Focus 2030 strategy from operational and financial results. The next page is a delivery breakdown from our lifestyle vehicles, which is the Eletre, Emeya, and Eletre, which is the battery electric and plug-in hybrid models. The sports car is our Emira, and others, which is the ICE cars.
The delivery by region, China contributes 58%, and Europe contributes 18%, and Americas contribute 16%. The GGM is our global growth markets, which contributes 8%. The next page is our snapshots for year-on-year comparison. As you may see, from top line delivery revenue side to cost and to the bottom line net loss, you can see improvements. The next section I want to highlight is our recent development. Not only we launched Eletre in Canada, and we started open orders in mainland Europe, we facelifted Emira, and we also have limited edition Emira Scura version. We also launched Type 135 supercar. Actually, earlier this week, we put up an announcement of a partnership with Horse Powertrain of a confirmation of the V8 engine to first debut in the Type 135 car. Our Emeya also sets a lap record earlier this year.
We also, as I mentioned, announced our sustainability report. Also, strategic collaborations with Finloop and FOMO Pay to expand into cryptocurrency customer base to facilitate those customers who may have a need to buy our cars, and they can pay through those payment agencies. The next few pages are about our Focus 2030 strategies. Four pillars. I am going to go quickly given the time constraint. The first pillar, brand reinforcement. We are anchoring Lotus' 78-year DNA, ensuring the legacy of our iconic performance and engaging road cars. The second pillar is our multi-train strategy. We have agile approach across ICE, PHEV, and BEV. The third pillar is close partnership collaborations with partners in developing technology and supply chain and manufacturing.
The last one is our financial discipline, that we do cost control, as well as other financial discipline measures to continuously improve our financials. The next page is an illustration to our first pillar. Brand reinforcement across different regions. We do have strategies. For example, Europe, we continuously build our racing heritage. China, primary volume driver. Americas, we continue anchoring sports cars with the new SUV markets in Canada. The world growth markets, we have foundation developed and continuously seek new market entry opportunities. The next page is our global network breakdown across different regions. The next page is our multi-powertrain agilities across different powertrain solutions I have mentioned earlier. The next page is about our product pipeline, which I showed earlier, from PHEV to ICE to battery electric, and also our new upcoming Type 135 sports car to be released.
Next page, close collaboration, not only with U.K. on back of the put option we closed, also with Geely in procurement, supply chain, manufacturing, as well as advanced technology. The last page is of our financial discipline under Focus 2030. We set a clear commercial direction for the business with a focus on targeted volume, strong margins, and greater emphasis on personalization. Given the time constraint, I will end my presentation here. For the presentation, if you ever need anything, please feel free to reach out to the investor relations team. The contact is available from Lotus Tech IR websites. We also have materials uploaded from our websites. Thank you so much for listening to our presentation.