Youngman Lotus is back, with a new small MPV called
the CX20. The brand has a troubled history. The vehicle appears to be based on
the Changan CX20, and even carries the exact same name badge, so there is
likely some sort of cooperation with Changan Auto.
The back story starts with as a joint venture
between the Chinese bus maker Youngman Group and Malaysia’s Proton, then the
sole owner of the Lotus brand. The joint venture was initially called
Youngman-Proton, it made several Proton-branded cars for the Chinese market.
Then Youngman managed somehow to get its hand on the Chinese right for the
Lotus name, both in English and Chinese (莲花) .
Youngman then started selling the Proton cars as “Youngman Engineered by
Lotus”. Proton wasn’t happy about this and when the joint venture expired in
2012 they opted out. Youngman however simply continued to make and sell the
vehicles under the Youngman-Lotus name. It wasn’t a success.
Sales were slow, a good looking SUV never materialized, and in
2014 the company cancelled operations.
But they still had the Lotus names, and they had
shown they liked to keep them. When Lotus officially entered China in 2011
Youngman refused to sell the names, so Lotus had no choice to use‘new’ names: Lotus NYO and 路特.
However, meantime Youngman went on selling buses, got
into a doomed joint venture with Spyker, and kept
thinking about new passenger car adventures. And eventually, that is where we
are today with this new small MPV crossover thing. It will be branded 莲花 again, and it is expected to hit the market in December.
The exact nature of the Changan connection is yet
unclear. The Lotus CX20 is clearly based on the CX20, the only distinctive
difference is the new and ultra shiny grille. The engine is made by
Chongqing-Changan, a engine-making subsidiary of Changan Auto. Engine is a 1.3
liter four-cylinder petrol with 100 Hp. Dimension size is 3970/1730/1615 mm, and wheelbase
is 2450 mm.
Cr : Carnewschina
