(Yicai Global) March 30 -- Lotus Technology, a luxury electric vehicle manufacturer owned by China's Geely Holding Group, has delivered its first fully electric hyper sport-utility vehicle model called Eletre in China.

The originally British marque of sports and racing cars will also start delivering vehicles in the United Kingdom and the European Union later this year, followed by a wider global effort, Lotus Tech said during a ceremony in Shanghai yesterday to celebrate the achievement and the 75th anniversary of the brand.

Pre-sales of Eletre were kicked off in China last October and the firm logged more than 5,000 orders worldwide as of Jan. 31, 2023. The Eletre S+ version is priced at CNY828,000 (USD120,083) and the Eletre R+ costs CNY1,028,000 (USD149,089).

Hangzhou-based Geely acquired the prestigious British brand in 2017 and since then, the marque has been leveraging its research and development facilities in the UK, Germany, as well as the Chinese cities of Wuhan, Shanghai, and Ningbo to develop luxury NEVs. Last July, the firm finished building a factory in Wuhan with Geely to be able to make 150,000 vehicles a year there.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi