Volvo News: Volvo Open To Having Lotus Tune Suspensions

[William Maley]

Last week, Chinese automaker and owner of Volvo, Geely announced that it would be acquiring just under 50 percent of shares into Malaysian automaker Proton and a majority stake in Lotus. For those who don't know, Proton is the current owner of Lotus since 1996. Final terms of this are still being worked on and are expected to be announced towards the end of July, but that isn't stopping many from wondering what Lotus could bring to the table.

Lotus has a well-known reputation for building sharp handling vehicles along with providing engineering expertise to various automakers on fine-tuning suspensions. Examples include the Lotus Carlton (during GM's ownership), Isuzu Impulse, and Aston Martin DB9. Could they help out Volvo with their suspensions?

"Why not," said Roger Wallgren, principal engineer of vehicle dynamics for the new XC60 to Australian outlet Drive.

"I don't see any problem using their knowledge. I think it is pretty applicable all over the board. You need to have a dialogue - you can exchange knowledge back and forth."

Wallgren was quick to clarify that no specific plans have been laid out between Volvo and Lotus at the moment.

But the idea is out there and pairing Lotus up with Volvo's performance arm, Polestar could mean some interesting products could roll out.

Source: Drive

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[G. David Felt]

Me think Volvo wants their own V, M, AMG edition fighter. Interesting times we live in.