King of the United Kingdom has purchased a Chinese car - from "learning the skills of foreigners to counter them", to foreigners buying Chinese technology
King Charles III of the United Kingdom ordered an electric SUV made in Wuhan, China - the Lotus Eletre, as his private vehicle for his country estate.
This model, known as an electric supercar SUV, comes from the British classic sports car brand Lotus. After being acquired by a Chinese enterprise, it has moved its production base to China and fully transformed into a high-end electric vehicle manufacturer.
This car not only has performance parameters of 900 horsepower and 2.9 seconds to reach 100 km/h, but also features advanced configurations such as an intelligent cabin and LIDAR autonomous driving modules.
More importantly, it is completely produced in Chinese factories and exported to the British royal family.
From a historical perspective, this scene is undoubtedly full of contrast.
The late Qing Dynasty's Self-Strengthening Movement proposed "learning the skills of foreigners to counter them," aiming to learn Western technology to strengthen itself.
In those days, China was poor and had to bow to Western powers, introducing steamships, telegraphs, railways, foreign guns, and even translating Western texts became a means of saving the country.
Now, after more than a century, China not only has mastered the skills of foreigners, but has also sold its own technology back to foreigners.
The Lotus Eletre owned by the King of England seems to originate from a British brand, but its research and development, intelligent systems, power platform, and entire vehicle manufacturing were all completed in Wuhan, then exported with British branding, and adopted by the royal family.
On the surface, it is a Chinese enterprise exporting goods to the UK, but in reality, it represents a reversal of cultural and manufacturing order.
The significance of this Lotus model goes beyond a high-end vehicle and the rise of Chinese manufacturing; it also reflects a change in global perception. It is different from Chinese-made iPhones or branded consumer goods, but rather directly touches the symbol of status of the royal class.
King Charles III could have chosen Bentley, Rolls-Royce, or even if he wanted to buy an electric vehicle, he could have chosen Tesla. But he ultimately chose the Chinese-produced Lotus electric SUV, which obviously isn't about price, but rather an acknowledgment of its technological achievements, design, and brand repositioning.
This choice represents a trend: Chinese products have completely broken away from the past stereotype of being low-end and imitative, becoming synonymous with high-end, original, and intelligent products.
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1841031516662916/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.