Keep knowledgeable with free updates
Merely signal as much as the Vehicles myFT Digest — delivered on to your inbox.
Lotus plans to finish manufacturing within the UK after greater than 70 years, placing 1,300 jobs in danger within the newest blow to the nation’s automobile business.
The British sports activities carmaker, managed by Chinese language carmaker Geely, has struggled to pay its suppliers in current weeks, in line with two folks with information of the discussions, bringing manufacturing to a brief halt at its Hethel plant in Norfolk for a couple of month.
The lossmaking firm is planning to cease manufacturing for good on the plant — its solely manufacturing base within the UK — as quickly as subsequent yr, the folks added.
In an announcement to the Monetary Instances, Lotus stated it had paused manufacturing from mid-Could to handle inventories amid provide chain points associated to US tariffs. The corporate and Matt Windle, the top of Lotus Vehicles Europe, declined to remark additional on “a hearsay”. Geely additionally declined to remark.
Geely took a 51 per cent stake in Lotus in 2017, as a part of a deal to spend money on Malaysian proprietor Proton.
Geely’s funding was seen on the time as a lifeline for the corporate, which was based in London in 1948, after years of losses. The Chinese language group invested round £3bn into new know-how and manufacturing facility tools, however switched its focus to a brand new plant in Wuhan.
The Chinese language automobile group final yr listed Lotus Know-how — the model’s electrical automobile operation — within the US by means of a merger with a shell firm based by an LVMH-backed funding group. In April, Lotus Know-how stated it will purchase Geely’s 51 per cent stake within the UK enterprise, after the Chinese language firm exercised an choice to promote the stake.
For the April to June quarter, Lotus Know-how reported an working lack of $103mn, in contrast with a lack of $233mn from a yr earlier, whereas it delivered 1,274 autos, down 42 per cent.
Li Shufu, the billionaire founder behind Geely, which additionally owns Volvo Vehicles and Polestar, has been unloading his international property and streamlining his core enterprise since final yr.
With Geely’s assist, Lotus has for years tried to revive the historic British model nevertheless it struggled with its pivot in the direction of high-end EVs. That led to a collection of administration modifications, with Windle taking on as its European chief in Could after its predecessor Dan Balmer left after lower than a yr. Its chief business officer Mike Johnson additionally left the corporate in 2024.
Since its IPO in February of final yr, shares in Lotus Know-how have collapsed by 84 per cent. The inventory fell by as a lot as 8.5 per cent on Friday after the Monetary Instances’ report.
The tip of manufacturing on the Hethel plant, which was based by Lotus in 1966, would come as an extra blow to the UK’s automobile manufacturing, following different closures by Honda and Ford over the previous decade.
UK automobile manufacturing collapsed to the lowest stage since 1949 in Could after Donald Trump’s tariff struggle pressured Aston Martin and different British carmakers to halt their shipments to the US.
