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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 automotive business.
The British sports activities carmaker, managed by Chinese language carmaker Geely, has struggled to pay its suppliers in latest weeks, in keeping with two individuals with information of the discussions, bringing manufacturing to a short lived halt at its Hethel plant in Norfolk for a few 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 individuals added.
In an announcement to the Monetary Occasions, Lotus stated it had paused manufacturing from mid-Might to handle inventories amid provide chain points associated to US tariffs. The corporate and Matt Windle, the pinnacle of Lotus Automobiles Europe, declined to remark additional on “a hearsay”. Geely additionally declined to remark.
Feng Qingfeng, chief government of US-listed Lotus Know-how, which has a controlling stake within the UK enterprise, informed traders this week that it needed to construct extra vehicles in America to answer President Donald Trump’s greater tariffs on imports of foreign-made vehicles. The corporate has paused shipments of its Emira sports activities automotive to the US.
“We imagine localisation is a possible plan,” he added.
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 expertise and manufacturing facility gear, however switched its focus to a brand new plant in Wuhan.
The Chinese language automotive group final yr listed Lotus Know-how — the model’s electrical automobile operation — within the US by 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 in the UK business, 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 automobiles, down 42 per cent.
Li Shufu, the billionaire founder behind Geely, which additionally owns Volvo Automobiles and Polestar, has been unloading his international belongings and streamlining his core enterprise since final yr.
With Geely’s assist, Lotus has for years tried to revive the historic British model however it struggled with its pivot in direction of high-end EVs. That led to a sequence of administration modifications, with Windle taking up as its European chief in Might after his predecessor, Dan Balmer, left after lower than a yr. 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 Occasions’ report.
The top of manufacturing on the Hethel plant, which was based by Lotus in 1966, would come as an extra blow to the UK’s automotive manufacturing, following different closures by Honda and Ford over the previous decade.
UK automobile manufacturing collapsed to the lowest level since 1949 in Might after Trump’s tariff conflict compelled Aston Martin and different British carmakers to halt their shipments to the US.
