Latest news with #Hethel
Auto Car
17-07-2025
- Automotive
- Auto Car
Lotus "must remain" in UK, says design chief
Close Lotus's design operations 'must remain' in the UK, its creative chief has told Autocar, following recent reports that the brand could end production at its historic Hethel factory. Two weeks ago, sources told Autocar and several business publications that Lotus owner Geely had made the order to prepare the plant in Norfolk for closure, threatening 1300 jobs. Lotus rebuffed the reports, issuing a statement that said 'there are no plans to close the factory'. The current generation of Lotus sports cars was designed at Hethel, but upcoming models are being worked on at a new studio in Warwickshire.
Motor Trend
30-06-2025
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
What's Going On at Lotus? Well, For Starters, It Denies Closing UK Plant
Lotus has emphatically denied it is planning to close the factory in Hethel, England, where almost every Lotus road car has been built since 1966. A report in the Financial Times last week claimed parent company Geely was considering shuttering Hethel to stem mounting losses at Lotus. But in a statement issued over the weekend the company said it has no plans to close any factory. Lotus denies plans to close its UK Hethel plant amid financial struggles and production issues. The company is considering U.S. production to bypass tariffs. Geely plans to re-engineer models as hybrids and may use Volvo's South Carolina plant for production. Hethel's future remains uncertain. This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article Read Next 'The UK is the heart of the Lotus brand,' a Lotus spokesperson said. 'It is home to our sports car manufacturing, global design center, motorsport operations, and Lotus engineering. It is also our largest commercial market in Europe. Lotus Cars is continuing normal operations.' That said, Hethel, which produces the mid-engine Emira coupe and tiny numbers of the hand-built electric-powered Evija hypercar, has been effectively idled since mid-May. Lotus sources say the shutdown was prompted by the need to manage inventories amid supply chain issues related to U.S. tariffs. The Emira is built in the UK, but its powertrains—a Toyota 3.5-liter V-6 and AMG's 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four—are imported from Huntsville, Alabama, and Affalterbach, Germany, respectively. Fewer than 560 Emiras were produced in the first quarter of this year, a 50 percent decline over the same period in 2024. According to last week's Financial Times story, Lotus insiders claimed the company had been struggling to pay suppliers in recent months, and that Hethel may be closed as soon as next year. The turmoil over Hethel's future is part of a much bigger crisis unfolding at Lotus. In 2024 the company predicted it would be building 150,000 cars year by 2028, with most coming from the Geely-owned plant in Wuhan, China, where the electric-powered Eletre SUV and Emeya sedan are built. To reach that number the Eletre and Emeya models would be joined in 2027 by a midsize electric-powered SUV aimed at the Porsche Macan EV. But sales of the Eletre in the U.S. were paused in the immediate aftermath of the Trump administration's announcement of 100 percent tariffs, with the launch of the Emeya put on indefinite hold. What's more, Geely's big bet on Lotus EVs has clearly backfired. 'In recent years, premium brand BEV penetration does not meet our expectation,' Lotus CEO Feng Qingfeng admitted on a recent earnings call. Lotus had talked of combined sales of 30,000 Eletres and Emeyas (pictured below) a year by 2026 but delivered fewer than 720 worldwide in the first quarter of this year. And work on the electric-powered mid-size SUV has been stopped. Geely is now reportedly racing to re-engineer both the Eletre and Emeya as extended-range EVs (EREVs) using a performance-oriented version of the company's Leishin Power hybrid system, which combines an internal combustion engine and e-motor and uses a series of clutches in its transmission system to switch power flows between them to ensure the internal combustion engine is always operating at peak efficiency. The coming Eletre and Emeya EREVs will be able to travel 680 miles on a single charge and single tank of gas. That doesn't solve the tariff problem, though. Geely knows producing cars in China effectively shuts Lotus out the U.S., which should be by far its biggest market. Feng Qingfeng has said the company is now looking at building build cars in the U.S. to escape the punitive import tariffs. 'We believe that localization is a feasible plan,' he said. 'We are trying to leverage our U.S. strategy to catch up the losses due to the tariff hike.' Though the Lotus CEO did not elaborate, Geely's under-utilized Volvo plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina, seems an obvious candidate to build Eletre and Emeya EVs and EREVs. The $1.4 billion, 2.3 million square foot plant, which was opened in 2018 to build the electric Volvo EX90 and Polestar 3 models, was designed to build 150,000 vehicles a year, but in 2023 produced just 20,000 vehicles, according to industry estimates. Volvo boss Håkan Samuelsson has strongly hinted that Ridgeville would be configured to build the XC60 in addition to the EX90 and Polestar 3. 'We need another car to fill the capacity,' Samuelsson told reporters at the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit in London earlier this year. But even though the XC60, which is currently produced in Volvo plants in Torslanda, Sweden, and Chengdu, China, was the company's second best-selling model in the U.S., total sales were fewer than 40,000 units. Even if the XC60 went into production there, Ridgeville would still have plenty of space for Lotus. Despite the denials from Lotus, Hethel increasingly looks a liability. The plant, completely refurbished in 2021 at a cost of more than $140 million to produce the Emira, can build 10,000 cars a year, though its output has at best been barely half that. If Geely were to shift Eletre and Emeya production to Ridgeville, adding Emira to the mix would simplify logistics and it would put production right in the heart of the car's biggest market. With the Toyota V-6 unable to meet forthcoming Euro 7 emissions, Lotus has planned for all Emiras to be powered by the punchy Mercedes-AMG 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine from 2026 on. As Mercedes has committed to spending $15 billion to ensure its internal combustion engines can be produced until at least 2035, that gives Emira a lifecycle well into the 2030s. But will it be built at Hethel? That depends on whether Geely can keep Lotus alive.
The Drive
30-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
Lotus Nearly Abandoned 60 Years of British Manufacturing to Move to the US
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Multiple outlets reported this weekend that Lotus considered (and may still be considering) shutting down production at the British assembly plant it has occupied since the mid-1960s and potentially relocating to the United States. The move comes in response to tariffs, which, despite the administration's recent backpedaling, remain at 25% for the time being. Per a report released in the UK last week, the country's automotive exports to the United States are down approximately 50% so far this year. The new tariff rates won't take effect until the end of June. According to the BBC, Lotus was already exploring the move when the UK government intervened. The situation remains 'under review' at Lotus, sources told the news network, but for the time being, it appears the company's Hethel assembly facility will remain in operation. Lotus It's a sign of desperation for the small automaker whose only immediately available alternative would be to produce cars in China, where it has a second facility. The Wuhan plant comes courtesy of Lotus's parent company, Geely. Lotus is currently under pressure not only to maintain the flow of exports to the United States—a market it considers critical—but to keep its newest offers compliant with U.S. regulations. The unlikely outcome of this would be a V8-powered Lotus Emira built in the United States. There's some pretty awesome historical precedent for overpowered British sports cars, but in this case, Lotus would likely source a biturbo engine and automatic transmission from Mercedes-Benz, rather than a thumping Detroit V8. We're not sure what that does for the whole 'simplify and add lightness' mantra espoused by the company's long-departed founder, but let's just say we're open to the idea. Lotus isn't the only low-volume builder feeling the pinch. Ineos, which builds heritage-style Land Rover Defender knock-offs with modern amenities, has hiked prices this year in response to the ongoing trade war. Got a tip? Let us know at tips@
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
South Norfolk MP asks Lotus to give clarity to 1,300 workers
An MP has called for the owners of car company Lotus to "step up to the mark" and make the future of its factory clear to its 1,300 emerged on Friday that China-based Geely was considering closing the company's Hethel site, amid uncertainty created in the industry by US President Donald Trump's tariffs.A statement from Lotus Cars on Saturday insisted it had "no plans to close any factory", but added that it was "actively exploring strategic options to enhance efficiency and ensure global competitiveness".South Norfolk MP Ben Goldsborough was part of a meeting with Geely representatives on Monday and said he emphasised the need for "openness". Goldsborough told the BBC: "Geely [has] made the statement that the site will remain in operation."But there is a big difference between 'remain in operation' and at what capacity."So today's conversation was all about how we secure capacity and as many, if not all, of the 1,300 jobs there."The Labour MP, who was elected last summer, said he could not share full details due to the commercially sensitive nature of the discussions with the continued: "What I want them to do is to have the openness to say what their plans are going forward."It needs to be looking at the commercial aspect of it, the long-term sustainability of the site as well because, as I keep saying, the models that are produced there, the talent that the 1,300 workers have, is second to none."If you lose it, you lose it forever, and that's where Geely need to step up to the mark now."Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds met with Geely on Sunday and said he "was reassured" that the firm has "no plans to close their Hethel plant". Lotus was founded in the early 1950s by engineer Colin Chapman and moved to its Norfolk base at Hethel in the which also owns Volvo, took majority control in 2017 when purchasing a 49.9% stake in previous parent company has overseen the brand's continued transition towards electric and hybrid vehicles, with the Emira launched in 2021 as its last conventional petrol the company announced plans in April to cut 270 jobs in the UK, which followed the loss of 94 jobs last said: "We've seen the ups and downs of Lotus time and time again."Every time it sees challenge and adversity it finds new ways of reinventing itself and that's what we've got to do now. "We've got to give it that springboard to reinvent itself long-term." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Times
29-06-2025
- Automotive
- Times
Lotus plant won't close, carmaker's Chinese owners insist
The business secretary says he has been reassured that Lotus's plant in Norfolk will not be shut down after crunch weekend talks with its Chinese owner. Jonathan Reynolds met the British sports carmaker and Geely, its Chinese majority-owner, on Sunday amid uncertainty over the 59-year-old factory in Hethel. In a statement after the meeting, a spokesman for the Department for Business and Trade said Reynolds had been 'reassured by management that they are committed to their UK operations and have no plans to close their Hethel plant'. During the meeting, Reynolds set out the government's commitment to working with Lotus and the UK's car sector to improve its competitiveness. This would include cutting manufacturers' energy costs and providing £2.5 billion of capital and research and development funding, measures announced last week as part of Labour's industrial strategy. Uncertainty over the future of the plant, which employs about 1,300 people, was triggered by a report in the Financial Times that Lotus planned to end production there. • Labour's industrial energy strategy lacks ambition, say carmakers In response, Lotus issued a statement on Saturday, saying that it had 'no plans' to close the factory, which was founded in 1966, and remained 'committed' to the UK, its largest commercial market in Europe and the 'heart' of the brand. The manufacturer said it was 'continuing normal operations' and was 'actively exploring strategic options to enhance efficiency and ensure global competitiveness in the evolving market. 'We have invested significantly in R&D [research and development] and operations in the UK, over the past six years,' it added. Geely acquired a 51 per cent stake in Lotus in 2017, as part of a deal to invest in Proton, its Malaysian owner, after years of losses at the company. The Chinese group has invested £3 billion but has struggled with the transition to upmarket electric vehicles and more recently US tariffs, and has shifted attention to a new site in Wuhan, eastern China. Shares in Lotus have fallen by 84 per cent since listing on Nasdaq in February last year. • What happens when a classic English sports car goes electric? Ben Goldsborough, the Labour MP for South Norfolk, whose constituency includes the Hethel plant, said: 'The one thing that we need to make sure is that with the Chinese ownership talking about the plant being safe, that it's not just the plant being safe, but there is a future as well in their proposals. 'That's why the British management team that I've been working very closely with alongside ministers have made it very clear that there is a desire to make sure that this isn't just an industry or a factory that stays there in name but it's also producing and keeping the Lotus brand alive as well.' This meant that 'concrete proposals on the future' of the plant were required, beyond 'warm words', Goldsborough said.
