Lotus to slash jobs
Lotus Cars is aiming to cut its 1,300-strong workforce in the UK by about 40 per cent as it looks to reduce persistent losses and adjust to higher US tariffs.
The Geely-owned company says the job losses will reach across its UK departments, but 550 will be at its production base in Hethel where it builds the Emira sports car, pictured.
The measures will help “secure a sustainable future for the company in today’s rapidly evolving automotive environment”, says Lotus. The carmaker has blamed “rapid changes in global policies including tariffs” for creating uncertainty in the industry.
Lotus underlined its commitment to manufacturing in the UK after a report in June that said it was planning to shift production to America in a bid to avoid tariffs on British-built vehicles that have increased to 15 per cent from 2.5 per cent under President Donald Trump’s regime.
“The brand remains fully committed to the UK,” adds Lotus in a statement. Its base in Hethel “will remain the home of Lotus’ sports cars, motor sports and engineering consulting operations”.
Lotus is investigating ways of diversifying manufacturing at Hethel to include models for other brands, reviving a model where the facility made sports cars for Opel-Vauxhall and Tesla in the past.
The latest job losses follow an April announcement that 270 roles would be cut at the Hethel facility.
The marque has been hit hard by muted demand for luxury EVs, particularly in its key target market of the US, which has slapped high tariffs on Chinese-built EVs forcing Lotus to halt sales of the Eletre large SUV.
The Eletre, along with the Emeya large electric sedan, are built in Wuhan, China, which opened in 2022 to produce Lotus’ fully electric range. The brand has since rolled back its promise to go all-electric and will later this year unveil its first plug-in hybrid, expected to be an Eletre.
Lotus sales fell 42 per cent to 1,274 in this year’s first quarter for its first significant decline since Geely rolled out the new range of vehicles to supplement the brand’s traditional sports cars.
It also had a net loss of US$183 million in the first quarter, down from US$258m in the same quarter in the year before, while debt increased to US$3.3 billion.
