Lotus plans to end the production of its sports cars in Great Britain and to move them to the USA, a step that would endanger 1,300 jobs and represent the British automotive industry a big blow.
The Chinese owner of the automobile manufacturer, Geely, checks options, including the production of his Emira Sportscar in the USA and the permanent attitude of production in your factory in Hethel, Norfolk, according to a person with knowledge of the company's thinking. No final decision was made.
The workers of the factory in a former bomber facility in World War II were not informed about the plans. Lotus refused to comment on “rumors and speculations”.
If the company continues the plan, it will probably be heavily criticized in Great Britain, as it was only eight years after the majority majority through the British company in 2017. A former leader of the company said in 2023 that the production of cars in Great Britain was “part of our DNA”.
The Norfolk factory has not built any cars since mid-May. The company said in an explanation that it managed the production to manage stock stocks and the problems of the supply chain due to the additional 25% tariffs of US author imports for auto imports. British car production fell to the lowest level since 1949 in May.
According to Financial Times, the factory could be closed next year, in which the development was reported for the first time.
Lotus was founded in 1948 by the auto engineer Colin Chapman and achieved a call for light British sports cars. Geely, who belongs to the billionaire Li Shufu, has an assignment in a large number of car companies, from British Aston Martin to Germany's Mercedes-Benz and the Sweden Volvo. In China, Geely makes vehicles under his own name and under the brands Lynk & Co and Zeek.
Geely also owns the London Electric Vehicle Company, the manufacturer of London Black Cabs.
Since the takeover of Lotus has shifted its focus on China, where it produces its electric SUV, the ELETRE. In 2023, Geely listed the electro -poor manufacturing low of the Lotus Technology business on the New York Stock Exchange.
Geely had planned to increase the annual production to 150,000 by 2028, with the majority of the cars in Wuhan, China. In the New York list, however, the original lotus business in Great Britain was alone without access to the same significant investments as Chinese business activities.
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The US tariffs for cars will drop to 10% on Monday as part of a trading business between the USA and Great Britain. Qingfeng Feng, the managing director of Lotus Technology, told investors this week that the company applied for the relocation of production to the USA.
“At this moment we discuss localization plans with our strategic partners in the USA to avoid the influence of the US tariff,” he said, according to a copy of the call hosted by the data company. “With our strategic partners we had a detailed discussion in our US landscape and believe that localization is a practical plan.”