Review threatens future of Lotus's UK factory

Geely weighing up a host of options as it tries to stem huge losses at troubled British sports car brand

- Phil McNamara

THE future of Lotus's UK plant in Hethel, Norfolk, is under review, as its Chinese owner, Geely, takes drastic action to fix the loss-making British sports car brand.

The maker is trapped in a perfect storm, buffeted by tariffs that have inflated the cost of UK sports car exports to the United States, and exorbitant American import duties on its Chinese-built lifestyle EVs that make sales commercially impossible. Lotus is grappling with inconsistent electric car demand, too, and growing the brand from a tiny customer base.

Geely has pumped massive investment into Lotus, funding the clean-sheet electric technology that underpins the Eletre SUV and Emeya sports saloon, and a factory in Wuhan, China. It has also invested £100 million in the Norfolk site, yielding new production lines to build the petrol-powered Emira sports car and pure-electric Evija hypercar.