The now Chinese-owned carmaker has been the victim of multiple circumstances of late, with reduced demand for luxury electric vehicles impacting its Eletre and Emeya, while the Emira sports car is hurt by US import tariffs.
In response to the downturn in sales and profits, the BBC reports Lotus is set to cut 550 of its 1300-strong workforce at its UK headquarters, located in Norfolk.
“We believe this is necessary in order to secure a sustainable future for the company in today’s rapidly evolving automotive environment, which is seeing uncertainty with rapid changes in global policies including tariffs,” Lotus told the BBC.
“The brand remains fully committed to the UK, and Norfolk will remain the home of the Lotus’ sports car, motorsports and engineering consulting operations.
“It is actively exploring future growth opportunities to diversify Lotus Cars’ business model, including through third-party manufacturing.”
In early April, the brand announced it would cut 270 jobs at its headquarters and main UK manufacturing facility, which followed 94 job losses in November 2024, and 30 workers in January 2024.
Just two months ago, the Financial Times reported Lotus would not only shut its factory in Hethel – where the Emira and Evija are produced – but also its headquarters at the facility, putting approximately 1300 jobs at risk.
While Lotus said at the time it was “continuing normal operations” and there were “no plans to close any factory”, the latest announcement is a sign of the hard times Colin Chapman’s brand is facing.
The Financial Times report was followed by the BBC’s political editor Andrew Sinclair claiming Lotus could build a factory in the US to bypass the nation’s tariffs, however the carmaker has made no plans to do so.
In 2024, Lotus delivered 12,134 vehicles globally, a huge 74 per cent increase on its 6970 deliveries the year prior. Sports cars such as the UK-built Emira and Evija made up 5272 of the deliveries, a 102 per cent increase on 2023.
North America received 2578 Lotus vehicles, making it the third-largest region behind China (3018, exclusively the Eletre and Emeya EVs) and Europe (4743 deliveries).
Australia is a relatively small market for Lotus, with the brand selling just 155 cars here last year, a decrease on the 183 examples sold the year prior. 138 of those vehicles were the Emira sports car, compared to 12 Eletres and five Emeyas.
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