Lotus could open its factory to another brand
British sports car icon Lotus is eyeing off allowing niche brand Zenos to build its vehicles at its new UK production hub.
The future of Lotus could depend on an unlikely relationship with a startup brand, as the Chinese-owned British carmaker announced it’s looking at opening a new factory up to a fellow UK marque.
As reported by the CarBuzz, Lotus has signed a Head of Terms agreement with Zenos Cars, another Norfolk-based manufacturer of lightweight sports cars, born in 2012 through two former Lotus employees.
Zenos went into administration in 2017 but was revived last year with the E10RZ, which – if the deal pans out – could be built at the new Lotus Hethel Performance Hub.
Jordan Mulach
Opened within the past week, the Hub is designed to not only benefit Lotus but also other small brands, who can get access to the sports car marque’s engineers and private test track, as well as manufacturing facilities.
“The famous Hethel site’s transformation to a nucleus of high-performance automotive innovation will power a new era of advanced vehicle design and manufacture in the UK,” Lotus reportedly said.
It’s unlikely that the addition of Zenos’ vehicles will make a significant dent to Lotus’ production plans, given that the former brand only made 100 examples of its first model in about a year.
Lotus itself has been facing a scaling back of its operations, last year cutting 550 of its 1300-strong workforce at its UK headquarters in August.
Jordan Mulach
In early April 2025, 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.
There is change afoot for Lotus though, with the brand announcing earlier this year it’ll launch a V8-powered supercar in 2028, while also turning the existing Emira into a hybrid.
Both projects will be done in conjunction with parent company Geely, through its Horse Powertrain division – Geely (45 per cent), as well as Renault (45 per cent) and Saudi oil giant Aramco (10 per cent).
