Lotus has announced plans to cut up to 550 jobs in the UK, amounting to around 40 per cent of its British workforce, in a major restructuring aimed at securing the company’s long-term survival.
The Norfolk-based sports carmaker, majority-owned by Chinese group Geely, said the cuts were “necessary to secure a sustainable future in today’s rapidly evolving automotive environment,” citing the impact of falling sales, the transition to electric vehicles and mounting global tariff pressures.
The announcement follows months of uncertainty about the future of Lotus’s 59-year-old Hethel site, which prompted business secretary Jonathan Reynolds to hold talks with Geely earlier this summer.
Despite the scale of the job losses, Lotus insisted that its UK operations would remain central to the brand. In a statement, the company said:
“The brand remains fully committed to the UK, and Norfolk will remain the home of Lotus’ sports car, motorsports and engineering consulting operations.”
The carmaker said the changes would allow it to operate “more flexibly” by aligning production with demand and would be “vital to enhancing our future competitiveness in the market”.
Geely acquired a 51 per cent stake in Lotus in 2017 as part of a wider deal with Malaysian manufacturer Proton. Since then, the Chinese group has invested more than £3 billion into the marque. However, the shift to premium electric models has proved difficult, with tariffs in the US adding further strain.
Shares in Lotus Technology, the Nasdaq-listed division of the business, have plunged 84 per cent since their debut in February 2024, and fell a further 2 per cent in early trading on Thursday. Geely has increasingly focused attention on a new production hub in Wuhan, China.
Ben Goldsborough, Labour MP for South Norfolk, described the decision as a “very difficult day for Lotus and for many families” but stressed that the “worst-case scenario” of a complete factory closure had been avoided.
South Norfolk Council leader Daniel Elmer said Lotus had been “an integral part of South Norfolk since 1966” and pledged to work with the company and affected employees.
A government spokesman acknowledged the challenges facing UK carmakers and said Labour’s industrial strategy, launched in June, was aimed at cutting energy costs for manufacturers. He also pointed to the recent UK-US trade deal, which he said had “saved thousands of jobs in Britain.”
The restructuring comes amid leadership turbulence. Matt Windle, chief executive of Lotus’s cars business in Europe, has taken a leave of absence for “personal reasons” just four months into the role.
While Lotus insists Norfolk will remain its global sports car base, the scale of the job losses underscores the difficulties facing Britain’s automotive industry as it adapts to the electric transition and volatile global trade conditions.
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Lotus to cut 40% of UK workforce but pledges to keep Norfolk factory open