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Lotus has introduced it would minimize 550 jobs from its workforce throughout the UK, with the vast majority of layoffs to be made on the British automaker’s Hethel base within the south of England.
Owned by Chinese language auto large Geely – which additionally owns manufacturers together with Volvo, Polestar and Zeekr, in addition to a stake in Mercedes-Benz and Sensible – Lotus at present employs round 1300 individuals within the UK, the place greater than 40 per cent of its employees can be axed.
In an announcement confirming the transfer, Lotus stated the restructuring was prompted by a evaluation of its enterprise targets following altering market circumstances, together with a number of layered tariffs on each automotive merchandise and uncooked supplies.
It stated the job losses stem from “fast adjustments in world insurance policies together with tariffs” and added that they may “safe a sustainable future for the corporate in at this time’s quickly evolving automotive atmosphere”.
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The information comes after the automaker’s April 2025 announcement of 270 job cuts at Hethel, the place it manufactures the Emira sports activities automobile, and forward of the corporate’s scheduled earnings presentation later at this time (August 29).
In its April job cuts announcement, Lotus denied experiences it was planning to shut the Hethel plant as quickly as 2026.
“We now have invested considerably in R&D [research and development] and operations within the UK over the previous six years. Lotus stays dedicated to the UK, and its clients, workers, sellers, suppliers, in addition to its proud British heritage,” the corporate stated in an announcement.
The corporate added that “the UK is the guts of the Lotus model” and stated Britain was its “largest industrial market in Europe”.
Whereas the Emira is made within the UK alongside the limited-edition Evija hypercar, Lotus builds the Eletre and Emeya electrical automobiles (EVs) in China.
Earlier this yr Lotus introduced plans to maneuver some manufacturing to the US to counter important import tariffs there. North America accounted for round one-fifth of its world quantity in 2024, behind Europe (40 per cent) and China (25 per cent).
The model has suffered from slower demand for its EVs and growing gross sales of hybrids in China and the US, with Lotus gross sales down 42 per cent year-on-year within the first three months of 2025.
Whereas Lotus recorded a $280.2 million loss within the first quarter of 2025, it was a greater outcome than the $394.7m loss it posted within the first three months of 2024.
In Australia, Lotus has offered solely 41 automobiles thus far this yr to July, down 65.5 per cent on the 119 automobiles it offered in the identical interval final yr.
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