3rd round of Redundancies at Lotus 😞

Lotus Cars job losses as 'volatile market' and US tariffs blamed

Up to 270 jobs are to go due to "evolving market conditions including the US tariffs", Lotus says.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[RoryBellows]

This must be in a very specific geographic part of the US for you.

I'm on the west coast and track used car trading values and discounts on new cars and this is simply not the case in most of the US. There have been documented cases of used cars (essentially new) trading for mid $80k (see BAT - Bring a trailer) and new cars getting $5k off MSRP with not a lot of effort (I got more on my recent purchase).

The reality is these cars are rare, but there's no correlation between exclusivity and value in the case of Lotus cars. BTW, all previous models played out identically. And before anyone says what about elises and exiges? Sure, but you had to wait 20 years to get your money back. That's not appreciation, that's called "time value of money" aka inflation. I'm sure my emir will trade for what I bought it for in 20+ years as well.

Exactly. Its a Lotus, not a special run Ferrari. It will depreciate, bottom out and then ride with inflation. Manuals will get a little bump but otherwise spec doesn't seem to mater much. Buy them to drive them. If you can find your spec used go for it and reap the savings.

 

[ShootingSight]

Enthusiasts like sports cars, and are willing to put up with poor quality - hence Emira which is fun to drive, and has a joke of an infotainment system. However there is little profit in that market. Porsche and Corvette are the only ones that are likely profitable here. The money to be made in cars is in making SUVs for the masses, and they demand quality - hence Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Porsche all making SUVs and using their sports car reputation as a marketing tool.

So, except for the current market events around tariffs, and the downturn of demand for EVs, buying Lotus was actually a brilliant move for Geeley, allowing them to get the sports car reputation, utilizing their EV technology, and getting into an untapped SUV opportunity. As a bonus, if Lotus know-how in chassis design and styling gave them a boost, it might have been an SUV worth looking at. Who knows, they might even have invested some engineering into the electrical quality issues Lotus traditionally has.

 

[Big H]

To be fair, Lotus has been staggeringly unlucky since the Emira launch: COVID pandemic, Ukraine war, US and European tariffs on Chinese EVs, and now the tariff war. They just can't catch a break.

Unfortunately they compounded this bad luck with a couple of major strategic blunders and terrible execution.

Strategic blunders: aiming for 100% EV at least five years too early, trying to reposition as a high-end luxury brand too quickly with Evija, Emeya and Eletre, plus a failed attempt to take over sales from the dealer network in the UK

Execution blunders: long list but includes not getting on top of quality control, going to market with software that wasn't ready, and having terrible customer communication and customer care

I can vouch for the terrible customer care, in fact i’d say it’s now non existent

 

[MiamiBlue]

4th round of Redundancies

It's a third of the current staff this time, and now 80% of the total UK Lotus staff gone in under 18 months.

Sportscar manufacturer Lotus to cut 550 jobs at Norfolk base

The BBC understands more than a third of workers at the Norfolk headquarters will lose their jobs.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[John_Matrix]

Precursor to production of Emira going to the US?

 

[geoffbland]

It's a third of the current staff this time, and now 80% of the total UK Lotus staff gone in under 18 months.

1,300 working in manufacturing there in July 2025 - this cuts it down to 750.

It's difficult to get actual figures but I think that is roughly the same as in 2017 prior to the Geely takeover.

 

[freefall_junkie]

Very sad to see. It strongly suggests new Emira sales are drying up. Where on earth are the S or R go faster variants to keep the market interested? It's almost like they have given up.

Interestingly the UK configurator, once I got past the toe curling 'are you a driver or what' strapline, is now only offering the I4.

 

[Eagle7]

This is not good. I was wondering if the reason why Matt stepped down and left Lotus was because Geely said they're going to shut down Hethel, and he said basically if Hethel goes he goes, and they said c'ya. This will be a huge mistake. Losing Hethel and moving production to somewhere in the U.S. will lose the mystique of Lotus. There's a reason why the brand has continued with a loyal following all these years.

Geely if you're reading this... learn from the mistake Jaguar made... learn from the mistake Cracker Barrel has just made. Changing the historical identity of certain types of brands is disastrous. A Lotus is more than just a sports car. Work something out with the U.K. government. Contact Donald Trump and work something out. He's a negotiator and loves to make deals. Instead of building a new factory in the U.S., invest in building a network of dealerships and support.

Maybe you can make a deal to make parts in the U.S., then ship them to Hethel to build the cars, and in return there's no tariff on completed cars being sold here. Think.... make a deal. There has to be a way.

 

[ShootingSight]

It'd be nice if assembly continued in England, but I'm more concerned that Emira production continue somewhere, even if it is in the US. I think that car is a real contender to the 911, or even the 718 GT4.

 

[Nick Sticks]

Very sad to see. It strongly suggests new Emira sales are drying up. Where on earth are the S or R go faster variants to keep the market interested? It's almost like they have given up.

Interestingly the UK configurator, once I got past the toe curling 'are you a driver or what' strapline, is now only offering the I4.

The V6 SE and the V6 SE Racing Line are still there on the UK configurator - you just have to click and drag the page to the left to reveal them.
It's not entirely obvious but the 5 dots below the row of models information shows there are 5 Emiras in the range.

 

[geoffbland]

It'd be nice if assembly continued in England, but I'm more concerned that Emira production continue somewhere, even if it is in the US. I think that car is a real contender to the 911, or even the 718 GT4.

If Lotus moves manufacturing to the US it will become the new MG.
Shame about the heritage but I guess we still have Caterham (and McLaren I guess).