Lotus reshuffles in the face of slowing sales and higher tariffs
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Geely, which owns Lotus, is merging the UK-based sports car division with the Chinese ‘lifestyle’ electric car division. So it will once again be a single entity.
The two have been separate since Geely spun off Lotus Technology and listed it on the stock market two years ago.
Now Lotus Technology will buy out Geely’s controlling share of Lotus UK in a move “that will enable the company to integrate all businesses under the Lotus brand”.
Read our review of Lotus Emeya S.
Lotus Technology was originally created so the public could invest in Chinese-built Lotus EVs. Most of the stock was held by Geely whereas Lotus UK is 49 per cent owned by Malaysian firm Etika.
What level of control Geely now has in the newly combined Lotus company has not been made public.
Lotus Technology has been adversely affected by the fall in demand for EVs among wealthier car buyers. It has also taken a hit from increased trade tariffs in the US, as has Lotus UK.
The latter said recently that it would cut up to 270 jobs at its Hethel plant because of Trump’s decision to implement a blanket 25 per cent tariff increase on all imported cars.
The cuts were also the result of falling sales of the petrol-powered Emira made there.
As a single company, Lotus Technology shareholders will now have greater exposure to the sports car division.
Lotus CEO, Qingfeng Feng, commented: “We are confident that the transaction will create substantial long-term value for our shareholders.”
Lotus sold 12,065 cars in 2024, up 70 per cent from 2023. It’s predicting a 20 per cent lift this year. China is likely to take more sales than in previous years where it has accounted for around one-quarter of production.
Sales of Chinese-built EVs in Europe have been adversely affected by the EU’s recent tariff hikes. Geely says it has added almost one-third to the cost of a shipped car.
Lotus will combat falling EV sales with the introduction of petrol-engined range-extender versions of its electric models. They are due out next year.
