The UK business secretary,Jonathan Reynolds, is holding urgent talks with the management of Lotus, as the British sportscar maker insisted that it had no intention of shutting its Norfolk factory.
The emergency meeting was understood to be under way on Sunday morning. Reynolds contacted Lotus bosses after it emerged that it wasconsidering ending production of its sportscars in the UKand moving it to the US – a move that would jeopardise 1,300 jobs.
Lotus’s Chinese owner, Geely, was thought to be looking at options including manufacturing its Emira sportscar in the US, and permanently stopping production at its factory in Hethel,Norfolk.
Such a decision by a prestige brand would be embarrassing for the government. Labour’s industrial strategy, published last week, singled out automotive production as among the strategic sectors it wants to support.
In a statement on Saturday, Lotus insisted “the UK is the heart of the Lotus brand”, and its largest commercial market in Europe.
It said: “Lotus Cars is continuing normal operations, and there are no plans to close the factory. We are actively exploring strategic options to enhance efficiency and ensure global competitiveness in the evolving market.”
Lotus paused production at the Hethel factory in mid-May to manage inventories and supply chain issues caused by the US’s extra 25% tariffs on car imports.
Other UK carmakers halted exports to the US but have since resumed them, while waiting for aUK-US trade deal reached on 8 Mayto be implemented. On Monday, US tariffs are due to be reduced to 10%.
Lotus has the capacity to manufacture up to 5,000 Emira sportscars a year, which have a starting price of £75,000, at the Norfolk factory. About 60% of them are shipped to the US. It also makes an electric hypercar at the site in smaller numbers, which is priced at £2.3m plus.
Ben Goldsborough, the Labour MP for south Norfolk,said on Facebookhe was “deeply concerned” by the rumours surrounding a potential closure of Lotus’s Hethel facility.
Sign up toBusiness Today
Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning
after newsletter promotion
He said he had held telephone conversations with the management team and government ministers to “emphasise just how vital this site is – not only to the heritage of British automotive engineering, but to the local economy and skilled workforce that call Hethel home”. “These early-stage conversations have confirmed the seriousness of the situation,” he said, vowing to champion every feasible avenue including financial support, incentives and strategic partnerships.
Qingfeng Feng, the chief executive of Lotus Technology, told investors this week that the company was looking at shifting production to the US.
“At this moment, we are discussing with our strategic partners in the US on localisation plans in order to avoid the influence of the US tariff,” he said, according to a transcript of the call hosted by the data company Alphasense. “With our strategic partners, we had an in-depth discussion around our US landscape and we believe localisation is a feasible plan.”