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

 

[DerTheDer]

Lotus has the winning formula. They have a product people want really, really bad. Covid 19 really messed them up with the delays. I think we would be seeing a different picture if Covid/Current administration didnt cause some issues.

 

[Lauren]

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

Just seen this on the news tonight... Don't be surprised if Hethel goes bust!

 

[F1 SML8R]

The second article is old news and was explained as needed to reset some parts of the manufacturing workflow.

 

[Lauren]

The second article is old news and was explained as needed to reset some parts of the manufacturing workflow.

Sorry, I have been out of touch with what's going on with Lotus... I will delete the old news. Lol

 

[Teshoo Lama]

Victims of inflation throughout the supply chain, and eroded purchasing power, in my view. The cars are now absurdly overpriced.

A poster on Pistonheads reported that their local Lotus dealer hasn't received a single new order since the latest round of price hikes.

Employers have also just had a massive tax hike here in the UK, so expect lots of planned layoffs now "because tariffs".

 

[Nick in Sydney]

They can't keep all the workers if the US market is closed to Lotus for the foreseeable future. US has been accounting for about one-third of Emira sales, so it's a major blow to the business. Sadly, they've also lost several of the key Emira design team since merging the Hethel team in with the EV designers in Conventry.

All of the following have left the business:

Daniel Durrant - lead exterior designer on Emira
Jon Stratham - head of Emira interior design
Jennifer Andriamamonjy - came up with Emira interior concept

 

[m33Porsche]

I doubt very much that small purchasing scale is an issue with geely ownership. I think as above losing a 1/3 of your market and downscaling volume is the most likely cause

 

[Man.v.Cars]

Why are they losing 1/3rd of their market, tariffs have surely stayed the same for UK businesses.

 

[cwfg]

Lotus is not looking healthy tbh. Emira pricing has risen above a threshold where the car is no longer a “no brainer” for some which will significantly lower demand for new cars, along with tariffs halting exports, it’s a big hit. Uncertainties in the EV market make that fraught with risk too - demand will tank as soon as tax incentives dry up completely and then the used market is an absolute shambles as no one wants a used EV so they are stuck with used stock they can’t shift. Interest rates on used cars are jaw dropping and the 0% deals on new have now stopped (UK at least) on all but the Eletre which they are having to prop up because they can’t shift them. All considered, rough times ahead.

 

[MiamiBlue]

Lotus is not looking healthy tbh. Emira pricing has risen above a threshold where the car is no longer a “no brainer” for some which will significantly lower demand for new cars, along with tariffs halting exports, it’s a big hit.

They've become silly expensive to finance too. My FE speced up today is now at £109K (up from 107 this month because of higher tax). The forecast depreciation remains high. So if you PCP over 3 years you're paying £50-60K of the value off, while also paying the interest of the total £109K. My local dealer has 6.9% as their 'deal'. This all adds up to monthly payments in the thousands, and you have to hand the car back after 3 years or find another £60K.
I just don't see customers paying this sort of money. I suspect the order book will be very small this year, and if they permanently lose the American market.. well they're in real trouble

 

[Man.v.Cars]

Looking good for when I put mine up for sale in July. Current spec price of mine is £107,000 madness.

 

[Nick in Sydney]

Why are they losing 1/3rd of their market, tariffs have surely stayed the same for UK businesses.

Not for cars. 25% on cars.

 

[Nick in Sydney]

Lotus is not looking healthy tbh.

I agree. I'm afraid they're in real trouble and totally reliant on Li Shufu's willingness to keep funding their massive losses so his automotive empire can include a prestige sportscar brand with racing heritage.

 

[idleuser]

Tariffs aside, this is what happens when 2/3 if your current offering is not considered a market contender. If they had stuck with what Lotus was good at they wouldn’t be in this predicament.

 

[Nick in Sydney]

Tariffs aside, this is what happens when 2/3 if your current offering is not considered a market contender. If they had stuck with what Lotus was good at they wouldn’t be in this predicament.

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

 

[Orchardbike]

To be fair, they did get staggeringly unlucky: 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 and trying to reposition as a high-end luxury brand too quickly with Evija, Emeya and Eletre.
Execution blunders: long list but includes never getting on top of quality control, going to market with software that wasn't ready, and having terrible customer communication and customer care

Hear, hear on the terrible customer service.

 

[freefall_junkie]

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

Add to the execution blunders the absolutely inept management of the UK market. Lotus built UK Emiras to order without requiring the customer to make a binding financial commitment until after the car was built. They carried on doing this long after they were hit with a wave of cancellations leading to a huge number of orphaned cars, chronic over supply and tanking residual values. Madness and wholly avoidable.

 

[Man.v.Cars]

Reading on another forum someone said they had flown a drone recently over Hethel and counted close to 200 Emiras in the open with covers on.

It's not just the 25% tariff on cars but also the higher cost of tariffs on parts from China.

JCT600 Bradford recently purchased stock direct from Lotus, all look to be preowned and starting to appear on their forecourt. Auto100.co.uk being pushed out?

 

[geoffbland]

The UK charges 10% on car parts imported from China although 0% for completed Chinese cars and has done for some time.

Chinese car tariffs will not go ahead, UK Government confirms

Tariffs which would have increased the price of some Chinese-made electric cars have been shelved

www.whatcar.com