Future of Lotus

[Bruss]

"Sports car manufacturer Lotus has announced job cuts across its two factories in Norfolk as it moves towards electric-only production.

The business said it was primarily "reducing agency workers" but that a "reduction of up to" 30 permanent UK-based roles was also being proposed.

Lotus Cars posted significant financial losses in its most recent accounts.

Lotus Cars made a loss before tax of £145.1m in the 2022 calendar year, versus a deficit of £86.6m in 2021.

Only in 2021 it announced £100m in investment for the Hethel base, before, in 2023, revealing the "loss of up to 200 jobs".

Lotus sold 576 vehicles during 2022, compared with 1,566 in 2021."

 

It doesn't matter which way you cut it, this is not good news.

 

 

 

 

 

[Rambo]

20 hours ago, Rambo said:

https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/24029628.lotus-group-makes-30-norfolk-staff-redundant-hethel/

Keep up at the back Bruss 🤣

[Kimbers]

They got rid of the Cheaper models too quickly. During a transition period you need income and to continue to support your network. This means selling cars and service packages, managing all those peripherals that dealers make money on and making cars that your customers want to buy.

When they announced stopping building everything else and just bringing out one Petrol Model (and that was delayed) it was obvious it would have an effect on their accounts and bottom line.

My biggest worry is if this is the thin edge of the wedge. 

"See told you Lotus built in the UK isn't viable but look how much we make on our Electric cars built in China!".

There should still be an entry level model built, a next step model and then the Emira. EV sales are still very small in some of the biggest markets, Europe, UK, America etc. 

[exeterjeep]

UK Lotus registrations for Dec is 128, so year total being 1556

and somehow McLaren regd  73 in Dec making a YTD of 257.

 

 

[stevensr34]

On 10/01/2024 at 01:45, Kimbers said:

There should still be an entry level model built, a next step model and then the Emira. EV sales are still very small in some of the biggest markets, Europe, UK, America etc.

Yes - but unfortunately the future direction of Lotus is found in their "Vision80" statement:

"Transform the brand from a heritage automotive company to an all-electric, intelligent, luxury mobility provider by 2028" 

Sigh.

[Kimbers]

17 hours ago, stevensr34 said:

"Transform the brand from a heritage automotive company to an all-electric, intelligent, luxury mobility provider by 2028" 

 

That is pretty....... pretentious and just a lot of words that sound great added together to form a meaningless blurb.

They would have been better saying we are stopping being a desirable car maker to an electric scooter maker.

It just doesn't make sense. We want to stop making desirable cars that people love and have a passion for and want to make EV's.

I know (currently) that EV's are being mooted as the future but they have jumped far to quickly and without consideration that the UK and worldwide markets just aren't ready and won't be for at least 15 years.

[C8RKH]

@Kimbers, they bet their shirt on a one legged donkey in the Epsom derby.

I also believe that the locally hired senior management have been fairly shite, in that they have just rolled over, taken the money, and not questioned anything or rocked the boat.

This is only going one way, and if you want to see the future of Lotus, look at MG. This is not the "better" Volvo story.

[yeller77]

1 hour ago, C8RKH said:

This is only going one way, and if you want to see the future of Lotus, look at MG. This is not the "better" Volvo story.

It's more like the Polestar story. Though not a manufacturer per se, it's worth remembering what a Polestar badge once meant.  

[C8RKH]

I can't remember already @yeller77

[ramjet]

I wonder how many Lotus execs have electric company cars now?

[ChrisJ]

On 02/01/2024 at 19:13, ChrisJ said:

@exeterjeep - wasn't doing anything this evening, so went for a drive down there. Showroom is present with a number of Lotus cars already there.

You can't see it on Google Maps yet as it is all a brand new building - It's a whole prestigious cars area with Lamborghini, Maserati, Ferrari, Bugatti (and others) in the same complex that I could see. There's also McLaren, Aston Martin, LR/Jag across the road with Porsche just down the road.

Passed by today, stopped and had a wander around outside. They have plenty of stock

More inside. Am going to rock up in the Esprit next week and see if Olive and I can both have a go in them

 

[exeterjeep]

The opening of HR Owen has finally made the motoring press... 

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/car-dealer-group-h-r-owen-adds-lotus-to-luxury-and-performance-line-up/297152

and part of it says. (assume this means this spring - so not too long before it may be doing the rounds of the retailers...)

The Emeya – an electric four-door hyper-GT – boasts a dual-motor set-up that delivers up to 905hp, accelerates from 0-60mph in 2.8 seconds, and has a claimed range of up to 370 miles. Customer deliveries start in the spring.

 

[ChrisJ]

I forgot - they had a rare black badge car

[jonwat]

Article in today's Times but its behind a paywall.

[Bravo73]

1 hour ago, jonwat said:

…but its behind a paywall.

FYI, https://12ft.io or https://archive.is can help get past paywalls. 

[Bibs]

Quote

To mark its 75th anniversary last year, it built a shiny new heritage centre, which would not exist without the $2 billion that Geely, the Chinese automotive group, has promised to pump into the brand after taking control more than six years ago.

They're referring to Classic Team Lotus here - The new premises has been there for six years and is not part of Lotus or owned by Geely.

[jonwat]

1 hour ago, Bibs said:

They're referring to Classic Team Lotus here - The new premises has been there for six years and is not part of Lotus or owned by Geely.

Typical of lazy Times journalism,  not what it used to be.

[hedgerley]

Absolutely nothing new but nice to see Lotus getting significant exposure in the business section.

[Bibs]

Good exposure but awful article! 

 

[hedgerley]

Ah yes, the pay wall. Well, if you can zoom in far enough, it's yours to read. But nothing new at all and totally uninteresting to the Lotus cognoscenti. In fact, don't know why I bothered posting it 😄 Nice pictures though.....

[jonwat]

Slightly off topic but the Sunday Times reports McLaren are struggling:

McLaren has received a £30 million injection from its Bahraini owners as the British supercar-maker struggles to secure its long-term future

Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, invested fresh capital last week — just two months after pumping £80 million into the group. The new funds take the total injected by shareholders to nearly £500 million over the past year.

Woking-based McLaren, which owns a 70.25 per cent stake in the Formula One team of the same name, has hired financial advisers from Teneo to advise on its capital structure to avoid repeated top-ups from Mumtalakat, according to City 

It is understood that McLaren will use some of the £30 million of fresh capital to develop new products.

Paul Walsh, the former chief executive of drinks giant Diageo, was hired as McLaren executive chairman in March 2020 when Mumtalakat led a £300 million equity injection — separate from the funds put in over the past year — to support the company’s “long-term strategy” at the time.

But the business has suffered a number of false dawns since, forcing the board to go cap-in-hand to investors on several occasions. Like many of its competitors, McLaren was hit by global shortages of computer chips.

Auditors warned in September that McLaren was facing material uncertainty over its ability to continue trading for the next 12 months. A spokesman for McLaren said that last week’s £30 million funding was “part of an ongoing recapitalisation process to support McLaren’s product development strategy”.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 4 by jonwat

[jep]

McLaren have been in deep do-do since COVID. 

Former CEO Flewitt had the wrong business plan. No SUV. They have to make one. Otherwise they cannot remain independent. 

Artura launch was a disaster.

McLaren as we know them are almost certainly finished. Sad to say. 

Justin 

[C8RKH]

It's a shame, but I think you're right @jep

Given the very recent news re EV sales, and moves like Volvo's with Polestar, Renault with Ampere, and both Ford and GM throttling back, is Lotus' decision to go all electric now looking wise? And will Lotus end up like Polestar, or worse?

[Bibs]

All of the companies adapt. Remember 5/6 years ago Lotus and many other OEM's weren't really in the EV space but governments around the world have mandated bans on ICE's so they all adapted. Similar to margarine and diesel cars, they're realising that EV's aren't the ticket so it'll all change again soon enough, either to hydrogen or synthetic fuel or whatever. 

[C8RKH]

Having gone "all in" with EV, the key question is will Lotus have the time/resources to adapt again, and how will that fit in Geely's portfolio?

Part of the reason for the issues, is that Western Governments have acted foolishly to push EV's, but it is China who is now dominating the manufacture of EV's. So why do they need a "british" EV brand and base that potentially they are having to throw a lot of money at, at a time when demand and therefor returns, is falling?

That's the issue with Volvo and Polestar, with Ampere, etc. More than ever it calls in to question the strategy that Lotus have fallen into so quickly.

Time of course, will tell.

Edited February 4 by Bravo73