Lotus Cars reveals Norfolk factory job cuts in move to electric

Lotus invested £100m in its base, near Wymondham, in 2021

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.

However, the firm said it achieved "record production levels in the UK" last year.

It said employees at its headquarters at Hethel, near Wymondham, and at the Lotus Advanced Structures site in Norwich would be affected.

The Lotus Emira was launched to appeal to a global market

A spokesperson said the changes were part of Lotus Cars' "wider strategy to deliver on its promise to become an all-electric luxury technology brand and ensure that we can compete effectively".

"Over the last year, Lotus achieved record production levels in the UK and in doing so identified a more efficient process where we can deliver our future target production volumes with less people on shift," the firm said.

"We remain firmly committed to the UK as the heart of our sports car operations."

The affected agency staff worked in manufacturing and material handling, the company said, and the permanent workers were in manufacturing, facilities and "materials-handling functions".

Teams would continue to make the Emira sportscar and the Evija hypercar, the spokesperson said.

• Tech Trends 2024: AI and electric vehicle deals

• Electric cars are the future, but is the UK ready?

• Will Tesla's cybertruck recover from its shattering start?

Lotus was founded in the early 1950s by engineer Colin Chapman and moved to Norfolk in the 1960s.

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.