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UK Brand Lotus Halves Production Targets Due To Import Tariffs
UK brand Lotus had its best half-year ever, a press release about the results of the past six months boasts. That may well be true, but the prospects for the transformed brand are a lot less sunny than a few months ago.
The fact that Lotus has had its best half-year ever with a sales increase of 239 percent is less remarkable than it seems. The brand, which was completely reborn under the flag of the Chinese Geely, presented the Eletre in 2022 and deliveries of that car did not start until mid-2023. As an electric SUV, which is also competitively priced compared to its competitors, the Eletre has much better credentials for serious sales figures than the feather-light, spartan two-seaters that the brand produced before it. The Emeya has also been presented in the meantime.
It is therefore not surprising that the British brand had sky-high expectations for 2024: no fewer than 26,000 Lotuses would be sold this year. However, this year brought more news than just electric Lotuses. Several countries and regions, notably the US and the EU, have imposed hefty import duties on electric cars produced in China. Sales expectations have therefore been revised downwards considerably and, at 12,000 units for 2024, are less than half of the original target. Lotus is also not making a profit, although that is not surprising given the start-up phase the brand is in. However, Lotus did see that loss increase compared to 2023 and promises that the arrival of the Chapman Bespoke program, among other things, will change that.
