Lotus to move some production to China, expand model lineup
Everyone's favorite plucky lightweight sports car company is fixing to get a lot bigger.
It looks like Lotus will be expanding production from its factory in Norfolk to China, according to a report published Thursday by Automotive News Europe.
British-built Lotuses haven't historically represented the last word in quality construction, so the Geely factory in China building the cars could be a boon for quality.
Geely bought a majority stake in Lotus in 2017 but has, until this point, been a mostly hands-off owner though it has rekindled plans to expand Lotus' lineup to include more luxurious cars and even -- GASP -- SUVs.
The new factory in China's Hubei province cost the company approximately $1.3 billion, and while it's not yet clear how much of the factory's estimated 150,000-car-per-year capacity the expanded Lotus line would use, we're betting it will be a lot more than the paltry 1,630 cars Lotus sold in 2018.
