Where Are Lotus Cars Made? Hethel UK vs Wuhan China by Model

Lotus builds its sports cars, the Emira and the Evija, at its own factory in Hethel, Norfolk, England, and builds its electric Eletre and Emeya at a plant in Wuhan, China that is owned and operated by Geely Holding. Lotus is a British brand that is now controlled by China’s Geely, so the answer depends on the model. This guide uses Lotus’s own website, read on October 15, 2026, and Lotus Technology’s annual report filed on April 28, 2026, to show which model comes from where, who owns which part of the business and how the two factories fit together.

Who Makes Lotus Cars? (Ownership Explained)

Two companies share the Lotus name, which is why the question sounds muddled. According to Lotus Technology’s annual report for 2025 (Form 20-F, filed April 28, 2026), Lotus Technology designs and develops the electric lifestyle models and sells all Lotus-branded cars, while Lotus UK, meaning Lotus Group International Limited and its subsidiaries, develops and manufactures the sports cars at Hethel.

Part of Lotus	What it does	Where	Ownership (as of the April 2026 filing)
Lotus UK (Lotus Cars)	Develops and builds the Emira and Evija; runs Lotus Engineering, which does consultancy for other carmakers	Hethel, Norfolk, England	Parent company is 51% Geely (through its Hong Kong arm) and 49% Etika, per the filing
Lotus Technology Inc.	Designs and sells the Eletre, Emeya and other EV lifestyle models; distributes the sports cars through its subsidiary LTIL	Wuhan, China (global headquarters); principal executive office in Shanghai	Nasdaq-listed since February 23, 2024 (ticker LOT); Geely Holding is its major shareholder
Geely Holding	Owns and operates the Wuhan plant and builds the Eletre and Emeya under contract	Wuhan, China	Chinese automotive group; also the controlling owner on the UK side

Is Lotus British or Chinese? Both, in different ways. Lotus Technology’s filing calls Lotus an iconic British brand, Lotus Cars is headquartered in Hethel and Lotus’s timeline records Geely Holding Group buying a 51% stake in Group Lotus in 2017. Lotus describes Group Lotus as part of Geely Automotive, so the company is British by heritage and design base and Chinese by ownership. If you are wondering how that compares with other marques, see who makes Aston Martin and who makes Jaguar.

Modern Production: Hethel, England vs. Wuhan, China

Factory	Models built (as of October 2026)	Powertrain	Run by
Hethel, Norfolk, England	Emira, Evija	Emira: petrol (turbo four-cylinder or supercharged V6). Evija: all-electric	Lotus UK
Wuhan, China	Eletre (SUV), Emeya (sedan)	Fully electric	Geely Holding, for Lotus Technology

Hethel. Lotus describes Lotus Cars as based in Hethel, the global headquarters for its sports car and hypercar manufacturing, the Lotus Advanced Performance Centre and a 2.2-mile test track. Lotus says each car is driven around that track as part of its final inspection. The factory tour page describes the Chapman Production Centre as recently upgraded in a 100 million pound overhaul of Lotus’s UK facilities, with the tour covering manufacture and hands-on assembly of the Emira from bare chassis to completed car.

Wuhan. Lotus Technology’s annual report says it works with an EV plant in Wuhan that is owned and operated by Geely Holding. The plant is purpose-built for EVs, covers more than one million square meters, can do stamping, welding, painting and assembly, and has a roughly 3 km quality-inspection track. The two companies signed a manufacturing arrangement for 10 years starting in 2022: Lotus handles design, development and brand standards, while Geely Holding handles production planning, quality control, logistics and running the plant. Lotus’s own factory page calls the site the Lotus Global EV Production Centre.

For scale, Lotus Technology reports that it delivered 6,520 vehicles in 2025, counting its EV lifestyle models and the Lotus sports cars it distributes. The filing gives that as one delivery figure, not a production count for each factory. For a longer, history-first walk through the same sites, see our companion piece Where Are Lotus Cars Manufactured?.

Key Models and Where They’re Made

Model	Type	Built at	Status (as of October 2026)
Emira	Mid-engine petrol sports car, launched 2021	Hethel	On sale; Lotus calls it its last petrol-powered sports car
Evija	Electric hypercar, unveiled July 2019	Hethel	Production limited to 130 cars; deliveries began in 2024
Eletre	Electric hyper-SUV, unveiled March 2022	Wuhan	On sale as the 600 and 900 range
Emeya	Electric hyper-GT, unveiled September 2023	Wuhan	On sale as the 600 and 900 range
Eletre X (called For Me in China)	Plug-in hybrid hyper-SUV, unveiled in China in March 2026	Not stated by Lotus	Listed on Lotus press page
Elise, Exige, Evora	Retired sports cars	Elise and Exige: Hethel	Production of all three ended during 2021
Elite, Elan	Classic sports cars	Cheshunt (Elite and early Elan)	Historic; the Elan stayed in production until 1973
Europa	Classic mid-engine sports car	Hethel	Historic; the first all-new car built at Hethel

One correction to a common claim: many summaries credit the Elan to Hethel. Lotus’s own history pages show Elan production at Cheshunt and say the first all-new car built at Hethel was the Europa. The second-generation Elise and the Exige came later, when Lotus moved its main assembly line to a new Hethel facility in 2000.

Lotus’s UK site lists four Emira models. It says the Turbo and Turbo SE use a turbocharged four-cylinder with an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox, while the V6 SE keeps a supercharged 3.5-litre V6 with a six-speed manual. All of them come from Hethel.

Original Manufacturing Locations

Lotus did not start in Norfolk. Lotus’s history page says Colin Chapman moved his workshops into the old stables behind the Railway Hotel in Hornsey, North London, shortly after founding the Lotus Engineering Company on 1 January 1952, and that the first three cars, the Marks 1, 2 and 3, were built in smaller premises before that.

A ban on industrial development in the city pushed him north of London. In June 1959 Lotus moved into new premises on Delamere Road in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, where the Elite, the single-seater race cars and, in time, the Elan were built. When a planning application to expand Cheshunt was turned down, Chapman looked further afield again and chose Hethel in the summer of 1966.

Hethel is a small village near the market town of Wymondham, about 10 miles (16 km) south of Norwich. Lotus says Chapman flew his own plane to the site, landed at the recently closed RAF Hethel airbase and judged that its runways, perimeter roads and buildings suited design, testing and manufacturing in one place.

Hethel Today: Test Track, Tours and Investment

RAF Hethel was built in 1942 and used by the United States Army Air Forces, then returned to the RAF before closing in 1948 and being sold to Lotus in 1966, according to Lotus. When Lotus arrived it kept half of each X-shaped runway as a test track, and that boomerang-shaped layout, modified many times, still exists as the 2.2-mile circuit with an FIA-approved surface. The site is about 55 acres excluding the track, and Lotus says almost nothing of the original base infrastructure remains.

• 2000: the headquarters building opened and the main assembly line moved to a new facility on site, which let Lotus assemble the second-generation Elise, the Exige and, at the time, the Opel Speedster and Vauxhall VX220.
• 2019: major building work began after Geely became majority shareholder, with a new assembly hall for the Evija, a new factory for the next generation of Lotus sports cars and a new restaurant.
• End of 2019: Lotus employed 1,345 people in the UK, up 35% on the year before.

Lotus also says Geely has stated that Hethel will remain the spiritual home of Lotus and the centre of the brand’s sports car production. That is the company’s own position, not a guarantee.

2026 Update: Lotus Technology and Lotus UK Come Together

The biggest 2026 change in the filing is about ownership, not factories. Lotus Technology says Geely HK exercised its put option on April 14, 2025 and Etika exercised its own on June 30, 2025, requiring Lotus Technology to buy 100% of Lotus UK through non-cash transactions. As of the April 28, 2026 filing, closing was expected in 2026 and could depend on approvals from governments in several countries. The company says the aim is to integrate all businesses and operations under the Lotus brand.

On products, Lotus’s UK site says the new-product push will add another smaller SUV and a new sports car before the end of 2026, all pure electric, and the filing says another EV sports car is to be launched by Lotus UK. Neither source says where those cars will be built, so any claim about a new factory location should be treated as unconfirmed until Lotus announces it.

Lotus Ownership Timeline: From Chapman to Geely

Year	Event (from Lotus unless noted)
1952	Colin Chapman forms the Lotus Engineering Company
1966	Lotus moves to a new factory on the former RAF base at Hethel
1968	Group Lotus PLC is established
1983	Toyota acquires a 16.5% stake in Lotus
1986	General Motors buys Group Lotus
1993	Bugatti buys Group Lotus from General Motors
1996	Proton announces an 80% majority stake in Group Lotus
2017	Geely Holding Group buys a 51% stake in Group Lotus
2021	Lotus Technology is created as a new division in Wuhan to make EVs from 2022
2024	Lotus Technology ADSs begin trading on Nasdaq on February 23 (per the annual report)

Each owner shaped what the factories do. Geely’s 2017 purchase is what brought the Hethel upgrade and the Wuhan division, while the 2021 decision to end the Elise, Exige and Evora left the Emira as the current sports car alongside the limited-run Evija. If you are weighing a Chinese-built Lotus for the US, our guide on whether Chinese-made cars are sold in the USA covers the wider picture, and where cars are made compares other brands.

Where Else Lotus Works: Engineering and Design Sites

• Lotus Engineering: headquartered at the Lotus Advanced Technology Centre on the University of Warwick’s Wellesbourne Campus in the UK, offering consultancy to carmakers and suppliers.
• Lotus Tech Creative Centre: a design studio in Coventry, UK, for Lotus lifestyle cars.
• Lotus Tech Innovation Centre: an engineering facility in Raunheim, Germany.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are Lotus cars manufactured?

As of October 2026, Lotus sports cars (the Emira and the Evija) are built at Lotus’s factory in Hethel, Norfolk, England, and the electric Eletre and Emeya are built at a Geely Holding plant in Wuhan, China, which Lotus calls its Global EV Production Centre.

Are Lotus cars made in the UK?

Yes, the sports cars are. Lotus Technology’s 2025 annual report says the Evija and the Emira are developed and manufactured by Lotus UK, and Lotus’s factory tour page describes Emira assembly at Hethel. The Eletre and Emeya are the models built outside the UK.

Who owns Lotus Cars?

Lotus Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: LOT) sells all Lotus-branded cars, and its major shareholder is Geely Holding. Lotus’s own timeline records Geely Holding Group buying a 51% stake in Group Lotus in 2017, and the 2025 annual report shows the remaining 49% of the UK parent held by Etika, with Lotus Technology expected to take over 100% of Lotus UK in 2026 subject to approvals.

Is Hethel the only Lotus factory?

No. Hethel has been the home of Lotus since 1966 and builds the sports cars, but the Eletre and Emeya are built in Wuhan, China, at a plant that Geely Holding owns and operates under a 10-year manufacturing arrangement with Lotus Technology that started in 2022.

Is Lotus a British or a Chinese company?

Both, depending on what you mean. Lotus Technology’s filing calls Lotus an iconic British brand, and Lotus Cars is headquartered in Hethel, but control sits with Geely, a Chinese automotive group, and Lotus Technology’s principal executive office is in Shanghai.

Where is the Lotus Eletre made?

In Wuhan, China. Lotus Technology says it makes all of its EV lifestyle models, which means the Eletre and the Emeya, through a contract manufacturing partnership with Geely Holding at an EV plant in Wuhan. The page for the plug-in hybrid Eletre X does not state a factory.

Is Lotus closing the Hethel factory?

Neither Lotus’s UK factory pages nor Lotus Technology’s annual report filed on April 28, 2026 announce a closure. As of October 15, 2026, Lotus’s UK site still takes orders for the Emira and lists factory tours at Hethel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Check Lotus’s press centre for current statements.

Can you tour the Lotus factory?

Yes. As of October 15, 2026, Lotus lists a two-hour Factory Tour of the Chapman Production Centre at Hethel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 102 pounds per person, with a maximum of 10 people per tour and a minimum age of 10. Prices and dates can change, so confirm on Lotus’s site before you book.

What this guide does not cover: model prices, per-factory production counts (Lotus does not publish a split) and any plan beyond what Lotus and Lotus Technology have stated. Facts are as of October 15, 2026 and can change.