Where Are Lotus Cars Manufactured? Hethel, UK and Wuhan, China

Lotus builds its sports cars at Hethel in Norfolk, England, and its electric models in Wuhan, China. Lotus says Hethel has been its home since 1966 and that the Lotus Global EV Production Centre in Wuhan was added in 2019, while Lotus Technology’s annual report says the Eletre and Emeya are made through a contract manufacturing partnership with Geely Holding in Wuhan. This guide names which model comes from which plant, with the source for each, and covers the 2025 Emira production pause and what Lotus said about Hethel in 2026. Plants and models change, so the facts below are dated as of October 25, 2026.

Where Are Lotus Cars Made Today?

Lotus has two production bases. Lotus’s own About Lotus page describes Hethel as the beating heart of the brand since 1966 and says Lotus expanded in 2019 with the Lotus Global EV Production Centre in Wuhan. It says Hethel cars are hand-assembled and tested on the Hethel Test Track before delivery, and that Wuhan keeps the same craftsmanship with added technology.

The model split matters more than the brand label. The 2025 annual report of Lotus Technology says the Emira and Evija are both developed and manufactured by Lotus UK, while all of its EV lifestyle models are manufactured under a contract manufacturing partnership with Geely Holding, at EV facilities Geely built in Wuhan. If you are checking one specific car, the next section lists it by model. For a shorter version of this answer, see our companion page Where Are Lotus Cars Made?.

Lotus Models and Where Each Is Built

The table pairs each model with the plant named in the source, so you can see what each claim rests on. Dates are launch or delivery dates stated by the sources, not production start dates.

Model	Where built	What the source says	Source
Emira	Hethel, Norfolk, UK	Launched in 2021; developed and manufactured by Lotus UK. Lotus’s factory tour page describes hands-on assembly of the Emira at Hethel.	Lotus Technology 2025 annual report; Lotus Factory Tours page
Evija	Hethel, Norfolk, UK	Launched in 2019; developed and manufactured by Lotus UK. Hethel added a new assembly hall for the Evija.	Lotus Technology 2025 annual report; Lotus Places page
Eletre	Wuhan, China	Deliveries began in 2023. All EV lifestyle models are made by contract manufacturing with Geely Holding in Wuhan.	Lotus Technology 2025 annual report
Emeya	Wuhan, China	Launched in September 2023, deliveries began in March 2024. Same contract manufacturing arrangement.	Lotus Technology 2025 annual report
Elise (second generation) and Exige	Hethel, Norfolk, UK	Lotus moved its main assembly line to a new Hethel facility in 2000, which allowed it to assemble the second-generation Elise and the Exige.	Lotus Places page
Europa	Hethel, Norfolk, UK	The first all-new car manufactured at Hethel.	Lotus Places page

The annual report also names a plug-in hybrid hyper-SUV called For Me (Eletre X in Europe), unveiled in China in March 2026; it gives no separate plant for it, so this guide does not either.

Hethel, Norfolk: The Home of Lotus Since 1966

Hethel is a small village near the market town of Wymondham, about 10 miles (16 km) south of Norwich, according to Lotus. The Lotus Places page says the site was RAF Hethel, built in 1942 and immediately transferred to the United States Army Air Forces, which flew Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers from it. After the war it went back to the British air force and closed in 1948. It was eventually sold to Norfolk County Council, which sold it to Lotus in 1966.

From a London stable to a Norfolk airfield

The Lotus Places page traces three homes. Colin Chapman moved his workshops into the old stables behind the Railway Hotel at Hornsey, north London, shortly after founding the Lotus Engineering Company on 1 January 1952. In June 1959 Lotus moved into newly built premises on Delamere Road in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, where the Elite continued to be built. When a proposal to expand Cheshunt was turned down, Chapman looked further afield and landed at the decommissioned Hethel airbase, which had the runways, perimeter roads and buildings he could use to design, test and build sports cars.

Date	Event	Source
1 January 1952	Lotus Engineering Company founded; workshops in the stables behind the Railway Hotel, Hornsey	Lotus Places page
June 1959	Move to new premises in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire	Lotus Places page
Summer 1966	Lotus moves to Hethel, Norfolk; the Europa is the first all-new car built there	Lotus Places page
2019	Major building work begins at Hethel, including a new Evija assembly hall and a factory for the next generation of sports cars; Lotus Global EV Production Centre in Wuhan added	Lotus Places and About Lotus pages
2022	New sports car manufacturing facility at Hethel opened to build the Emira	Autocar, 28 June 2025

What the Hethel site includes today

Lotus says the Hethel site is about 55 acres excluding the test track, and that almost nothing of the original base infrastructure remains. Half of each original X-shaped runway was kept as the test track, now a 2.2-mile circuit with an FIA-approved surface.

Lotus offers factory tours of the Chapman Production Centre on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Its tour page describes a two-hour tour covering manufacture and hands-on assembly of the Emira from bare chassis to completed car, priced at £102 per person as of October 25, 2026, with a maximum of 10 people. The page says the centre was recently upgraded as part of a £100m overhaul of Lotus’s UK facilities.

Wuhan, China: Where the Electric Lotus Models Are Built

Lotus describes the Wuhan plant as the Lotus Global EV Production Centre. Its Lotus Factories page says the centre has a Coordinate Measuring Machine laboratory that inspects a randomly selected vehicle every day, assessing more than 2,400 feature points. The page also describes high-speed servo panel-stamping lines with a five-step sequence and an integrated race track.

The business arrangement is separate from that description. Lotus Technology’s annual report (Form 20-F) for 2025 says it manufactures all EV lifestyle models through a contract manufacturing partnership with Geely Holding, using Geely Holding’s newly constructed manufacturing facilities dedicated to EVs in Wuhan. The same report says Lotus delivered a total of 6,520 vehicles in 2025, including lifestyle vehicles and Lotus-brand sports cars distributed through its sales network.

Plant location also decides trade rules. Autocar reported in June 2025 that the US imposed 100% tariffs on Chinese-built EVs, which forced Lotus to stop selling the Eletre there, while UK-built cars faced a 10% US import levy, as Autocar reported in May 2026.

Who Owns Lotus, and Does That Change Where Cars Are Built?

Ownership and factory location are separate questions. Lotus says Geely became the new majority shareholder in 2017 and that Geely stated Hethel would remain the spiritual home of Lotus and the centre of the brand’s sports car production. Autocar reported in June 2025 that Geely bought Lotus in 2017 from the Malaysian firm DRB-Hicom, which also owns Proton.

Lotus Technology’s annual report adds the current structure. It says Lotus Group International Limited, whose registered address is at Hethel, is wholly owned by Lotus Advance Technologies Sdn Bhd, which is 51% owned by Geely HK and 49% by Etika. Both holders exercised put options in 2025, so the report says Lotus Technology is expected to acquire 100% of Lotus UK, with closing expected in 2026 and subject to approvals.

Is Lotus Still Built in Norfolk? What Changed in 2025 and 2026

Yes, according to Lotus’s own statements, but the last two years were turbulent. In June 2025, Autocar reported that Lotus confirmed Emira production at Hethel had been paused since mid-May while it managed the effect of higher US tariffs. Lotus then posted a statement that it was continuing normal operations with no plans to close any factory, and that the UK is home to its sports car manufacturing, global design centre, motorsport operations and Lotus Engineering.

By May 2026, Autocar, 12 May 2026, reported that Lotus CEO Feng Qinfeng dismissed reports of a closure as a rumour and said Lotus plans to keep the UK factory running. Autocar quoted him saying the 2025 US tariffs hit Hethel hard because most of its output goes to the US, and reported that Lotus cut 550 British jobs, roughly 40% of its UK workforce, in the summer of 2025.

Item	Figure reported	Source and date
Emiras assembled at Hethel in 2024	Around 5,000	Autocar, 28 June 2025
Hethel output as of May 2026	Around 2,000 cars per year	CEO Feng Qinfeng, via Autocar, 12 May 2026
Hethel capacity	Around 10,000 cars	Autocar, 28 June 2025 (theoretical); CEO via Autocar, 12 May 2026 (outright capacity)
Share of Emira output sold in the US	60 to 65%	Autocar, 12 May 2026
UK jobs cut in summer 2025	550, about 40% of UK workforce	Autocar, 12 May 2026

The numbers show how far output moved: around 5,000 Emiras in 2024 against around 2,000 cars a year in the CEO’s May 2026 account. Both sources put the plant’s capacity at about 10,000. These are reported statements, not audited production data.

What comes next for Hethel

Autocar reported in May 2026 that Lotus considers Hethel the best location for its upcoming Emira hybrid and Type 135 sports cars. The Type 135 is now planned as a hybridised V8 rather than the pure-electric car first planned, alongside a new plug-in hybrid Emira. The CEO said Lotus is investigating producing the two models at Hethel and that it would require a lot of preparation, especially on the supply chain. Reasons given were the 10% US import levy on UK-built cars, the skills already at the plant and its spare capacity. This is a plan under investigation, not a confirmed production start.

Could Lotus build cars in the US?

Autocar reported in June 2025 that Lotus CEO Feng Qinfeng said localisation in the US was a feasible plan, and that the strongest possibility was moving some production, possibly including the Emira, to Volvo’s under-utilised plant in South Carolina. By May 2026 the CEO called Hethel the best option for the two new hybrid sports cars. No Lotus is reported as being built in the US.

This guide does not cover pricing, delivery times or the performance of individual models; use Lotus’s own pages for those.

Frequently Asked Questions About Where Lotus Is Made

Where are Lotus cars made?

Lotus sports cars such as the Emira and Evija are made at Hethel in Norfolk, England, where Lotus has been based since 1966. Lotus Technology’s annual report for 2025 says its EV lifestyle models, including the Eletre and Emeya, are made through a contract manufacturing partnership with Geely Holding at EV facilities in Wuhan, China.

Is Lotus still built in Norfolk?

Yes. Lotus said in June 2025 that it had no plans to close any factory, and in May 2026 its CEO said Lotus plans to keep the UK factory running, according to Autocar.

What country is Lotus from?

Lotus is a British brand. It was founded by Colin Chapman, with the Lotus Engineering Company founded on 1 January 1952 at Hornsey in north London, according to Lotus. Its home since 1966 is Hethel in Norfolk. Geely became the majority shareholder in 2017, per Lotus.

Are Lotus cars made in China?

Some are. The Eletre and Emeya are electric models manufactured in Wuhan, China, per Lotus Technology’s annual report. The Emira and Evija are developed and manufactured by Lotus UK at Hethel, England, per the same report.

Are Lotus cars made in the US?

No Lotus is built in the United States according to the pages used for this guide. Autocar reported in June 2025 that Lotus was exploring moving some production to a Volvo plant in South Carolina, which is a plan that was reported, not a plant that is building Lotus cars.

Who owns Lotus?

Lotus says Geely became the new majority shareholder in 2017. The ownership details are in the section above.

Conclusion

Where Lotus cars are made depends on the model: the Emira and Evija come from Hethel, Norfolk, and the Eletre and Emeya come from Wuhan, China, according to Lotus and Lotus Technology’s own documents. Hethel has been home since 1966, its future was questioned in 2025, and Lotus says it plans to keep it running and to build new hybrid sports cars there. Check Lotus’s own pages for the current position before relying on any plant claim, since plants and models change.