31/10/2011
Lotus have today confirmed that production of its range of ‘new era’ cars including the Esprit, Elite, Elise, Eterne and city car, the Ethos will be at its existing headquarters in Hethel, Norfolk and not abroad. The news comes as Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced 119 successful bids in the second round of the Regional Growth Fund and with Lotus applying for £10m to aid expansion of the Hethel site as encouraged to by the government after being turned down in the first round.
Automated production lines will be a feature for the first time ever at the plant in order to streamline production which will be necessary for Lotus to produce the predicted 6,000 – 8,000 cars per year as planned in the ‘new era’ and along with the 1,100 extra staff required it is calculated that the supply chain will need 800 new jobs to maintain the required externally produced components volumes. Great news for Hethel and the local area as there were allusions that the manufacturing could end up abroad with Austria’s Magna Steyr a favourite to take the work on as they release capacity with their current production of the Aston Martin Rapide moving back to England in 2012.
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