Lotus Technology, the Chinese division of the brand, has acquired a controlling interest in Lotus Advance Technologies, the UK division of the brand. So now it's just one company.
Confused? Understandable. How many versions of Lotus were there anyway?
Since 2023 there have been 2 very separate ones, or maybe 3 depending on how you look at it. Lotus Advance Technologies has been the UK-based headquarters of sports cars, hypercars and the engineering consultancy work that keeps the brand quite busy but isn't talked about a whole lot (commercial sensitivity and all that). The kind of stuff we might think of as "traditional" Lotus fare.
Lotus Technology is the brand-new arm, based in Wuhan, China (a place that's famous for all the wrong reasons) that's focused on luxury cars/SUVs and EVs. And especially luxury EVs.
The whole lot is under the umbrella of Group Lotus, a partnership between Chinese giant Geely and Malaysian firm Etika.
So essentially the parent company is swapping out its shares in the UK division so that the Chinese operation can run the whole lot.
What does the Lotus/Lotus takeover mean?
It's tempting to see the move as a distress situation, given that Lotus UK announced 270 job losses earlier this month, which it blamed on market volatility and US tariffs.
But there has also been a plan in place for this to happen since the brace of Lotus operations were established. Geely has held a "put option" since 2023, requiring Lotus Technology to purchase 51% of Lotus Advance Technologies, once the latter sold more than 5000 vehicles in a year; which it did in 2024.
If we were clear on the ramifications of all of this, we'd be running a car company, not publishing a website. But plenty of commentators are saying it could be a good thing, making the whole entity a whole lot more competitive and cohesive.
"This acquisition marks a critical milestone in our strategic journey to fully integrate all businesses under the Lotus brand," says Qingfeng Feng, chief executive officer. "It will strengthen brand equity and enhance our operational flexibility and internal synergies."