Lotus Cars
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1952 |
| Founder | Colin Chapman |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | |
| Products | Automobiles |
Production output | 12,134 units (2024) |
| Revenue | $924 million (2024) |
| Owners |
|
Number of employees | 1,385 (2021) |
| Website | lotuscars.com |
Lotus Group (also known as Lotus Cars) is a British multinational automotive manufacturer of luxury sports cars and electric vehicles.
Lotus Group is composed of three primary entities. Lotus Cars is a high-performance sports car company based in Hethel, Norfolk. Lotus Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: LOT) is an all-electric lifestyle vehicle company, headquartered in Wuhan, China, that operates regional facilities in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany. Additionally, Lotus Engineering is an engineering consultancy firm headquartered at the Lotus Advanced Technology Centre (LATC) located at the University of Warwick's Wellesbourne Campus.
Lotus was founded by Colin Chapman and owned by him until his death in 1982. After this and a period of financial instability, Lotus was bought by General Motors, then Romano Artioli and then DRB-HICOM through its subsidiary Proton, which owned Lotus from 1996 to 2017. Lotus is currently majority-owned by Chinese multinational Geely. Between 2017 and 2025, Lotus traded as Lotus NYO in China due to a trademark dispute with Youngman.
Lotus was previously involved in Formula One racing, via Team Lotus, winning the Formula One World Championship seven times. Notable Lotus cars include the Lotus Seven, the Elan, the Esprit and the Elise.