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April 11, 2025 – Lotus has officially shelved plans to bring the 2026 Eletre electric SUV to the United States, blaming the steep escalation of tariffs on Chinese-built vehicles. The British brand, now owned by China’s Geely, had already cleared homologation and was ready to launch—until the duty rate jumped to 150 percent, making the business case collapse.
In a candid interview with MotorTrend, Massimiliano Trantini, President and CEO of Lotus Americas, explained that the company had completed all regulatory steps to sell the Eletre in America. It had passed crash tests, met safety standards, and even offered a limited-run 2025 Lotus Eletre Carbon edition at $230,000—a price that barely absorbed the initial 100 percent tariff.
“At that level, we could still justify it,” Trantini said. “But when the tariff rose to 150 percent, the math stopped working—for Lotus, for our dealers, and ultimately for our customers. We want to deliver genuine value, and at that price point it’s impossible.”
The result: the 2026 model year will see no Eletre in US showrooms. Lotus will instead focus its US lineup solely on the Emira sports car for 2027.
The Eletre represents a radical departure for Lotus, a company historically known for featherweight sports cars. This all-electric SUV weighs over 5,000 pounds, produces up to 905 horsepower in its R trim, and can hit 62 mph in 2.9 seconds. It debuted in 2022 with a 600-hp base variant and has since added a plug-in hybrid option in China.
Built alongside the Emeya sedan and the hand-built Evija hypercar, the Eletre was meant to broaden Lotus’s appeal in the luxury EV market. But US tariffs—and the looming threat of new legislation—have effectively locked it out.
The US initially imposed a 100 percent tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles in 2024, part of a broader push to protect domestic automakers and reduce reliance on Beijing. Lotus managed to launch a single 2025 Eletre Carbon edition, absorbing the cost through a low-volume strategy. But the 50 percentage point increase—pushed through under trade war escalation—tipped the scale.
Trantini noted that even the Carbon’s $230,000 sticker would have needed to rise by roughly another $100,000 under the 150 percent rate, pushing it into absurd territory. “At that level, you’re no longer selling a car; you’re selling a statement,” he said. “And that’s not our brand.”
Beyond tariffs, a more existential threat looms. Bipartisan legislation has been proposed in Congress that would ban sales of vehicles from any automaker with more than 15 percent Chinese ownership. Since Geely fully owns Lotus, such a bill would kill the brand’s US operations entirely—even for cars built in the UK, like the Emira.
Trade analyst Dr. Sarah Lin, who tracks US-China auto policy, told us: “The Eletre situation is a preview. If the ‘China-owned’ ban passes, Lotus would effectively be blocked from selling any vehicle in the US, regardless of factory location. The Emira is built in Hethel, but Geely’s ownership is enough to trigger the restriction.”
Lotus Americas declined to comment on the legislative risk directly, but sources close to the company say internal contingency plans include scouting for a non-Chinese joint venture partner or spinning off the US distribution arm. Neither option is cheap or quick.
For the 2027 model year, the only Lotus you can buy in America is the mid-engine Emira—a car that has earned strong reviews for its analog driving experience. But the Emira is also built in the UK, which does not shield it from the ownership-based ban risk.
Meanwhile, competitors like Porsche and Tesla are adding electric SUVs that directly poach the buyers Lotus hoped the Eletre would attract. Without a US-market EV, Lotus risks becoming a niche curiosity rather than a serious player in the luxury space.
The Eletre’s absence from the US market is a direct casualty of trade policy. Lotus had the product ready, the brand interest high, and the engineering sorted—but tariffs made pricing laughable and dealer margins negative. For now, American customers miss out on a 905-hp electric SUV that could have stood out in a crowded field.
Whether Lotus can survive in the US through the legislative storm ahead remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: the Eletre is not coming, and tariffs are the reason.
