Lotus is taking steps to shore up Hethel, its UK sports car factory, by kicking off exploratory talks to assemble Zenos' track legal road car, the E10. 

 

Not that the E10 will put much of a dent in Lotus's unused capacity: Zenos probably makes about 30 cars in a good year. Hethel's maximum annual capacity across two shifts is 10,000 cars: even on a single shift, last year’s 2,000 volume is painfully under-utilised. But it's the first step on a long road towards a bigger, stronger future.

 

That's the potential reformation of Hethel as a regional 'Performance Hub', with Lotus's engineering, sourcing and assembly capabilities outsourced to a series of clients to boost the acclaimed but struggling sports car business. Over time, the E10 – or future Zenos cars – could be re-engineered to share more components and know-how, boosting economies of scale for both parties.