The Geely-owned luxury green-car maker reduced its net loss last year even as its sales plunged, highlighting difficulties of operating in a fiercely competitive market



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<h4>Key Takeaways:</h4>



<ul>
<li>Geely-owned Lotus Technology's revenue dropped 44% in 2025 to $519 million, while its deliveries decreased 46%</li>



<li>The company's first plug-in hybrid vehicle marks a retreat from its all-EV promise, and its distressed balance sheet raises questions about its viability without parental support</li>
</ul>



For a company whose brand is synonymous with lightweight engineering and razor-sharp handling, Lotus Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:LOT) is carrying a lot of excess baggage these days.



The latest annual results from the Geely-owned (0175.HK) electric-vehicle (EV) unit of the legendary British sports car maker show its financial health is improving somewhat, at least in terms of profitability. But it doesn't take much digging to discover the company's business remains very much on life support, as it navigates a brutal EV price war that has prompted a drastic strategic shift and left its balance sheet in distress.



Lotus managed to narrow its net loss by 58% for 2025 to $464 million, according to the results released last Friday. The fourth quarter was especially good in that regard, as its net loss shrank more than 80% year-over-year to $86 million. In the company's earnings announcement, CFO Wang Daxue touted &#34;improved margin performance&#34; on the back of &#34;cost optimization and operational efficiency.&#34;



And indeed, Lotus' gross margin swung from a negative 11% in the fourth quarter of 2024 to a positive 10% for the most recent reporting period. Its full-year gross margin also tripled to 9% from 3%. This seems like progress that puts the company on a promising trajectory. But it is progress from a very deep hole, and the path to profitability doesn't look easy.



The most glaring problem is the company's collapsing top line. Lotus Technology's total revenue for 2025 plunged 44% to $519 million, with deliveries dropping 46% to just 6,520 vehicles. To put the latter figure in perspective, rival luxury brand Ferrari (RACE.MI) shipped more than 13,000 units last year even as it underwent a significant portfolio makeover. The more mainstream Tesla (TSLA.US) moves more cars in an average two-day span than what Lotus sold in all of last year. Even Polestar (PSNY.US), another Geely-backed money-loser, delivered 44,000 vehicles last year.



Lotus' lifestyle sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and sedans, its mass-market proposition, saw deliveries fall 33% last year. Its sports cars, the brand's soul, fell by an even large 62%.



Lotus, despite its heritage and Geely's deep pockets, remains a microscopic player in a global EV race that increasingly demands massive scale. Zhu Jiangming, founder of the much larger Leapmotor (9863.HK) EV brand, said last year that an EV maker requires annual sales of at least 2 million cars for long-term viability – more than 300 times what Lotus sold last year.



<h4>Tariff headwinds</h4>



In Lotus' earnings report, &#34;tariff headwinds&#34; are cited as a factor behind the sales slump. That's particularly revealing, since Lotus has touted its European base, including operations in Britian and the EU, as a shield against the duties Brussels has slapped on Chinese-built EVs.



But in reality, Lotus relies on its Geely-built factory in Wuhan to make most of its mass-market products. On the company's earnings call, CEO Feng Qingfeng said U.S. and EU tariffs against Chinese-made EVs drove up prices of its cars in Europe, while &#34;for the U.S. market, basically, it is impossible for us to enter.&#34;



Lotus also blamed &#34;gradual&#34; inventory destocking and a &#34;phased rollout&#34; of upgraded models, which basically is an admission that it's making more cars than it can sell, as consumers balk at the higher prices it must charge as a result of Western tariffs for its China-made cars. As U.S. and EU tariffs kicked in, sales from Europe and North America fell to 50% of the company's total last year from 61% in 2024.



More fundamentally, demand for luxury EVs has hit a wall globally. Buyers willing to spend more than $100,000 on a battery-powered SUV are no longer as plentiful as they were in the low-interest-rate environment of 2021. Consumers in Western markets, especially the U.S., have also shown less enthusiasm for pure electric vehicles than their Asian counterparts.



<h4>Strategic pivot</h4>



Lotus' answer to that reluctance is its first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle named For Me, which began to be delivered in China in March. This may be an inevitable move to spark growth, but it marks a bitter tactical retreat. Lotus spent years and billions of dollars promising a fully electric future. The company went public in 2024 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) with a mantra of zero emissions. Now, just about two years later, it's falling back on a car with a gasoline engine range extender, casting doubts on Lotus' future as a purely green car specialist.



The pivot does make commercial sense. A hybrid offers a longer range than a pure EV, addressing the primary problem with luxury EVs. On the other hand, though, it muddles the brand message. Lotus is now a luxury EV maker that is selling a hybrid to people who aren't ready for purely battery-powered cars.



The state of its balance sheet suggests Lotus didn't have much choice in the shift as it burns through its cash quickly. Its cash holdings shrank nearly 30% to just $73 million at the end of last year from 12 months earlier.



The liquidity situation would look potentially life-threatening without the implied lifeline from Geely. The company's total current liabilities of $2.4 billion dwarf its current assets of $911 million. Among its debt, the company had a staggering $784 million in short-term borrowing from related parties alone at the end of 2025, a fourfold increase from a year earlier. Effectively, Geely has become Lotus's bank, writing checks to keep it afloat.



Lotus is also counting on selling technology as part of its business mix. Its service revenue, which includes income from R&amp;D licensing and technical consulting, jumped nearly 70% to $56 million last year. CEO Feng boasts about the company being the second automaker globally to receive UN R171.01 certification for its intelligent driving technology. This is a plausible narrative for a tech firm, but it's questionable how much this business will grow to offset the company's massive losses related to its main car business in any significant way.



At this stage, Lotus looks like a restructuring story at best. Its stock popped at one point last Friday after its earnings announcement, but gave up the gains a day later. It trades at a price-to-sales (P/S) of 1.8, well below 13 for Tesla and 7.6 for Ferrari. For all its luxury image, Lotus is increasingly looking like a battered asset that's becoming an increasing drag on Geely. Investors may want to keep the company in the garage until it proves it has the necessary horsepower to become a competitive player in the brutal global EV race.



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Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.

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Geely-owned Lotus Technology has narrowed its net loss by 58% to $464 million in 2025, despite a 44% drop in revenue to $519 million and a 46% decrease in deliveries. The company faces challenges in a competitive EV market, with its first plug-in hybrid vehicle marking a strategic shift from its all-EV promise. Tariff headwinds and declining demand for luxury EVs have impacted sales, leading to a distressed balance sheet. Lotus' gross margin improved, but it remains a small player in the global EV race, far behind competitors like Ferrari and Tesla.

- Lotus Technology, owned by Geely, reported a 44% revenue drop to $519 million in 2025, while net losses narrowed to $464 million.  
- The company faces significant challenges in the competitive EV market, including a failed promise of all-electric vehicles and reliance on hybrid models, which muddles its brand identity.  
- With substantial debts and decreasing consumer interest in luxury EVs, Lotus's future hinges on support from Geely and a strategic pivot towards hybrid technology to regain market traction.

Geely-Owned Lotus Tech Narrows Losses, But Concerns Linger