Construction Begins on Plant to Make Lotus Cars in China

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. has begun erecting a factory in central China to make high-end Lotus cars for the local market.

The 9 billion-yuan ($1.3 billion) facility in Wuhan will have capacity to make 150,000 electric and conventionally powered vehicles per year when it opens in 2021, Automotive News China reports. The factory will be Lotus’ first outside England.

Lotus announced last month it is developing a crossover model to build in the new plant. The vehicle will ride on a variation of Volvo Cars’ SPA platform. Geely controls both companies.

The current Lotus lineup consists of the Elise, Evora and Exige high-performance sports cars. The British marque also said last month it also is developing a “practical” sports car that will be unveiled in 2020.