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The luxury automotive segment has long struggled to decouple itself from petrol. In 2026 alone, several high-end automakers walked back their EV targets or revised their electrification timelines: Lamborghini axed plans for its fully-electric Lanzador, whilst Rolls-Royce pledged to continue selling petrol vehicles beyond 2030.
Iconic British sports car manufacturer Lotus is among the automakers turning its focus away from EVs to hybrid models in a bid to respond to fluctuating demand for electric vehicles. Whilst the EV industry continues to make good headway in Europe and cut new inroads in Southeast Asia and South America, the U.S. market has faced uncertainty following the sunsetting of the federal EV tax credit. In Singapore, EVs accounted for 56% of sales in the first two months of 2026, compared to less than 6% in the U.S.
In an interview with the Financial Times, chief executive of Lotus Group, Qingfeng Feng, said that EVs would account for under half of their entire lineup—the rest coming from hybrids. This is a much more conservative estimate than previously predicted by the company, now owned by Chinese conglomerate Geely, which had banked on a lineup of 90% EV sales by 2028.
Speaking at the Beijing Auto Show, Feng added, “I believe that plug-in hybrids are going to be a long-term trend.”
Lotus’ first plug-in hybrid will be the Eletre X, expected to launch in Europe in June. The model is unlikely to make it to the market in the U.S., owing to steep import tariffs levied on Chinese-built vehicles imported into the U.S. under the Trump administration’s patchwork tariff strategy.
As it stands, this premium SUV will be available in both hybrid and an all-electric version.
Where back in 2019 the future of the automotive industry looked clear—with BEVs heralded as the future of the industry—in 2026 the future is more uncertain. Geely-owned Lotus represents the latest automaker to pivot away from pure electrification to a mixed lineup of EVs, hybrids, and ICE vehicles.
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