Future of the Evora in the USA

[name_bran]

@Ccd I agree. I haven't been in and around the Lotus community long enough to know all the ins and outs and whys and why-nots. But that also gives me a fresh, unjaded perspective about this whole thing. My dealer told me that they didn't want the general public to know this car was coming because they already announced the GT430 was coming here back when it was released however long ago that was...and then it never happened. So I guess they don't want to give US customers false hope again maybe? I'm not sure. It is odd, and I'm dying to know official specs on the car. 

In the same vein, Porsche hasn't officially announced any specs/pricing for the upcoming GT4 either, and I'm sure lots of people have their deposits down on them. So, I can sort of empathize a little bit. This is a special car that will be made in limited quantity, and it looks like Lotus has filled a majority of their 20MY orders without any announcement at all. That said, I'm sure they'd have customers beating down their doors for one of these GTs if they just did a press release for it, and they need all the sales they can get. So yeah, for a company like Lotus, it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. 

[Ccd]

The approach of Lotus is especially curious as the GT will be the only car from Lotus until the entirely new models arrive no sooner than 2-3 years (hyper car not included).  I’d think you would want to make a big deal out of this car and garner as much press coverage as possible

[Bruss]

4 minutes ago, Ccd said:

The approach of Lotus is especially curious as the GT will be the only car from Lotus until the entirely new models arrive no sooner than 2-3 years (hyper car not included).  I’d think you would want to make a big deal out of this car and garner as much press coverage as possible

That rather assumes Lotus knows what they are doing. 

[NedaSay]

Or do they...

[KG]

Completely agree and have conveyed that directly to Lotus USA.

[Neal H]

I think we can all agree that Lotus have been historically rubbish at marketing.

What they are very good at though is building the finest drivers cars on the planet. Isn’t that reason enough to buy one if you’re in the know?

Lotus can be incredibly frustrating at times, but when you’ve got the car and point it down a twisty road, all that frustration just fades away.

[Ccd]

Neal H:

That might be sufficient on your side of the pond, but here I need to know that Lotus USA will be there to provide support if needed.  And it is not clear to me what exactly Lotus USA is doing

[scotty435]

Sorry but it’s a bit rude to say it my sufficient on your side of the pond, we totally understand where you are coming from, yes there plenty of unknowns what direction the company want to take, but be sure the USA will be in the forefront of there plans, it’s the second biggest market after China. Please have a bit of patience’s ,it could be said it’s like a start up company from what they brought into. Sure they do not want to make any false promises, Geely will put Lotus where it deserves to be at the forefront of sports car automotive industry, we need to give them the opportunity to do so.

[Ccd]

Scotty435:

I should have been more clear.  You have plenty of dealers there.  The factory is there.  My reservations about Lotus would be FAR fewer in England than here.  

I had hoped that the Evora GT was going to rolled out to some fanfare.  Instead, I suspect that Geely is keeping its powder dry for the new models coming down the road.

[KG]

@andyj007

[Simon Bateman]

7 hours ago, Ccd said:

Scotty435:

I should have been more clear.  You have plenty of dealers there.  The factory is there.  My reservations about Lotus would be FAR fewer in England than here.  

I had hoped that the Evora GT was going to rolled out to some fanfare.  Instead, I suspect that Geely is keeping its powder dry for the new models coming down the road.

I knew what you meant and agree that ownership is obviously going to be a bit easier in the UK and with multiple dealer options and even the factory not a million miles away.  UK owners have always found it easier to cut Lotus the necessary slack whenever possible!!

[Julian73]

On 13/06/2019 at 13:35, Ccd said:

Name_Brand,

Congrats on your car.  My issues are as follows:

1) Unless you are on a Lotus forum or happen to be talking with a Lotus dealer, you would never know the GT existed for the US market

2) You would not know the price for the car or option prices without talking with a Lotus dealer

3) You would not know how many were coming to the US without talking with a Lotus dealer

Why all the secrecy???  If US dealers know the car price and the options, a press release should already have been issued.  Contrast the way the GT is being handled in the US with the way Lotus advertised the 430 in Europe.  There was a press release at the very beginning, the press release gave the changes in the 430 from the 400 and the allocation number was given.  And the car was listed on their website.  This is not hard.  Lotus did this with the 430 in Europe.  

This is not rocket science

They even did it with the Sport 410 in the US

On 13/06/2019 at 13:58, name_bran said:

@Ccd I agree. I haven't been in and around the Lotus community long enough to know all the ins and outs and whys and why-nots. But that also gives me a fresh, unjaded perspective about this whole thing. My dealer told me that they didn't want the general public to know this car was coming because they already announced the GT430 was coming here back when it was released however long ago that was...and then it never happened. So I guess they don't want to give US customers false hope again maybe? I'm not sure. It is odd, and I'm dying to know official specs on the car. 

In the same vein, Porsche hasn't officially announced any specs/pricing for the upcoming GT4 either, and I'm sure lots of people have their deposits down on them. So, I can sort of empathize a little bit. This is a special car that will be made in limited quantity, and it looks like Lotus has filled a majority of their 20MY orders without any announcement at all. That said, I'm sure they'd have customers beating down their doors for one of these GTs if they just did a press release for it, and they need all the sales they can get. So yeah, for a company like Lotus, it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. 

Enjoy your car when it comes.  I have custom ordered 2 Evora's and was not disappointed. 

[Ccd]

The Evora GT was not supposed to be a limited quantity car.  I thought it was supposed to be the car that would carry Lotus USA until entirely new models arrive in 2-3 years.  At least that is what the Lotus CEO seemed to be saying in interviews

[Julian73]

On 13/06/2019 at 19:33, Ccd said:

Scotty435:

I should have been more clear.  You have plenty of dealers there.  The factory is there.  My reservations about Lotus would be FAR fewer in England than here.  

I had hoped that the Evora GT was going to rolled out to some fanfare.  Instead, I suspect that Geely is keeping its powder dry for the new models coming down the road.

Lotus Cars US posted a Facebook announcement of the Evora GT, sign up for info.

[Ccd]

No announcement on their website, just on Facebook.  Very strange.

[name_bran]

I'm sure we've all been following along this week on Facebook, but it looks like we're close to an official announcement! Someone commented on one of these posts and said to keep watching this week. Well the week is almost up, so I'd guess maybe tomorrow! I'm very anxious/excited.

Side note: you can see some Evora GT-esque styling cues in the backgrounds of those images. ..really crossing my fingers for an announcement tomorrow.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Gale Trainer???

How does it do that?

[CharlieBrown]

On 12/06/2019 at 21:24, Champale said:

Can we put KG in a timeout please?  This is absurd.

I think he needs to take his medicine. 

[CharlieBrown]

On 13/06/2019 at 15:35, Ccd said:

The approach of Lotus is especially curious as the GT will be the only car from Lotus until the entirely new models arrive no sooner than 2-3 years (hyper car not included).  I’d think you would want to make a big deal out of this car and garner as much press coverage as possible

There is a brand new Lotus model coming at the end of 2020 (Based on the Evora platform) that will be the only car from Lotus until the new models/platform arrive.

[Bibs]

[ken2020]

Very funny that they only show the Federal prototype without showing the front bumper. Nobody would even notice the wing missing. Also, The car in the picture is wearing a set of Öhlins. Go figure! That's marketing.  Believe it or Not!

[Julian73]

3 hours ago, ken2020 said:

Very funny that they only show the Federal prototype without showing the front bumper. Nobody would even notice the wing missing. Also, The car in the picture is wearing a set of Öhlins. Go figure! That's marketing.  Believe it or Not!

 

 

I don't know how you see Ohlins in that video, your angle of shot is not even the same.  So no they are not producing marketing material with the Ohlins.

[Julian73]

On 13/06/2019 at 14:35, Ccd said:

The approach of Lotus is especially curious as the GT will be the only car from Lotus until the entirely new models arrive no sooner than 2-3 years (hyper car not included).  I’d think you would want to make a big deal out of this car and garner as much press coverage as possible

In the words of Lotus Cars in an e-mail to me. 

"... We will introduce an all new sports car next year and the astounding Type 130 breaks cover on July 16^th and it is truly mind blowing! In the meantime if you have any questions or if I can be of any assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards,"

[Ccd]

My mistake.  I thought the GT was the 2020 car as it will most likely be a MY2020 car

[NedaSay]

On 15/06/2019 at 19:03, Ccd said:

The Evora GT was not supposed to be a limited quantity car.  I thought it was supposed to be the car that would carry Lotus USA until entirely new models arrive in 2-3 years.  At least that is what the Lotus CEO seemed to be saying in interviews

The Evora GT is not going to be a limited run model but Lotus will not aim for massive sales on it. In the US it will essentially be an end of life refresh until the Evora is replaced. The Evora GT will soldier on alongside next year new sport car that could be unveiled in the fourth quarter of this year. The "2020 sport car" is very likely to be an Evora based Exige type car, strict 2 seater coupe/roadster. it will have all the features that will allow it to go head to head with the Boxster/Cayman and should bring some of the Elise goodness. 

The Evora GT is not going to receive the wing nor the front bumper due to NHTSA homologation. Lotus being still small, they decided against crashing half a dozen cars to export probably less than 1000 cars right?! The Evora GT is called GT410 Sport in the rest of the world and It will just take an ECU reflash to unlock the 430 bhp.