Lotus Type 131 - The Rumour Mill

[Evotion]

Great comments.

If seems like this is going to be a struggle for Lotus, as even hardcore Lotus fans on here are pessimistic about their chances. In which case, as correctly said, those who currently hardly even know about Lotus are very unlikely to put their money into one, never mind one that might be perceived as relatively expensive.

When in doubt, people will opt for the perceived 'safe' choice. This is, and will likely always be, German marques.

I can't see the Emira being good enough in enough areas to beat them.

I am not convinced being the most powerful car in the sector will make much difference. I think a lo of you will disappointed with the standard power at launch.

I am not convinced being the best built, most comfy, most economical, technically advanced and best sounding car in the sector will make much difference.

 

Therefore, I believe this is actually down to a Brand play. It is about selling the experience of Lotus. They have to go back to Basic Marketing 101.

They need to project the car as so hot and desirable that it transcends common purchase sense and backs it up with an experience, which is actually true to the core Lotus ethos.

 

How?

Yes, they do need to get Influencers on board (they have most of the power now, like it or not)

Splash out on some amazing promo videos in stunning locations

Broker ideas with celebrities.

Place the car in movies | Bond baddie, Bourne, John Wick, Need for Speed, Matrix 4, whatever.

Sell Ads on F1 TV slots

Do some crazy stunts in them - have a stuntman jump one over 12 Caymans   |  Parachute a Union-Jacked Emira out of a transport plane onto a small island.

Play the anti-establishment, anarchic, stick it to the man, game.  "Electric is coming. Before you sell your soul , get in the new Lotus Emira"

Get invites out to every passionate petrol head out there to drive the car, have experience days.

 

Lastly. Yes, the finance offer needs to be red hot as that is how most people now pay and play.

Come on Lotus. 

[Techyd]

Yes, finance is key here - something the german marques do well is essentially subsidise the cars when purchased through their own finance schemes.  Every new VAG group car for instance, always launches with some incredible lease deals too; these get the cars on the road for people to see and those owners in turn help promote the value for money.

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, Techyd said:

something the german marques

Not just the Germans, GM and Ford make more money from their finance operations than they do making cars.

[TomE]

Does anyone know how Volvo, Polestar and Lynk approach financing?  That might give a clue to how Lotus will approach it now under Geely ownership.

[C8RKH]

1 hour ago, TomE said:

Does anyone know how Volvo, Polestar and Lynk approach financing?  That might give a clue to how Lotus will approach it now under Geely ownership.

As ever, Google is a wonderful friend:

https://www.polestar.com/uk/financing-options/

https://www.volvocars.com/uk/cars/offers?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhr2FBhDbARIsACjwLo2YeiWnRqfhnwYAE9gFQl-f0-HJUunuCMQhIa2KFRO0zRvhm-wi6HkaAndTEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.lynkco.com/en/membership/buy-details

[brightoncorgi]

1 hour ago, TomE said:

Does anyone know how Volvo, Polestar and Lynk approach financing?  That might give a clue to how Lotus will approach it now under Geely ownership.

My wife's car is a 2020 Volvo XC60 T6 Inscription that we lease from Volvo Financial.  Volvo has their own financing arm in the US and I thought they also use Chase.  In the States many just go through their own bank or whichever local bank posts the lowest rates.  Auto dealerships hate this as they get no kick backs on the loan.

Edited May 27, 2021 by brightoncorgi

[Evotion]

It is critical for the early stages of Emira sales that there are some attractive and flexible finance options.

It there is one option, regardless of the size of deposit, and it runs out at 9.9% then it is all over before it starts.

I'd like to think there will be a maximum 4.9% with minimal deposit, an ever lower deposit with more down and perhaps even 0% with 50% down.

I wasn't expecting to finance the cars but the 50-50 finance somebody mentioned, well, one would have too...

[C8RKH]

£60k, 50:50. I'm in. And will keep the Evora 410.

[TomE]

UK Lotus dealers ran 50:50 deals with 12-24 months at 0% on Elise, Exige and Evora for a long time, so I'd expect something similar on Emira.  Plus probably some other options with smaller deposits, as well as the usual HP and PCP.

[Evotion]

2 minutes ago, C8RKH said:

£60k, 50:50. I'm in. And will keep the Evora 410.

Let's cross our fingers.  Ha, I don't think there will be a stampede but those looking to place a 30k plus deposit on other marques will find this VERY attractive and a proposition they will have to look at.

This is exactly where the new re-brand for mass appeal can get a much needed boost.

We already expect they are aiming at Cayman, Alpine and 911 drivers but you could then throw in F-Type SVR prospects.

As I have said, their intention of making the car more comfy but retaining some Lotus DNA for me, is MASSIVE and there will be other people like me, looking at GT3s, SVRs, older Lambos and Ferraris who will get distracted by this new car out of Hethel. There has been a lot of worry/negativity but there is an opportunity here, if they get to right, to make a big dent in the sales of the other marques.

1 minute ago, TomE said:

UK Lotus dealers ran 50:50 deals with 12-24 months at 0% on Elise, Exige and Evora for a long time, so I'd expect something similar on Emira.  Plus probably some other options with smaller deposits, as well as the usual HP and PCP.

Right, I'll get another two.. 😄

 

[Barrykearley]

A new car from a British manufacturer, the first in over a decade, will always attract.

Im looking forward to seeing this.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Was the 50:50 deal available from the outset on the outgoing range, or just something that was introduced mid-life to push flagging sales? If so, it might not be offered on the Emira, at least for a couple of years.

[jonwat]

Emira Goes Into Pre-Production 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

That doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know, apart from the “little over 200 horsepower” bit. That’s got to be bollox.

[Evotion]

13 hours ago, LotusLeftLotusRight said:

That doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know, apart from the “little over 200 horsepower” bit. That’s got to be bollox.

Typo surely. Err. Ha.

We had 200HP hatchbacks in the early 90s!

This is actually what made the 4-Cyl Emira attractive to me as well. We can safely assume it will have the SAME transmission as in the V6 and being a Turbo there are huge 'cheap' HP and torque gains to be had, with a gearbox that can take it.  Some keen modders will likely get it up to V6 figures. 

[Beady]

current elise is just over 200 bhp so why would it be an error ? assuming this is for the 1.8 engine....its seems a sensible assumption to me.

current evora 400bhp+ so again similar assumption for the larger engine

 

[Likuid]

14 hours ago, Evotion said:

Typo surely. Err. Ha.

We had 200HP hatchbacks in the early 90s!

This is actually what made the 4-Cyl Emira attractive to me as well. We can safely assume it will have the SAME transmission as in the V6 and being a Turbo there are huge 'cheap' HP and torque gains to be had, with a gearbox that can take it.  Some keen modders will likely get it up to V6 figures. 

So far from what we know the I4 will be DCT only and not a Toyota and the V6 will be manual or torque converter auto, but will be Toyota. Personally I think this is absolutely stupid on Lotus part if true. Not having a manual option for the I4 is kind of crazy to me and having a DCT on the I4, but not on the V6 also is very confusing.

That being said, who knows how true it is.

Edited June 4, 2021 by Likuid

[Evotion]

That has been confirmed I believe.  The DCT is fine for me which is also why the 4-Cyl makes more sense as th track car. However, it might have lesser suspension on it - we don;t know yet

Mind you, most people now prefer DCT. For many it is now the default choice in the cars they drive. I love it myself but prefer a manual in the 'fun' cars.

[Likuid]

Both versions should have manual or DCT options IMO. The V6 is the higher end car (as far as we know), yet the auto version comes with what most people consider/perceive as the worse automatic tech. The I4, the lower end version, which a lot of people would buy as a backroads toy, doesn't have a manual? I own a 400 auto, while it is great what they achieved with a torque converter, its still not as fast as most modern DCT and can have quite a bit of shift shock. I mean that just looks bad from a marketing perspective and is a bit confusing from a consumer perspective. Even "Lotus Car Guru" on YouTube (a guy who worked at Lotus for decades) said the V6 Emira should have a DCT option. If Jubu can do it for the Evora then Lotus should be able to do it on the Emira. I mean it kind of just screams "we didn't have much budget for developing this car" to me if its true.

The only way it makes sense is if the I4 is the more powerful version of the car somehow. While I highly doubt this, it would be a very Lotus thing to do and its not completely unheard of. I think the I4 Turbo Mustang had more power than the base V6 did.

I am kind of hoping some of the information is a red herring from Lotus and in July it all makes way more sense.

[jimichanga]

Porsche sell a lot of Caymans based on 300bhp 4 cyls and 400bhp flat 6s. Unless it has changed, Lotus's plan is to do likewise.

Entry Cayman 718 is 300bhp £45k basic. Cayman S is 350bhp £54k basic. GTS is just under 400bhp 6 cyl £65k basic.

How the Emira compares with those cars is far more relevant to Lotus than how the Emira compares with older, hand built, more expensive to make Lotus cars.

To keep the price down they will have to keep the power down also.

I think they will really struggle to hit the entry price target of £55k but if they can it wouldn't be reasonable to expect more than 350bhp at that price point.

[Likuid]

So Lotus' plan is to go head-to-head with Porsche with only one model offering similar pricing and performance to a Cayman? That's a pretty terrible plan for a brand with such a terrible dealership netowrk, lack of brand cache, and a reputation (deserved or not) for unreliability.

I mean, I agree, that's probably what's going to happen, however I am not sure what its going to accomplish. You don't even make a dent into the (essentially) industry standard by offering what the industry standard already offers. Especially when you already have an uphill battle because of the poor dealership network and lack of brand awareness. If this is indeed what happens with the Emira, that tells me Geely did not want to invest much into the car and its more of a Lotus pet project until the focus switches to all electric (which may be a good thing to some people). I mean honestly if Lotus' goal is to make a car that's just like a Porsche Cayman, but without some of the major advantages owning a Porsche I am not sure what the point is.

Sometimes is does indeed take money to make money. If Geely/Lotus are serious about bringing Lotus back into prominence its going to take more than just a nicer factory and a (still unreleased) electric hypercar. They need to get the Lotus brand back out there and something to be desired. You do that by being better, not by being almost as good.

[Barrykearley]

On the positive side - we are seeing investment and the first new cars in over a decade. Forgetting the alternatives - that’s the best news out of Hethel for a long time.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

The Cayman is a really dull looking car. It’s no surprise that it sells relatively poorly nowadays. The Emira will look sensational. That in itself will win Lotus a lot of new customers. Continually grumbling on here about the dealer network won’t make it a failure. Lotus will essentially have one model to sell via their dealership network for the next few years. They need to market it aggressively to retain the existing dealers and attract new ones, but that won’t happen overnight.

[jimichanga]

I think the reality is Geely don't give a stuff about the Emira, it's just a stop gap until the electric SUVs start rolling out of a large chinese factory. I'm sure it's going to be a great looking stop gap and great to drive but not convinced it will be enough to really shake up the industry, perceptions about Lotus and well entrenched buying habits.

[Bibs]

A hell of an assumption based on basically zero real information.