How many EVORA owners are hanging onto their car and not going to an EMIRA

[au-yt]

I had my 400 serviced yesterday at SSC in Sydney, taking to the guys there seems a number of EVORA owners have decided they prefer the EVORA to The EMIRA.

I am one as to be honest the EMIRA is a gorgeous car, but there is something generic and boring about the interior. I am not a fan of full digital dashes and I don't like the seats they dont grip as well and the electric movement is to slow as I have the seat all the way forward.

I much prefer the traditional more analogue EVORA which to me is the end of an era.

[EGTE]

Totally agree, plus the reduced power, more weight, more fussy displays, with no rear space, means Emira of zero interest to me.

[jep]

Emira replaced Evora but it is not a replacement for Evora. 

Emira is targeting a different audience,  there may be some cross-over naturally but Emira's brief is very different.  The reason being, Evora did not sell in the volumes required; if it had, we wouldn't have Chinese-made SUV badged as Lotus. 

Justin 

[exeterjeep]

Certainly won't get one now as there is no local dealer, it will be more difficult for other local specialists to work on Emira due to the Lotus computer/software requirements. Did speak to a dealer and one of them prefers the feel of Evora over Emira anyway.

I'd be more likely to sell my Evora and go back to a small underpowered Jeep. - it would also be easier to get out of.

[Nelly]

I can't afford to change, but even if I could I am not sure I would.

That's nothing against the Emira, I love it but wouldn't want the Evora to go for one.

[AK70]

Keeping mine too. The Emira is 5cm wider, has less space behind the seats, and does not corner or break better than my S.... It looks stunning and I'm glad Lotus did it, but not for me for now 😉

Time will tell, but I think the 135 is my next Lotus if they don't mess it 😉

 

[C8RKH]

7 hours ago, jep said:

The reason being, Evora did not sell in the volumes required

And a significant portion of the reason, or blame, for that, lies with Lotus itself. 

I do not see the point in replacing my Sport 410 with an Emira. Would I own an Emira alongside my Sport 410? Yes. But the Emira would have to be my daily driver, the Sport 410 would then come out at weekends when I wanted to feel, and be, "special".

[jep]

I don't agree reference why Evora didn't sell. 

It didn't sell because: credit crunch launch, volume buyers didn't like the interior or egress/access, price point to bhp, lack of easy finance (market issues due to residuals/low volume - not Lotus fault) and perhaps v small dealer network. 

Justin 

[C8RKH]

One of the biggest problems Justin was that literally no-one, outside of the Lotus clique, really new the car existed and what it was - a damn fine GT/Sports car. That was squarely down to Lotus to be honest.

Then there were the multiple road tests were the Evora was pitched against very well prepped Porsche cars, where the attention to detail and prep from Lotus just wasn't there - resulting in, poor marketing and awareness.

I'm not saying it was all Lotus' fault, but by christ, they had a hand on the spoon and were stirring the pot of failure with it.

It all started so well too with it winning car of the year at launch etc, but when MJK left it all seemed to go to pot.

In fact. all credit to the hard workers at Lotus who did such a great job to get the car out there, but the men right at the top just didn't seem to get it.

IIRC, the Sports Racer when it came out was about £52k, I think the Hethel Edition 400's were around £55k. They were bloody bargains compared to the competition fro Stuttgart, but the brand cachet was not there - again, I lay the blame for that at the top. 

I don't want any of this post to be read by anyone who works at Lotus, or worked for Lotus, to be read as a pop at anyone, but the most senior Execs.

[Whitey]

10 hours ago, Nelly said:

I can't afford to change, but even if I could I am not sure I would.

That's nothing against the Emira, I love it but wouldn't want the Evora to go for one.

Well I’ve still got my 2010 Evora after 12+ great years with it. I’ve had an Emira for a year (well 2 actually after the first one was replaced due to faults) and it’s a great car which I intend to keep. The Evora, being an NA one, is quite different in many ways and I still love driving it. If I’d had a 410 Evora then I’d either settle with that or swap it for an Emira, wouldn’t have both. 

[JAWS]

14 hours ago, AK70 said:

.....does not corner or break better than my S....  😉

A very amusing Freudian slip/spelling mistake there 😜

[MrBlueSky]

On 11/04/2024 at 21:59, C8RKH said:

One of the biggest problems Justin was that literally no-one, outside of the Lotus clique, really new the car existed and what it was - a damn fine GT/Sports car. That was squarely down to Lotus to be honest.

For me, this sums up the key STRENGTH & FAILURE of the Evora in terms of sales volume, a damn fine GT/Sports car. But which is it??

The sheer fact that several of you now  have both an Evora and an Emira suggests that there is a clearer distinction, at least in your view. Evora analogue sports, Emira usable GT with comfort. If I was in the position to add another vehicle, I think my ultimate choice would be Elise/ Exige to tick the analogue sports box and an Alpine A110 as practical GT, although ironically it has less space than the Evora.

So in summary, I think ironically the Evora covers too many bases in such an accomplished way that even the marketing folk couldn't figure out who was their target audience.

The Emira doesn't suffer that problem. It's a 2 seat GT

[EGTE]

It's not necessarily an exclusive choice. Evora can be BOTH, depending on model.

If you have a Sport 410,GT410 Sport or GT430 , they are more sports car than GT, so an Emira (which is more GT than sports car) might make sense as well if you want a GT.

If you have a 400 or GT410 (non-Sport) that can be both sports car and GT. The Emira is pointless in that case. Both are more practical (and special) than an A110 as well.

[MrBlueSky]

I think in a round about way we are agreeing with each other.

The Evora has so many variations even just on the 400/410 platform that it can be refined/ defined as either totally sports (eg Sport 410) or totally GT (eg Gt 410 with IPS). Hence my point that the Emira is, at the moment, purely GT, and not causing the marketing folk any headaches in how to position it but it is causing us existing Evora owners to question what we were looking for when we made our purchase.

I personally went for the GT angle with a bog standard GT410, Phil Popham spec, so in theory I should be more of the target market for swapping up to an Emira.....but I know the little secret...hit the sport button and my boggo Popham spec is more than enough of a outright sports car for my Sunday blast or the odd track day. Hence not even been for a test drive in an Emira.

[au-yt]

Interesting discussion as I hoped, Yes there is a market placement difference and it has proved successful, with 95 Plus orders last year. and from those I have seen buying them its definitely a new audience.

However there is a more analogue aspect to the EVORA I love as in "effect" its the last analogue LOTUS and its rare, the instruments are a start with, the 400 + dash as some one put it a nod to the Type 14 Elite,

To me the EVORA is a classic sports car/GT but with out the Exotic car headaches. and the "WTF is that" factor

[rudolphwolven]

* * * * *
Yesterday.......comparison "for sale" .......
99 x Emira on Auto Trader UK and 102 x Emira on AutoScout24 Eur. Continent.........total 201 x........
26 x Evora on Auto Trader UK and 37 x Evora on AutoScout24 Eur. Continent...........total 63 x......

[TomE]

13 hours ago, EGTE said:

It's not necessarily an exclusive choice. Evora can be BOTH, depending on model.

If you have a Sport 410,GT410 Sport or GT430 , they are more sports car than GT, so an Emira (which is more GT than sports car) might make sense as well if you want a GT.

If you have a 400 or GT410 (non-Sport) that can be both sports car and GT. The Emira is pointless in that case. Both are more practical (and special) than an A110 as well.

I'm in that situation.

I have a GT430 (2+0) which I count as my sports car and is pretty handy on a track day and is also capable of being used for long journeys ie has some GT characteristics.

I also have an Evora S (2+2) which I count as my GT car and is good fun on a track day and has some sports car traits.  But it has also carried my kids while they've grown up over 13 years, which neither the GT430 or Emira can do.

I've driven several Emiras and it's a great drivers car and fulfils the brief Lotus set for it - a daily drivable 2-seater comfortable sportscar to tempt people out of P- and M-cars.  But it doesn't fit my use case, hence I cancelled my order.

[nicholascanada]

I am driving my Evora 400 for the 2nd summer now.  I have driven the Emira and would never leave my Evora for one.

I had a 991.2 C4, then a GTS4.0 Boxster.  Both I thought would be my dream car, but they ended up being much too refined for me.  The first time I drove my Evora 400 it felt like a F1 car compared to those two 😆 

They made the Emira to go after those Porsche etc  buyers that are looking for that refined feel.  I also am not a fan of the cookie cutter Emira interior or digital gauges.  It also does not sound as loud as my Evora 400, and just has lost something in the feel and steering somewhat.  But that is to be expected, as again they built this to sell more cars and go after a different buyer.

The Evora 400 is an absolute special analog, raw beast.  Tough to find many cars here in NA like them.  Beautiful fixed suspension, sublime hydraulic steering, and a hare over 3,000 pounds?  Spot on combo and not much else comes to mind...at all...certainly not at this price point. I will treasure mine forever.  2017 with only 13k kms, full PPF and ceramic, new all season shoes to get some more drive time.  Special car every time I drive it...and it turns heads here like no other since they are so rare.  That's probably the only knock I have on it, I wish it was much more of a sleeper!

 

 

[tim_marra]

3 hours ago, nicholascanada said:

I had a 991.2 C4, then a GTS4.0 Boxster.  Both I thought would be my dream car, but they ended up being much too refined for me.  The first time I drove my Evora 400 it felt like a F1 car compared to those two 😆 

Thanks for your recent application to join the editorial team at EVO. We are sorry to advise that on this occasion you have been unsuccessful. 

[EGTE]

Yeah EVO Porsche bias probably put off a lot of potential Evora buyers in the past.

[EGTE]

 

[Phaeton91]

I put a deposit on an Emira 2 days after the Goodwood launch. Cancelled it 20 months later after driving one. Couldn’t realistically see it as a big enough step forward from the Evora and in terms of practicality it was retrograde.

I likened it to someone ditching their wife for a younger woman. It may be all shiny and new for a while but then after the gloss has faded, it’s all very much the same - and they are significantly lighter in the pocket.

[MattyB]

The really interesting part will be in the next 12-18 months, once Emira's are available for low 50's

At that point, it starts to get a bit muddy. Will people still be paying £45k for Evora 400s, or £60k for GT410's when you can get into a much more modern car, with less mileage for similar money? And I'm talking about you're more mainstream, non-forum-visiting general population who (lets be honest) dictate a large portion of the market.

I don't know the answer....just wondering.

[C8RKH]

1 minute ago, MattyB said:

for GT410's when you can get into a much more modern car, with less mileage for similar money? And I'm talking about you're more mainstream, non-forum-visiting general population who (lets be honest) dictate a large portion of the market.

Evora's generally speaking are quite low mileage as usually bought as a 2nd or 3rd car and used at weekends etc. Obviously, some higher mileage cars out there that have been used as daily drivers.

Emira was aimed at being a daily driver, so I'm not so sure their mileage will be lower than an Evora. If anything, I see them carrying more miles at the same age, and significantly more miles as they get older. There is also the fact that there are, and will be, significantly more Emira's for sale than Evora's.

I don't know where the prices will go, but I don 't see the Evora and Emira as a "crossover" model. If you want uptodate modern interiors and tech, then the Emira will be your thing. But if you want a driver focused, low tech, but highly capable "toy" with lots of exclusivity, then the Evora will be the one. Two different markets and personas.

[jep]

Yawn alert..............and Evora is +2.

Emira is not an Evora replacement, shared bits or not. A Jaguar XJ6 is not comparable to Aston DB7 but they share a (modified) platform....yes, really, look it up. 

Justin