Lotus in 2014

[mdavies]

Perhaps initiatives are being worked on by others.

[chipp]

Just caught a glimpse of a rapid black Evora on the factory test route. Looked like it might have had a higher than standard rear wing, apart from that it was moving to quick to spot anything else.

Could be part of an existing package or something new for this year maybe.

 

chipp

[Lotusbuilder238]

Hi I do not think Lotus will do anything new this year since the 2014 esprit went caput.

By the way if any body would like a model built of their car my email address is Evans.leinbach@graystoneday.org

You provide the model I will build it!

[Bibs]

I asked yesterday if Aslam would be willing to do an interview discussing what he feels has been achieved so far and what his plans are for 2014 and was declined by PR. If I see him personally at Autosport I'll ask personally but the feeling was that Lotus will no longer be offering comment on any future plans whatsoever under the current regime.

[ramjet]

Surely that is counter productive to instilling interest in consumers?

 

Or are they going to keep quiet until they have the marketable product, then show it, then wait to see what Mr. Public thinks and does?

 

The problem with that is if no-one knows what is coming, Mr. Public goes and buys a Ford Focus etc etc etc

 

I understood it while they got the ship in order, but I don't understand it continuing.

[Stirling_Villeneuve]

Once again very disappointing, this isn't helping bolster what little faith I have left in the company, but then I doubt that bothers DRB as much as it bothers me. 

[Snoopy1969]

2014? Does anybody esp. know what D. Coco is doing the whole day? It cannot only be seaching for new colors for special variants I guess.........

[Bibs]

Working on 3rd party projects I'm told.

[TBD]

The problem with that is if no-one knows what is coming, Mr. Public goes and buys a Ford Focus etc etc etc

 

I would say that it is fair to consider the current lineup as the best in many years. The Evora remains a great car and build quality has reached a good (albeit not great) level, The Exige S is a top-notch test winner and the Elise remains stable.

 

If Mr Public continues to wait for future models he is missing out on some of the best cars the market has to offer!

 

Right now Lotus doesn't need new cars, it just needs to sell the current range better - and it seems DRB is working on that.

Edited January 8, 2014 by TBD

[Snoopy1969]

I agree on Thomas point of view totally.

 

The range offers a lot of very interesting cars - with all the reviews on the Exige S and Exige S roadster in my eyes esp the "mid range" (in terms of price and power) Elise S / Elise S CR ist not mentioned enough (even very nice article in Evo witin the last months about it). Esp the Elise S is very priceworthy if you want an open car and you could live with 2 seats in your real life.

[softlips]

Like he's going to say

My contact in engineering says something similar but he says you may be suprissed later in the year should things and money go to plan

The person I spoke to said something similar. I'm not playing games here, they gave nothing away, other than anything I'd heard was going to be announced in 2014 wasn't. But they did say that plans are in place, are being worked to, are not pipe dreams and we will see something in 2015. It will not be on a current platform but no other details could be teased out. They did say though the Evora has a clear lifetime set out. And, they did seem pretty upbeat about it.

The problem is if they show something in Spring 2014 which will replace the Evora, Elise or Exige in Autumn 2015 many people will defer buying until then. Even if it's a new Esprit (let's hope) some potential Evora buyers may wait to see what the price point of the new model ends up being.

Let's just hope Lotus continue to do well. 2013 doesn't look like it was a bad year for them (although obviously it's too early to tell decisively). They are still here and 2013 must have been much better than 2012 - I'm hoping its the foundations of a great future.

[The Pits]

Frankly anything entirely new, Esprit or otherwise, is likely to be paddleshift-only so it won't be of interest to me personally. I'm glad I got a manual Lotus while I still could.

 

I'm sure the Exige will continue to do well as more people realise that a track competent road car makes a lot of sense in the UK (where we have lots of great tracks in within easy reach). A good proportion of those same people either will not be able to afford the new 911 GT3 or the running costs of the previous 911 GT3. For half the price of the new GT3 the Exige V6 is looking like real value for money.

 

I really think there is a market out there for the Evora and hope Lotus find it before they give up on it. But if they do, they should can any idea of £100+k Esprit and bring out a stunning 2-seater based on the Evora chassis and running gear. Done well, it could be just as exotic as the Esprit, they could even call it the Esprit for all I care, but it would be a £70k car, not £100k-plus. Should be a convertible too. If it's good looking enough - and using a composite body, that's the real potential area to exploit - then buyers would slowly but surely begin to overcome their prejudice and start going out of their way to find wherever on earth their nearest Lotus dealer is. Currently they just aren't bothering. The dealer network is a massive problem for any future plans for Lotus but in this case the egg has to come before the chicken. It will only improve once the existing dealers start selling a lot more cars.  

 

Aston found new buyers with the V8 Vantage. Jaguar are doing the same with the F-type. Lotus could - and should - have done well with the Evora. But it didn't happen. Time to move on. Not to waste the significant investment, but to try again with the same (brilliant) underpinnings.

 

But whatever they make they need to find a way to get it noticed and driven. If Alfa just came out with the Exige V6 Roadster or Porsche made a 345bhp, 1170kg Boxster they would be queuing round the block....

[TBD]

Yeah, but Porsche wouldn't announce it until it was ready to deliver. Certainly not 1-1/2 years before. Lotus is doing nothing different.

[Jacques]

Hmm, I would like Lotus for 2014 to produce spare parts for the cars they've already sold, elans, excels, elites, Esprits, Elises etc.

 

I certainly will not ever buy a car from Lotus again, EVER, until they shift their spare part situation to be immensely better.

Not even my local (the only in Denmark) Lotus dealer, can get a paint touch up!  Talk about bad bad bad service... ;(

That policy is not exactly going to sell many new cars. And not only Lotus drivers knows, but most other people interested in sports cars knows this. Not very keen on say Porsche, but if you go to a delaer and order a spare part, you get it. Being an old or a new car. That is my own experience at least, when buying spares to help friend on their Porsches.

But going to said Lotus dealership, they even have hidden the few cars (new) they have left, as no-one wants to buy them, and they sell Lexus, Lamborghini's and Porsches ad libitum, well sort of. And they cannot get Lotus spares. Then I ring around Germany, Sweden and the UK to get spares. What do they say? No, Njet, Nein, nada, zero etc.

When I go and talk to a famous Classic sports car (used) dealer (happen to be here in Copenhagen), he swears at me when I mention Lotus, well I've seen a few old racer like type Lotus cars over the years, but that's all. New ones (from 1975 and up to this day? No thanks. Why? Spares. It's not enough to have a truly great looking sports car, but customers seems to be wanting to drive them as well... What an insult - they want to DRIVE them? Well, yes, of course, because they are really great sports cars.

So, for me it would be absolutely lovely to see a new Esprit, AS WELL AS SPARES

 

So, Lotus, do not only produce more new cars, but help us making all the great ones you've already made, DRIVE!

For some time now, the only thing they have made, was empty promises...

Did you hear that Lotus ?

 

Jacques.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Jacques

[Bibs]

Lotus remade manifolds for the 1980 - 1987 S3 Turbo for us a couple of years ago, they even retained the price from the eighties. 

 

Under Bahar I'd also had discussions and we were planning a Heritage Parts Scheme with ASO, as initiated above. 

 

Manudacturer's aren't obliged to supply parts ad infinitum for cars but you can still but 60's Elan parts direct from the factory, we are pretty lucky in fact. 

 

It's not all bad, let me know what parts you need and I'm sure we can help. 

[Jacques]

Hi Bibs,

Thanks a ton. I'll get back soon as I write them up.

 

How is the Heritage parts Scheme supposed to Work?

 

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[Bibs]

If there was demand and the numbers added up, obsolete parts would be re-manufactured. Dead now.  

[The Pits]

Yeah, but Porsche wouldn't announce it until it was ready to deliver. Certainly not 1-1/2 years before. Lotus is doing nothing different.

 

But Lotus didn't release the Exige V6 Roadster until it was ready to deliver either. If anything they could have brought it out sooner. 

 

I haven't heard any complaints of the Exige V6S being released too soon either. But I do remember lots of people threatening to cancel their orders if Lotus didn't hurry up with production.

 

Looks like people are being very hard to please to me!

[softlips]

The Evora was released before it was finished IMHO. I've not heard of many issues with the Exige V6 aside from suspension components requiring replacement.

From a spares point of view I do know of at least two people who've had to wait six months plus for front clams for late Exiges!

[Exploded]

 

Or one could also say; while building the Evora; Lotus learned a lot of new things and they took those with them when they started to build the Exige, which is in essence an Elise front end and an Evora back end...

So I don't feel your comment about the Evora is fair. Still, lots of (former) Lotus mechanics always tell me that the first 500 production models are all prototypes Which is logic at a low volume hogh performance car manufacturer.

[cnapan]

"But whatever they make they need to find a way to get it noticed and driven. If Alfa just came out with the Exige V6 Roadster or Porsche made a 345bhp, 1170kg Boxster they would be queuing round the block...."

 

Really?

 

The boxster's unladen weight is just over 1300kg - 300kg less than the lightest Jaguar F type (as a comparison). And Porsche already sell loads of Boxsters, in part because of the particular blend of practicality and agility they offer - it's possibly one of the most practical 'single car' roadster propositions on the market. If there was a way to significantly reduce the weight without damaging its per-unit profitability and practical appeal to the market it serves, they would do it.There's no magic formula here - just a series of compromises that need juggling by a company with a clear understanding of the market. 

 

If you're right, then there are a large number of people out there who reject the boxster because it weighs 10% more than they think it ought. Who are these people?

 

Lotus struggles to address the needs of the market because its cars are in the main designed for people who:

 

a) have the funds and space to run and store two cars and

b) desire the second car to be one which is more track-focused at the expense of practicality.

 

There aren't that many of these people about, and for those people, there are a wide variety of specialist track-focused alternatives - Caterhams, arials, Nobles... the list goes on. Lotus is one of the most significant of these manufacturers, but they're a big fish in a small pond. This is the simple reason why the Elige hasn't and never will find a high volume market.

 

The Evora is the only exception in the current line-up, but struggles to make an impact in a crowded sector of the luxury car market even in territories where there is awareness of it. New products like the F-type have far more traction in this space than the Evora, and weight isn't the issue, as the lardy f-type proves beyond doubt.

Edited January 11, 2014 by cnapan

[USAndretti42]

Hi Evans you should head over to the introduction section and say hi. Some pics of the models that you have made as well of any of your cars will be a good start too!

 

Buddsy

 

Evans needs no introduction to any Lotus enthusiast who has lived in the Carolinas as his excellent work on Lotuses is well known in those parts.

[Frimley111R]

Given the time required to make a new car i can't see them showing much in 2014 either. Quality is ever improving, new staff are arriving, current cars are being tweaked to fill the gaps before anything new...

[The Pits]

Very depressing article in the telegraph that went into some detail about Lotus's finances.

Basically they need to make 3500 cars to break even. Roughly double what they made last year.

Whereas Proton used to be prepared to accept yearly losses I fear DRB will not be as patient.

 

It's not pleasant reading but very relevant to the topic, so here it is for anyone that's interested.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/10565002/Lotus-future-questioned-as-losses-speed-past-167m.html

 

All this when car sales are booming in the world's 2nd biggest market for German cars. Yup that's the UK for you folks.

 

  

Edited January 12, 2014 by The Pits

[TBD]

Jonny, that article was already discusseed above in the thread. The Lotus  FY 2013 they are talking about ended last March!!!!

 

Right now Lotus is doing a lot better and we shouldn't have to wait too long to get first numbers