Future of Lotus

[aquiss]

On 04/07/2024 at 15:47, exeterjeep said:

Lotus UK registrations for June = 164     year to date   574

eeek

Shame. I'm new to Lotus with a purchase of an Eletre (just coming up to a year) and it's the best car I've owned. It's however noticeable, that in that time, I've only seen 2 others on the road.

[mg4lotus]

@aquiss Pretty exclusive

[Markindevon]

On 31/07/2024 at 13:04, exeterjeep said:

does that include SWLC?

Yes, when I was there last week I was told that the change to SWLC Performance came from them receiving a letter from Lotus... stupid, petty behaviour like this with a long-term partner to the brand and the loss of the Motus case seems to indicate there are some idiots at the top!  Wasting money on things that will never be a detriment and yet still having a terrible public reputation for reliability... you couldn't make it up!

[Bibs]

On 02/07/2024 at 08:58, Bibs said:

I've seen a few posts on LinkedIn and there was a 'restructure' yesterday and a fair few people are looking for work. 😞

Almost all of the 101 people put 'at risk' have been given a settlement and 2 weeks to find new jobs, they're leaving in the middle of August.

[C8RKH]

It's a shame they could not find a way to retrain and keep them. Quality Supervisors and inspectors. Testers. Etc.  Lotus seem to need more of them anyway.

I detest the way any company "hires and fires" in cycles like this. It feels like it is down to bad planning and is poor leadership to recruit people and then reasonably quickly let them go again.

[Bibs]

Very sadly Oakmere & not so sadly Central are no longer in the network...

[Frickin_idiot]

Lotus have to address the dealer network if they want any kind of volume sales.

[exeterjeep]

There have been a few owners/prospective owners who have written to Lotus to indicate that no dealer in the SW of England means they would not buy a new Lotus.

There had been rumours about Central Lotus not being happy for some months.

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Was that announcement written by a 3 year-old?

[Bibs]

The whole website is badly writted and contains errors. You'd think a company that loves Lotus so much would know how long they're been around for! 

[LotusLeftLotusRight]

Did Central and Oakmere even invest in the expensive infrastructure required for servicing the new EV market of Wuhan SUVs, saloons and soon new Hethel built sports cars? If not, that may have been the overriding reason for leaving the fold.

[exeterjeep]

On 04/07/2024 at 15:47, exeterjeep said:

Lotus UK registrations for June = 164     year to date   574

UK registrations July   227   year to date  801.

[MPx]

3 hours ago, exeterjeep said:

UK registrations: June = 164  July = 227

How long before we hear the headline announcement from senior management about the near 40% increase in one month showing that they've turned the corner and can they have their bonus now please.

[exeterjeep]

Can't tell the number of each model, but suppose they must be near to getting Emeya to dealers for show cars/demos?  Lotus Exeter were thinking of getting their demo about a month after the time they actually closed.

The Emeya ads on AT have a reference to being available September. But we all know how optimistic their dates can be.

BRAND NEW - Available September

[Bibs]

Revenue & gross profit up. Losses up. 

https://ir.group-lotus.com/news-releases/news-release-details/lotus-technology-reports-unaudited-second-quarter-and-first-half

I think that's 1bn in losses in 18 months now but aiming for positive cashflow in 2 years. 

[C8RKH]

Very clear messaging in those results.

Target for units revised down, move higher up the premium market signalled (moving further away from core owners and providing the ability to sell fewer cars at a much higher profit per car) and a move to subscription based services to squeeze the wallets and cash from future owners of the electric cars as they look to monetize the vehicles as a platform for revenue growth.

Could have been written by the boys at JLR.

The Lotus we all knew, and loved, is well and truly dead.

[exeterjeep]

Surprised so few 'units' sold in the first 6 months, also Emira up 337%, and the EV's up just 174%. They will need to get the new markets developed quickly,   to achieve a dramatic increase, if they want to get the Wuhan factory lined up to get anywhere near its capacity.  Isn't  the type 134 supposed to be shown at the end of this year with delivery from 2026. I wonder how much of their 2026 expectations will actually be achieved.

[C8RKH]

28 minutes ago, exeterjeep said:

EV's up just 174%

A big percentage increase on a small number, is, usually, still a small number. They're way off where they said they would be. Cannot see how they will deliver 2024 numbers in a falling market, and 2025 outlook for EVs (and cars in  general) is not great.

[Frickin_idiot]

Poor dealer network / distribution restricts sales IMO

[C8RKH]

I agree @Frickin_idiot and how much of that is yet again Lotus shooting off its own toes?

Who would want to be a Lotus new car dealer given the debacles of the last few years? What loyalty has Lotus shown to its dealer network? From what I've read in various sources, and assuming I have understood it correctly, as of course we can only speculate as we look from the outside in, without a true picture or all the facts available to us....

Repeated failure to deliver new product on time - chaos of the new ordering process with ongoing woeful customer service comms, and what seemed like an ill thought through, immature, payments process using non standard approach etc.

Shift to agency model seemed to leave dealers in the mire with frustrated purchasers venting at them, demanding issue resolution, etc, yet Lotus "managing" the process

Loss of dealers earnings (I presume here) re finance commissions upsell as all done through Lotus Agency model and no real relationship with new customers

Price rises when CEO assurance there would be none given.

Many instances of poor paint quality and issues with new cars, especially Emira

Ongoing systemic issues with car functions - e.g. the long running issues with HVAC resistors(?) across models

Model features not available, software failures, etc with new EVs

Consistent issues with parts availability

Inconsistent warranty approaches

Etc

It's quite a shocking set of affairs and already a couple of the Tank EV new owners have said they won't be sticking around when their car deals finish.

So, hats off to the Dealers who have stuck around, dug in, and done the best job they could have done. You deserve some gratitude and recognition for your efforts.

Am I surprised we don't seem to have tons of prospective new dealers hammering at the door?

Only a short few years ago we were painted a vision of a bright future. Hundreds and hundreds of millions to be invested. Quality everywhere was going to stun us with state of the art paint, automated manufacturing etc. Hundreds of new staff employed, then let go, then more employed, then let go....

Yes, there have been successes along the way. Despite the issues the Emira delivered as a sports car for the masses. Easy to live with. Techy geek stuff and several, vitally important cupholders!  I wonder, is there yet a vanity mirror in the sun visor? 🤔

The Eletre seems to have won general approval for its design, function and performance. Lotus even seem to have gotten the paint right in China, but the software seems patchy at best.

What's the future of Lotus? Who knows, but boy, they're not making it easy for themselves are they?

One day, they'll write a book about it. About how Lotus seemingly killed itself off through over complication, and added heavyweight bureaucracy. The antithesis of everything the brand stood for, for 70 years before.

There are some truly magnificent people who work for Lotus. Committed. Hard working. Engaging. Knowledgeable. Professional. And it must be very hard for them to stay focused, enthusiastic, and passionate, stuck in the middle of all of this. For their sake, I do truly hope that Lotus does finally get its shit together. The nights of the long excuses are gone, and some new knights are needed to move the battle on, for sure.

Lotus is dead. Long live Lotus 2.0.

[LotusFella]

I was surprised Volvo dealerships didn't start homing Lotus.  Would make sense as part of same group.

[C8RKH]

@LotusFella same Group but then wouldn't Polestar have been the electric brand to stay with Volvo? Leaving little room for Lotus. Geely's electric brands are colliding into themselves all over the place aren't they? Where do Lynk&co and Zeekr fit alongside all of this... The "premium" space even just in Geely is getting pretty crowded...

[LotusFella]

no difference to JLR they have shared dealerships. no question it would make financial sense.

Edited August 29 by LotusFella

[C8RKH]

So why haven't they done it then?

[exeterjeep]

2 hours ago, LotusFella said:

JLR they have shared dealerships.

There will be a lot less as JLR dealerships containing Jaguar would be reduced to under 20 from 80+ from 2024/2025, with their intention to be an even more upmarket brand.

I was stupidly thinking that those that lose the 'J', could take up Lotus to fill half their showrooms.