Email to Lotus customer service Manger - ref colour photos

[torstin]

#PhotoGate2021 too

Dare I suggest #photogate2023 incoming

 

[andrew6382]

so they can not send out 6 pictures.... but shit sticks in my thoat that they are putting these out..... how much have they spent on these

 

[TXEMIRA]

Part of me is OK without Lotus releasing crazy pics to the public.

Would be nice to get them sent to deposit holders though.

Know what I mean? Like fine, don’t market it because we don’t want more interest, but keep the interested, well, interested.

#ForTheInterested

 

[Leonard]

Part of me is OK without Lotus releasing crazy pics to the public.

Would be nice to get them sent to deposit holders though.

Know what I mean? Like fine, don’t market it because we don’t want more interest, but keep the interested, well, interested.

#ForTheInterested

Agree. And if you don't want the photos out there for whatever reason.... do another dealer roadshow. Show the photos, have the wheels, steering wheels, larger fabric and leather swatches available. Make locking in your final spec more of an occasion etc etc...

 

[digilotus]

Does anyone know the reason why they did not have samples of ice grey leather available?

They have a larger piece of leather at Hethel (as seen or Harry's video), but seemed to have completely omitted it from the roadshows as if it didn't exist.

The local dealer couldn't explain it either.

 

[VL3X]

Does anyone know the reason why they did not have samples of ice grey leather available?

They have a larger piece of leather at Hethel (as seen or Harry's video), but seemed to have completely omitted it from the roadshows as if it didn't exist.

The local dealer couldn't explain it either.

How about the initial roadshow samples including a black Alcantara with green stitching sample? Or the configurator briefly showing yellow center stripes on the seats? This whole thing has been a mess.

 

[virtualmacho]

Does anyone know the reason why they did not have samples of ice grey leather available?

Were there 2 Tan leather samples with slightly different shades?

 

[TomE]

Does anyone know the reason why they did not have samples of ice grey leather available?

They have a larger piece of leather at Hethel (as seen or Harry's video), but seemed to have completely omitted it from the roadshows as if it didn't exist.

The local dealer couldn't explain it either.

I gather the sample disappeared from an early roadshow, presumably taken by one of the attendees. Surprising that they’d didn’t have a spare and couldn’t organise a replacement for later roadshows.

Most of the UK dealers now have their own set of samples.

 

[Tailslides]

I gather the sample disappeared from an early roadshow, presumably taken by one of the attendees. Surprising that they’d didn’t have a spare and couldn’t organise a replacement for later roadshows.

Most of the UK dealers now have their own set of samples.

My dealer has a sample set but still no ice grey on our last visit.

 

[PaulP]

I gather the sample disappeared from an early roadshow, presumably taken by one of the attendees. Surprising that they’d didn’t have a spare and couldn’t organise a replacement for later roadshows.

Most of the UK dealers now have their own set of samples.

let’s pause for a second and really think about that.

Geely investing 9 figures into a company and the folks in charge of a world-wide road show high lighting the car that has generated the most interest EVER in the brand can’t manage to have an extra of a 6” wide leather disk?

If one went missing, I would expect 6 more in the van traveling with them. If all 6 went missing then 6 would be FEDEX priority overnight to the next location.

But to go the entire show without it when people are being asked to spec cars and never even seeing the actual materials is the kind of management that honestly scares the crap out of me about buying one of these cars.

It’s like a junior high business class is running this.

 

[andrew6382]

let’s pause for a second and really think about that.

Geely investing 9 figures into a company and the folks in charge of a world-wide road show high lighting the car that has generated the most interest EVER in the brand can’t manage to have an extra of a 6” wide leather disk?

If one went missing, I would expect 6 more in the van traveling with them. If all 6 went missing then 6 would be FEDEX priority overnight to the next location.

But to go the entire show without it when people are being asked to spec cars and never even seeing the actual materials is the kind of management that honestly scares the crap out of me about buying one of these cars.

It’s like a junior high business class is running this.

Well said..... " It’s like a junior high business class is running this. "

 

[xen]

let’s pause for a second and really think about that.

Geely investing 9 figures into a company and the folks in charge of a world-wide road show high lighting the car that has generated the most interest EVER in the brand can’t manage to have an extra of a 6” wide leather disk?

If one went missing, I would expect 6 more in the van traveling with them. If all 6 went missing then 6 would be FEDEX priority overnight to the next location.

But to go the entire show without it when people are being asked to spec cars and never even seeing the actual materials is the kind of management that honestly scares the crap out of me about buying one of these cars.

It’s like a junior high business class is running this.

You captured this perfectly. It almost seems like this management team doesn’t know how to deal with actual success.

I see a lot of ‘small production’ thinking and inadvertent hubris. I love the idea of the Lotus brand and would love to buy into it but I am genuinely concerned.

They have not built nearly enough brand equity to be this lax…

 

[BeHappy]

let’s pause for a second and really think about that.

Geely investing 9 figures into a company and the folks in charge of a world-wide road show high lighting the car that has generated the most interest EVER in the brand can’t manage to have an extra of a 6” wide leather disk?

If one went missing, I would expect 6 more in the van traveling with them. If all 6 went missing then 6 would be FEDEX priority overnight to the next location.

But to go the entire show without it when people are being asked to spec cars and never even seeing the actual materials is the kind of management that honestly scares the crap out of me about buying one of these cars.

It’s like a junior high business class is running this.

That’s hilarious, when you note it down like that, bit like the grey FE car that toured the world without the FE wheels. I was thinking well them wheels don’t look very premium till someone on here actually pointed out they are the basic wheels

 

[Tonyshepp]

They

That’s hilarious, when you note it down like that, bit like the grey FE car that toured the world without the FE wheels. I was thinking well them wheels don’t look very premium till someone on here actually pointed out they are the basic wheels

They built a few minimum viable cars shipped them out and then hadn't thought of the follow through after. I'm not looking forward to after care.. perhaps our FE freebie will be a Haynes workshop manual!

 

[Eagle7]

I always had the impression that the Seneca Blue car was the i4 FE studio model, and the running gray car was the base V6 with the manual, which was why the blue car had the FE wheels, and the gray car had the standard base wheels. They weren't just debuting the FE "launch spec" car, they were debuting the Emira, period.

I've watched every video that's been released; more than once in many cases, and listening to Scott Walker, Russell or Gavan speak doesn't give me the impression they're clueless inexperienced rubes. The interviews I've seen with Matt doesn't give me the impression he's clueless. In fact, the one impression I get from every interview with anyone is how much the people involved care about the quality of what they're doing. Seeing over 90 stickies on different parts of the interior mock-up tells me they're looking at every little detail. Gavan saying that Goodyear had to provide him with 80 different tire compound sets of just the rear tires before he was satisfied with the performance, tells me he's not only detail focused, but also highly skilled at how to setup the performance of a chassis. He knows what needs to be changed in order to get what he wants. That's a deep well of experience and knowledge at work. As far as design? All you have to do is look at the car... aces.

Yes we'd like to see photos, me included. I've probably spent more time looking at the 6 FE colors than anyone, but as a result, I also realize how difficult it is to capture the essence of how those colors look. As we all know, photos can be deceptive. My take on the issue of the photos is, they all looked at what they had, and simply weren't satisfied with what they were seeing, and that's why they decided not to release them. They're not good enough.

Gavan to Goodyear: "Yeah, that 75th set... not good enough." Goodyear to Gavan: "How many more do you think you'll need?" Gavan: "As many as it takes". That's the kind of mentality that's not going to release a set of photos unless they're satisfied they're good enough to be released.

Consider this however... that same kind of attitude is at work creating and building our cars. Their new configurator is probably at least 95-98% close to what the car will look like out in the wild. That's close enough to choose a color combo. Are they doing everything perfect right now, or even so far? No. I would be truly shocked if they were. It does appear however, that they are obsessing over the one thing that's the most important; the Emira itself. They want to deliver a great car, both in performance and in quality. That's going to be an important factor in the press reviews, which we'll be seeing here shortly. March is only 5 days away.

Patience is a virtue; it will be rewarded.

 

[NickR]

let’s pause for a second and really think about that.

Geely investing 9 figures into a company and the folks in charge of a world-wide road show high lighting the car that has generated the most interest EVER in the brand can’t manage to have an extra of a 6” wide leather disk?

If one went missing, I would expect 6 more in the van traveling with them. If all 6 went missing then 6 would be FEDEX priority overnight to the next location.

But to go the entire show without it when people are being asked to spec cars and never even seeing the actual materials is the kind of management that honestly scares the crap out of me about buying one of these cars.

It’s like a junior high business class is running this.

It's even worse, there was only ONE set of colour samples going around with the show car, none sent out to dealers (agents) even months later I asked my local dealer if I could look at the interior samples and was told they didn't have any! Crazy

 

[vdr]

let’s pause for a second and really think about that.

Geely investing 9 figures into a company and the folks in charge of a world-wide road show high lighting the car that has generated the most interest EVER in the brand can’t manage to have an extra of a 6” wide leather disk?

If one went missing, I would expect 6 more in the van traveling with them. If all 6 went missing then 6 would be FEDEX priority overnight to the next location.

But to go the entire show without it when people are being asked to spec cars and never even seeing the actual materials is the kind of management that honestly scares the crap out of me about buying one of these cars.

It’s like a junior high business class is running this.

Exactly correct. Now I do understand why some try to explain this away by giving the whole "Lotus was unprepared for the interest and the excitement that this particular car generated" spiel but logic would dictate that surely there are some aspects of this whole shite show that were a tad of a clusterfook initially but SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECTIFIED BY NOW. Pics of actual cars BEFORE locked in deposits and ALL available interior swatches are two examples of this.

I genuinely don't know if these missteps are some sort of contrived rite of passage for potential (and current!) Lotus enthusiasts or its simply a disdain for the majority of the customer base. Very strange this...

 

[xen]

I always had the impression that the Seneca Blue car was the i4 FE studio model, and the running gray car was the base V6 with the manual, which was why the blue car had the FE wheels, and the gray car had the standard base wheels. They weren't just debuting the FE "launch spec" car, they were debuting the Emira, period.

I've watched every video that's been released; more than once in many cases, and listening to Scott Walker, Russell or Gavan speak doesn't give me the impression they're clueless inexperienced rubes. The interviews I've seen with Matt doesn't give me the impression he's clueless. In fact, the one impression I get from every interview with anyone is how much the people involved care about the quality of what they're doing. Seeing over 90 stickies on different parts of the interior mock-up tells me they're looking at every little detail. Gavan saying that Goodyear had to provide him with 80 different tire compound sets of just the rear tires before he was satisfied with the performance, tells me he's not only detail focused, but also highly skilled at how to setup the performance of a chassis. He knows what needs to be changed in order to get what he wants. That's a deep well of experience and knowledge at work. As far as design? All you have to do is look at the car... aces.

Yes we'd like to see photos, me included. I've probably spent more time looking at the 6 FE colors than anyone, but as a result, I also realize how difficult it is to capture the essence of how those colors look. As we all know, photos can be deceptive. My take on the issue of the photos is, they all looked at what they had, and simply weren't satisfied with what they were seeing, and that's why they decided not to release them. They're not good enough.

Gavan to Goodyear: "Yeah, that 75th set... not good enough." Goodyear to Gavan: "How many more do you think you'll need?" Gavan: "As many as it takes". That's the kind of mentality that's not going to release a set of photos unless they're satisfied they're good enough to be released.

Consider this however... that same kind of attitude is at work creating and building our cars. Their new configurator is probably at least 95-98% close to what the car will look like out in the wild. That's close enough to choose a color combo. Are they doing everything perfect right now, or even so far? No. I would be truly shocked if they were. It does appear however, that they are obsessing over the one thing that's the most important; the Emira itself. They want to deliver a great car, both in performance and in quality. That's going to be an important factor in the press reviews, which we'll be seeing here shortly. March is only 5 days away.

Patience is a virtue; it will be rewarded.

This is all well and good but it doesn't change anything. You're judged by your actions and not what you say. They could be the nicest most experienced people in the world and still make a mess of things. What's the point of choosing from 80 tire compounds and then not allowing customers see the colours you're asking them to choose from.

This is not an issue of patience. People ordered the car a year before it would be ready, I haven't seen one post with anyone complaining about the time to get their cars, it is about getting the simple things right.

 

[Eagle7]

This is all well and good but it doesn't change anything. You're judged by your actions and not what you say. They could be the nicest most experienced people in the world and still make a mess of things. What's the point of choosing from 80 tire compounds and then not allowing customers see the colours you're asking them to choose from.

This is not an issue of patience. People ordered the car a year before it would be ready, I haven't seen one post with anyone complaining about the time to get their cars, it is about getting the simple things right.

Gavan is probably not the one in charge of press photos, but here's the deal. You knew it was a work-in-progress when you put your deposit down. You knew they weren't in production yet, and wouldn't be for almost a year. You have to know there's a lot of serious things that have to get done before they can start producing cars, and showing photos and some leather samples aren't on that priority list. That's just the way it is. Whoever is in charge of those two things is the person to blame, not the entire company.

Personally, I'm able to make a choice based on seeing something like this:

And the new configurator is close enough to know which color combo I want. But that's just me.

If you or anyone are truly that unhappy with the company, to the point that you'd rather not spend the money on an Emira because they haven't shown you actual photos of the FE colors, or you haven't seen an actual leather sample as opposed to an actual photo of them (apparently actual photos aren't good enough after all), then by all means don't buy the Emira. You're just going to be unhappy the whole way, so why do that to yourself. Either have faith in their ability to make a gorgeous car that handles like nothing else, or stop making yourself miserable and complaining endlessly over it all. Cancel your deposit if you have one, and go buy something else.

Yes you can complain, yes you can not be happy about something, yes you can have an opinion about it, but once you've said your piece, enough. The same few keep going on and on, and working themselves up into a fizz over it all. That's not helping anything, nor is it improving anyone's experience, including those complaining. Write to the people in charge. Their names and emails are on the Lotus website.

Actual production begins in 11 days. They have plenty on their mind and plenty to do right now. Publishing some photos and sending out a leather sample is not a priority at the moment. If that's not acceptable, save yourself. Just go buy a Porsche or whatever else meets the standards you feel Lotus isn't.

 

[Leonard]

Gavan is probably not the one in charge of press photos, but here's the deal. You knew it was a work-in-progress when you put your deposit down. You knew they weren't in production yet, and wouldn't be for almost a year. You have to know there's a lot of serious things that have to get done before they can start producing cars, and showing photos and some leather samples aren't on that priority list. That's just the way it is. Whoever is in charge of those two things is the person to blame, not the entire company.

Personally, I'm able to make a choice based on seeing something like this:

View attachment 3319

And the new configurator is close enough to know which color combo I want. But that's just me.

If you or anyone are truly that unhappy with the company, to the point that you'd rather not spend the money on an Emira because they haven't shown you actual photos of the FE colors, or you haven't seen an actual leather sample as opposed to an actual photo of them (apparently actual photos aren't good enough after all), then by all means don't buy the Emira. You're just going to be unhappy the whole way, so why do that to yourself. Either have faith in their ability to make a gorgeous car that handles like nothing else, or stop making yourself miserable and complaining endlessly over it all. Cancel your deposit if you have one, and go buy something else.

Yes you can complain, yes you can not be happy about something, yes you can have an opinion about it, but once you've said your piece, enough. The same few keep going on and on, and working themselves up into a fizz over it all. That's not helping anything, nor is it improving anyone's experience, including those complaining. Write to the people in charge. Their names and emails are on the Lotus website.

Actual production begins in 11 days. They have plenty on their mind and plenty to do right now. Publishing some photos and sending out a leather sample is not a priority at the moment. If that's not acceptable, save yourself. Just go buy a Porsche or whatever else meets the standards you feel Lotus isn't.

I hear you and we can all 'make do' But this is not the customer experience you should have to make do with on a 80k product, from a company that wants to step up to play with the big boys... Even the incredibly wealthy want their egos massaged. If there is no feel good factor at any point of the journey then its not a journey most people will want to take