Emira Test Drive by Forum Member

[Evotion]

I'm on the forum less and less but always good to see some genuine car driving reactions.
I am still nervous of more bad news. I come on here for good news!

 

[Mctaff]

likewise, I am not bothered about anything you post about either.. haha...
no, your right, if we had the cars arriving, the whole subject content of the forum would change and the mood also.. Its quite grim right now....

Hehe

 

[3MIRA]

yes my point exactly
"Also, we on this forum represent a very small % of their customers and as we have said many times, we are not in the majority of their typical customer profile for the Emira in general"
And I too dont care about 90% of the things that appear, wheel gap, steering wheel thickness, tone of green etc, but I do care about the way the seats looked at different times, ie crumpled or loose leather and of course the delays, but its good to have a forum as it gives everyone the chance to share their worries and experience, but you are totally correct, Lotus will never say something on here as they would commit commercial suicide..... by giving any attention to the issues mentioned, in what so far have not even been fully complete customer cars.
Although we know they will of course have their own issues too, there has never been a car released that doesnt have some customers upset somewhere and I am sure they will post on hear, just as they should

Actually I speculate that as the Emira is an enthusiasts car, by definition enthusiasts will be hungry for information and resort to the internet for information. Mainly because of minimal communication from Lotus, my dealer rarely responds to my emails. This forum is likely to be visited by a significant percentage of early adopters.

 

[EM33RA]

Actually I speculate that as the Emira is an enthusiasts car, by definition enthusiasts will be hungry for information and resort to the internet for information. Mainly because of minimal communication from Lotus, my dealer rarely responds to my emails. This forum is likely to be visited by a significant percentage of early adopters.

Mate they don’t reply because they have absolutely no idea either. I know first hand that Lotus Cars Australia get zero updates from HQ.

#Lotus HQ for the ignorant

 

[EspritGuy]

Actually I speculate that as the Emira is an enthusiasts car, by definition enthusiasts will be hungry for information and resort to the internet for information. Mainly because of minimal communication from Lotus, my dealer rarely responds to my emails. This forum is likely to be visited by a significant percentage of early adopters.

The thing about Enthusiasts is we like to see an appreciation and an effort to nurture our enthusiasm.
Smart companies strive to turn them into Advocates.
End game is brand loyalty and value.

 

[digilotus]

The thing about Enthusiasts is we like to see an appreciation and an effort to nurture our enthusiasm.
Smart companies strive to turn them into Advocates.
End game is brand loyalty and value.

Very true.
We have @TomE who does this for us so Lotus thought they can take a back seat!

 

[VL3X]

Mate they don’t reply because they have absolutely no idea either. I know first hand that Lotus Cars Australia get zero updates from HQ.

#Lotus HQ for the ignorant

Same situation here in the US. Dealers are clueless.

 

[digilotus]

We all know comms could be better so I'm not going to start on that again here.

But I really do feel for Lotus HQ right now. Each car typically consists of ~30,000 parts. There will be over 100 parts suppliers and each of those have their own supply chain and logistical issues.

For a low volume manufacturer like Lotus they will be begging for probably a few hundred parts at a time from each supplier, trying to maintain a just-in-time delivery model. They're not like VAG/Porsche/BMW/Mercedes with massive stock warehouses which can buffer supply issues to some extent. Lotus purchasing power is also low given annual manufacturing volumes, so this will impact prioritisation from suppliers too and introduce more delays.

All the manufacturing delays compounded by price increases due to inflation are undoubtedly also smashing their cash flow position. Employees, suppliers and other operating expenses need to be paid whether the factory line is running or not whilst no customer revenue is coming in.

Updates from Lotus HQ to Lotus dealers regarding delivery times are therefore almost impossible to forecast with any certainty in such a dynamic environment. Every day surely brings a new parts supply challenge. I bet many in Lotus are having many sleepless nights right now.

The old Lotus without Geely support would be out of business by now in the current circumstances, so we're very lucky. Our patience will be rewarded in good time.

 

[Johnson]

We all know comms could be better so I'm not going to start on that again here.

But I really do feel for Lotus HQ right now. Each car typically consists of ~30,000 parts. There will be over 100 parts suppliers and each of those have their own supply chain and logistical issues.

For a low volume manufacturer like Lotus they will be begging for probably a few hundred parts at a time from each supplier, trying to maintain a just-in-time delivery model. They're not like VAG/Porsche/BMW/Mercedes with massive stock warehouses which can buffer supply issues to some extent. Lotus purchasing power is also low given annual manufacturing volumes, so this will impact prioritisation from suppliers too and introduce more delays.

All the manufacturing delays compounded by price increases due to inflation are undoubtedly also smashing their cash flow position. Employees, suppliers and other operating expenses need to be paid whether the factory line is running or not whilst no customer revenue is coming in.

Updates from Lotus HQ to Lotus dealers regarding delivery times are therefore almost impossible to forecast with any certainty in such a dynamic environment. Every day surely brings a new parts supply challenge. I bet many in Lotus are having many sleepless nights right now.

The old Lotus without Geely support would be out of business by now in the current circumstances, so we're very lucky. Our patience will be rewarded in good time.

Yep, good point about the supply chain for a dinky manufacturer. They can build as many modern factories as the like, but if enough parts aren't delivered there's not a lot to produce.

A positive from all this is how incredibly popular the car is (more than Lotus was expecting?). Definitely helps with my confirmation bias

 

[emiraspain]

Actually I speculate that as the Emira is an enthusiasts car, by definition enthusiasts will be hungry for information and resort to the internet for information. Mainly because of minimal communication from Lotus, my dealer rarely responds to my emails. This forum is likely to be visited by a significant percentage of early adopters.

I understand why you say that, but I believe 80-90% are not enthusiasts... they are your typical porsche 718 / 911 buyers who go out for sunday lunch, get the car for the wife..etc etc, will not see tracks or high accelerations, this is the vast majority of porsches customers and now they are lotus's. How many on this forum, 150... 200...400? how many orders....
it doesnt matter of course, all that matters is the car...

 

[xen]

We all know comms could be better so I'm not going to start on that again here.

But I really do feel for Lotus HQ right now. Each car typically consists of ~30,000 parts. There will be over 100 parts suppliers and each of those have their own supply chain and logistical issues.

For a low volume manufacturer like Lotus they will be begging for probably a few hundred parts at a time from each supplier, trying to maintain a just-in-time delivery model. They're not like VAG/Porsche/BMW/Mercedes with massive stock warehouses which can buffer supply issues to some extent. Lotus purchasing power is also low given annual manufacturing volumes, so this will impact prioritisation from suppliers too and introduce more delays.

All the manufacturing delays compounded by price increases due to inflation are undoubtedly also smashing their cash flow position. Employees, suppliers and other operating expenses need to be paid whether the factory line is running or not whilst no customer revenue is coming in.

Updates from Lotus HQ to Lotus dealers regarding delivery times are therefore almost impossible to forecast with any certainty in such a dynamic environment. Every day surely brings a new parts supply challenge. I bet many in Lotus are having many sleepless nights right now.

The old Lotus without Geely support would be out of business by now in the current circumstances, so we're very lucky. Our patience will be rewarded in good time.

…which is exactly why comms need to be better. We’re getting all the downsides of a low volume manufacturer with little of the upside.

Also keep in mind they’re hanging on to quite a bit of cash from customer deposits they’re earning interest on or using as working capital.

 

[digilotus]

…which is exactly why comms need to be better. We’re getting all the downsides of a low volume manufacturer with little of the upside.

Also keep in mind they’re hanging on to quite a bit of cash from customer deposits they’re earning interest on or using as working capital.

In most regions deposits are with dealers and not with Lotus UK. Deposit interest is tiny in relative terms anyway.

 

[JXJ]

I had the chance to attend the Lotus Academy event this morning and drove the sport and tour variants around the Lotus test track. I’ll cut to the chase the car is fantastic. The handling of both the sport and tour were excellent. For track the sport setup felt tighter and better resolved, and very flat through turns, the car hides it weight well, direction changes reminiscent of my V6 Exige. The engine felt strong and the gear change for me was excellent. The Tour variant had more body role and less front end grip (under steer) when pushing through the tighter corners. I also noticed the tour felt less stable under hard braking, but this is probably more tyre related. For both variants I used the tour and sport settings didn’t have the opportunity to use race. As said above the car is fantastic I don’t think anyone will be disappointed, can’t wait for mine to arrive.
A side note I have ordered Dark Verdant, today was the first time I have seen the colour in person on an actual car, it is dark, darker than I expected, I still love it some pictures below.