Horrible FE i4 news from Lotus dealer in Germany

[m5iemin]

Hi all,
I have ordered the Lotus Emira from Lotus Lipzig in Germany in July 2021.. I've payed my deposit, been on presentations and I was waiting patiently for the information. Today I have received the horrifying email:

I think I just got f***ed. The "best" thing about it is I was trying to order the car directly from Lotus in the first place, since there are no dealerships in Poland, but I was redirected to "closest" dealership, which was Leipzig. Hell, what finally pushed me over to i4 instead of V6 is the fact that I would have to pay import tax (3.1% on cars with engines within 2.0l and 18.6% on those with bigger ones). I am devastated.
I don't really belive that the car will come "by the end of the year". Especially if he says that they will pay my deposit back it means I lose my spot on the list. So all this waiting was for nothing. I don't know what to do anymore.

 

[denk0815]

I am in a similar boat.
My dealer here in Switzerland has told me but already during the test drive with the V6 something 7 weeks ago. But he did not know at that time whether the deposit will be returned or whether Lotus considers this as a credit.

But he told me then that the order of the previous waiting list will be considered.

 

[meenboli]

Hi all,
I have ordered the Lotus Emira from Lotus Lipzig in Germany in July 2021.. I've payed my deposit, been on presentations and I was waiting patiently for the information. Today I have received the horrifying email:
View attachment 24972

I think I just got f***ed. The "best" thing about it is I was trying to order the car directly from Lotus in the first place, since there are no dealerships in Poland, but I was redirected to "closest" dealership, which was Leipzig. Hell, what finally pushed me over to i4 instead of V6 is the fact that I would have to pay import tax (3.1% on cars with engines within 2.0l and 18.6% on those with bigger ones). I am devastated.
I don't really belive that the car will come "by the end of the year". Especially if he says that they will pay my deposit back it means I lose my spot on the list. So all this waiting was for nothing. I don't know what to do anymore.

Can't you change your spec at any time regardless? Up to the final commitment obviously.

The deposit (to my knowledge) simply secures your build slot?

 

[Foxy87]

What exactly does this mean regarding future emira purchases? So if I want an emira in few years time, I wont be able to buy it from my local dealer, which literally is 3km and 4min drive away? Instead I have to buy it online??

 

[Toomanyloti]

Hi all,
I have ordered the Lotus Emira from Lotus Lipzig in Germany in July 2021.. I've payed my deposit, been on presentations and I was waiting patiently for the information. Today I have received the horrifying email:
View attachment 24972

I think I just got f***ed. The "best" thing about it is I was trying to order the car directly from Lotus in the first place, since there are no dealerships in Poland, but I was redirected to "closest" dealership, which was Leipzig. Hell, what finally pushed me over to i4 instead of V6 is the fact that I would have to pay import tax (3.1% on cars with engines within 2.0l and 18.6% on those with bigger ones). I am devastated.
I don't really belive that the car will come "by the end of the year". Especially if he says that they will pay my deposit back it means I lose my spot on the list. So all this waiting was for nothing. I don't know what to do anymore.

this is what happened to all early depositors in the UK also. We placed deposits with dealers then were told to re deposit via the web site....

 

[TomE]

I suggest calling Lotus Customer Care and seeing if they can explain. It’s likely they can’t and they won’t have been briefed about the changes yet. But from there it can be escalated to the European customer relationship manager.

Based on how Lotus handled the conversion of UK dealer deposits into central Lotus UK deposits, I think it’s unlikely your original deposit date will count for anything.

 

[Lotustoronto]

That is terrible news regarding the i4. On a better note, perhaps you won't have to pay import duty?

 

[denk0815]

Hi all,
I have ordered the Lotus Emira from Lotus Lipzig in Germany in July 2021.. I've payed my deposit, been on presentations and I was waiting patiently for the information. Today I have received the horrifying email:
View attachment 24972

I think I just got f***ed. The "best" thing about it is I was trying to order the car directly from Lotus in the first place, since there are no dealerships in Poland, but I was redirected to "closest" dealership, which was Leipzig. Hell, what finally pushed me over to i4 instead of V6 is the fact that I would have to pay import tax (3.1% on cars with engines within 2.0l and 18.6% on those with bigger ones). I am devastated.
I don't really belive that the car will come "by the end of the year". Especially if he says that they will pay my deposit back it means I lose my spot on the list. So all this waiting was for nothing. I don't know what to do anymore.

Just called my dealer in St. Gallen and he told me, my reservation for the i4 is still valid and the exact price will be communicated within the next two weeks.

 

[hagen111]

It’s old news that Lotus will sell cars directly to consumers and cut out the dealers. It‘s the Chinese way of selling cars…showrooms most likely will move to shopping malls.

 

[Drlonline]

I suggest calling Lotus Customer Care and seeing if they can explain. It’s likely they can’t and they won’t have been briefed about the changes yet. But from there it can be escalated to the European customer relationship manager.

Based on how Lotus handled the conversion of UK dealer deposits into central Lotus UK deposits, I think it’s unlikely your original deposit date will count for anything.

@TomE do you think this may also happen in the U.S. with purchasing consolidated into one central system?

 

[Foxy87]

Just called my dealer in St. Gallen and he told me, my reservation for the i4 is still valid and the exact price will be communicated within the next two weeks.

Would you let me know what Sieber tells you? Still interested on everything about the Emira and future prices. Although I almost went for a V6 FE, I hold back as I needed to buy a bigger family car first.

 

[denk0815]

Would you let me know what Sieber tells you? Still interested on everything about the Emira and future prices. Although I almost went for a V6 FE, I hold back as I needed to buy a bigger family car first.

Yeah sure, i will post any update i get.

 

[Nova]

@TomE do you think this may also happen in the U.S. with purchasing consolidated into one central system?

I really doubt it. Going dealer-less in the US is a big undertaking because of all the disparate state laws regarding auto dealerships, which makes it illegal for car manufacturers to sell cars directly in some states. I know there are talks among the big automakers to do this in order to be able to better compete with Tesla, but Lotus likely does not have the bandwidth to do this on their own.

 

[Lowtush]

@TomE do you think this may also happen in the U.S. with purchasing consolidated into one central system?

I would think it unlikely. The only direct-to-customer auto sales in the US are Tesla, and there are states that put up / still have ongoing legal battles with Tesla because the dealership model is so important stateside.

 

[JasonR]

I would think it unlikely. The only direct-to-customer auto sales in the US are Tesla, and there are states that put up / still have ongoing legal battles with Tesla because the dealership model is so important stateside.

The model in the US I pretty sickening tbh. Manufacturers should be able to direct sell if they see fit. Not to mention dealer mark ups are just scams on new cars

 

[TomE]

@TomE do you think this may also happen in the U.S. with purchasing consolidated into one central system?

Lotus would love to (just look at some of the sharp practices by a few dealers as described on here) but it's a major change and as others have mentioned it's very hard to do.

The odd thing is that several car sales regulations in the US were originally enacted to protect consumers by restricting what manufacturers could impose on dealers. They now mean dealers can apply markups and manufacturers have very few ways to penalise them for doing that.

 

[m5iemin]

Update:
After 21 months of waiting (I have put my deposit down after Goodwood 2021) I was informed that Lotus doesn't really want my money. I was ready to order car from elsewhere in Europe and simply ship it in (and cover import taxes). But apparently "somehow" it is not possible. I am lost for words, I dont think I will be buying Lotus even when it becomes available. It is not a way you treat your costumers.

 

[Nellie]

Wow, Lotus wins again. It amazes me how Lotus at every step seem to destroy the success of the Emira as a car with the debacle that is their customer experience!!

Sorry to hear that you lost your potential order position, its was a frustrating 18 months for me but at least there was a car at the end of it, however I wont be buying new from them again.

Hopefully Lotus steps in and does something to help customers such as yourself ???

 

[Porter]

Update:
After 21 months of waiting (I have put my deposit down after Goodwood 2021) I was informed that Lotus doesn't really want my money. I was ready to order car from elsewhere in Europe and simply ship it in (and cover import taxes). But apparently "somehow" it is not possible. I am lost for words, I dont think I will be buying Lotus even when it becomes available. It is not a way you treat your costumers.
View attachment 25071

I don't get it, isn't the whole EU a single regulatory environment for vehicles? It shouldn't matter whether there is a dealer in Poland.

 

[ADC]

I suppose it makes sense... they don't want to be in a position where their otherwise impeccable record for top-shelf customer experience is sullied by rogue customers complaining when they have to travel possibly several miles to a neighbouring country to see the dealer for after-sales service. Certainly, turning away eager would-be customers is far less embarrassing and reputation-tarnishing than any alternative you can think of.

:sarcastic-face: