Information update

So ahead of the information update that is coming next week I was invited down to Hethel to be part of a small panel discussing new and existing questions.

Here's the headlines of what was learned:

Seen all the colours
Seats are going to be great
Finishes are superb
V6 sounds fantastic
Fancy new configurator coming very soon.

Obviously no picture taking allowed in the factory so these were just the ones I could / wanted to take on the day. Plus some renders that represent well the actual colours.

Starting with the hot potato the colours: Seen two cars in Dark verdant (my spec colour) Which IS dark but super classy and is going to be great. But even stood next to it in the factory from one angle green, from another almost black. Which is fine by me but I know many have issue with that. It's pretty exact in the image I’ve posted here of the 3 angles.

Magma red: Is not bright red (although they did have an almost Ferrari red one in the factory which looked cool) The renders I’ve posted with this is pretty spot on to what it looks like.

There was an actual silver car driving round the grounds of the factory which looked off the scale good! Silver with Silver forged wheels. They said they didn’t think it was nimbus grey (it was very close) but it looked sooooo good.

All other colours you have already seen and they look as expected.

Something that made me laugh was that they now have a production ready finished car which will be the first car going out to press. And the first guys to drive it will be on Top Gear. Guess what colour it is?……..White. Ha just brilliant. The first one out there and not in a launch colour. I think what they might have done is pay homage to the first Esprit. The famous story of the PR guy from Lotus Parking a pre production Esprit in the allocated parking spaces outside the main entrance at Pinewood studios so Cubby Broccoli would see it and want it in the Bond film. And the Spy Who Loved me white Esprit rocketed Lotus in to iconic status.

I saw the white one still with a few bits of wrapping on it parked outside and it looked great. In the factory there are all sorts of test colours, black (amazing) flat grey (amazing) dark metallic blue and then many, many flat blue mules. ALL of the cars you have seen in any factory pictures are verification prototypes. Customer production hasn’t started yet. They have screens all round the factory with a digital countdown. Counting down the days till production starts. 45 days, 6 hours, 25 minutes and 32, 31, 30 seconds. Pretty damn cool.


Next seats: There are many VP seats in the factory. And they are MUCH MUCH better than the show car seat. Much deeper, much more supportive and look much more sportier. And they were just production mules. So the fished ones will look great. The hard shell back looks great. Even with coat hooks on the back

There were also a few dashboards hanging round ready to go in cars. And the finish was superb. I think the dashes are made in Germany. The leather on the tops, stitching and finish of all the vents and buttons was really very good.

Spoke to the Head of dynamic testing and he did a few laps in one of the bright Emira liveried dynamic testing cars. V6 auto. And it was fast and loud and everything you’d expect from a Lotus.

The key has been designed in house. So although it will obviously have Geely innards the casing will be Lotus specific so hopefully it will be a nice thing.

There is a brand new configurator coming soon (next week?) and it will allow you to change the background from studio to natural settings and light so light will change etc. And the ability to watch a video of your spec driving down the Big Sur in California. So looking forward to seeing that.

Think that’s it but if you have any questions let me know I might know it or can find out.

 

[TomE]

Did they mention whether they would take action to stop US dealers from demanding bribes in order to complete a previously deposited order? US dealers are calling this "Additional Dealer Markup" but it's fundamentally a bribe that they demand in order to allow the deal to complete, because they know the customer only has a deposit there and not elsewhere (per Lotus rules).

Ford is currently taking action against a number of their dealers for doing this on the F150 Lightning electric truck... for example some dealers have been demanding $30k to $50k+ from the customer above the agreed deal price and forcing the customer to walk away if they don't pay it, even customers with valid deposits down for many months who are attempting to do business in good faith. I'd be very interested to know how Lotus plan to combat this grossly unethical US dealer practice.

We didn't go into all the different types of unfair practices but there was a general sense of wanting customers to be treated fairly. If you hear of any dealers doing this or suggesting they will do it please notify Lotus Cars USA.

 

[andrew6382]

We didn't go into all the different types of unfair practices but there was a general sense of wanting customers to be treated fairly. If you hear of any dealers doing this or suggesting they will do it please notify Lotus Cars USA.

I do feel for you guys in the USA..... Have seen a few USA youtubers talk about buying a car.... Oh boy sounds like , well ... Hope some, all of you find good dealers.... and if you find one not playing ball..... report him

 

[Pops68]

The one you didn't see 100%

That's my spec right there except no privacy glass..