Lotus again delays FE delivery for me.

[TomE]

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That’s utter BS. They’ve known about demand and capacity for months - they told hundreds of people in the UK what month they would get a car. They told many people (including me and other customers and a load of journalists) a few weeks ago they were on track.

This delay is due to something unexpected that Lotus didn’t anticipate. Be honest and tell people that. This kind of statement and how it’s been rolled out makes it look like they don’t know what they’re doing.

 

[EM33RA]

That’s utter BS. They’ve known about demand and capacity for months - they told hundreds of people in the UK what month they would get a car. They told many people (including me and other customers and a load of journalists) a few weeks ago they were on track.

This delay is due to something unexpected that Lotus didn’t anticipate. Be honest and tell people that. This kind of statement and how it’s been rolled out makes it look like they don’t know what they’re doing.

Mate it’s simple they genuinely have no idea and it all starts from the top. Nice people but they are kids playing in an grown mans world per say.

 

[NicolasB]

Probably can't get those damn millennials to show up to work to build the cars

 

[DJS]

Like I’ve said before it’s all come to quick for them with the unexpected demand.

Well out of their depth and seriously need to re think their strategy going forward, let’s all be honest and I really hate to say it this is officially becoming a Joke.

 

[Corkdsp]

All starting to make sense why no pictures of final FE cars have come out.

"The Emperor has no Clothes"

 

[vision]

All starting to make sense why no pictures of final FE cars have come out.

"The Emperor has no Clothes"

OK, I'm tired of all this constant abuse, if you don't like the way things are then leave and go and buy something else.

Ive paid my dues and chosen to buy my clothes and my car. Mine is coming in August. Have any of you actually bought the car yet!

 

[Rudolph]

This delay is due to something unexpected that Lotus didn’t anticipate.

* * * * *
I personally believe this is the actual reason for all those ongoing delays.
It is not that Lotus suddenly is overwhelmed with orders or has become aware that all deliveries do need extra attention and time to be able to deliver a product with the expected quality........

 

[andrew6382]

Like I’ve said before it’s all come to quick for them with the unexpected demand.

Well out of their depth and seriously need to re think their strategy going forward, let’s all be honest and I really hate to say it this is officially becoming a Joke.

Becoming..... its been that for some time..... just not so funny any more..... clearly prople at Lotus feel thing are being done well..... you have to think that..... because that the do this and how..... truely tell you they dont give an F

 

[andrew6382]

OK, I'm tired of all this constant abuse, if you don't like the way things are then leave and go and buy something else.

Ive paid my dues and chosen to buy my clothes and my car. Mine is coming in August. Have any of you actually bought the car yet!

Think many have there deposits down

 

[vision]

* * * * *
I personally believe this is the actual reason for all those ongoing delays.
It is not that Lotus suddenly is overwhelmed with orders or has become aware that all deliveries do need extra attention and time to be able to deliver a product with the expected quality........

On a side note, I want to buy a 4m length of extrusion that has two copper rails inside it, its an aluminium extrusion - Its 25mm x 25mm x 4000mm long - 4 months lead-time. I discovered its made in Ukraine shipped into Europe and sold from there as a German product - guess where Im going! Unfortunately its for GICU where life and death do actually matter and I can't get a piece of life support system, what's a few months delay?
Apologies for the rant

 

[prestonc]

On a side note, I want to buy a 4m length of extrusion that has two copper rails inside it, its an aluminium extrusion - Its 25mm x 25mm x 4000mm long - 4 months lead-time. I discovered its made in Ukraine shipped into Europe and sold from there as a German product - guess where Im going! Unfortunately its for GICU where life and death do actually matter and I can't get a piece of life support system, what's a few months delay?
Apologies for the rant

Ahem, you don't think a delay out of Ukraine is a life and death matter?

My rant, and just saying

 

[Eagle7]

Actually, unprecedented demand could very well be the reason, since Lotus has had to contact every one of their suppliers and substantially increase their order quantities. Like any other manufacturer, they're at the mercy of the supplier being able to deliver quantities as per their agreement. It only takes one key supplier to have an issue, and that ripples right down the line.

If Lotus didn't get notified from the supplier until the last minute, Lotus could be announcing delivery times in good faith, saying everything is on track because that's what they thought, not knowing that the supplier was going to tell them at the last minute there was going to be a delay. It could be from any one of them. It could be from KEF, or the seat supplier, or whomever. They may not want to name names as to avoid issues with the supplier who may have requested not being named. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes. Supplier negotiations right now have to be a nightmare.

We ALL KNOW things in the world are unstable right now. Assume positive intent on the part of Lotus instead of calling the waaambulance at the drop of a hat just because you don't hear what you want to hear.

Oh and yes, to defend your complaints, PLEASE PLEASE attack me and call me a fan boy for trying to balance the perceptions of what might be happening. That will make things better for everyone. If the people from Lotus read these forums (and supposedly they do), it's honestly not hard to understand why they may not want to say anything, cause it's damned if you do and damned if you don't. If they don't say anything they get slammed. If they send out a message that they're having issues due to demand and things will be delayed, they get slammed.

Dear Lotus; just overcome whatever obstacle is slowing you down; I know you can do it. Most of us will still be here. Get it sorted out and start delivering this beautiful car you've created. Most of us still have faith in you; once people start getting their cars, all will be forgiven. #ForTheLasticeLotus

 

[andrew6382]

Actually, unprecedented demand could very well be the reason, since Lotus has had to contact every one of their suppliers and substantially increase their order quantities. Like any other manufacturer, they're at the mercy of the supplier being able to deliver quantities as per their agreement. It only takes one key supplier to have an issue, and that ripples right down the line.

If Lotus didn't get notified from the supplier until the last minute, Lotus could be announcing delivery times in good faith, saying everything is on track because that's what they thought, not knowing that the supplier was going to tell them at the last minute there was going to be a delay. It could be from any one of them. It could be from KEF, or the seat supplier, or whomever. They may not want to name names as to avoid issues with the supplier who may have requested not being named. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes. Supplier negotiations right now have to be a nightmare.

We ALL KNOW things in the world are unstable right now. Assume positive intent on the part of Lotus instead of calling the waaambulance at the drop of a hat just because you don't hear what you want to hear.

Oh and yes, to defend your complaints, PLEASE PLEASE attack me and call me a fan boy for trying to balance the perceptions of what might be happening. That will make things better for everyone. If the people from Lotus read these forums (and supposedly they do), it's honestly not hard to understand why they may not want to say anything, cause it's damned if you do and damned if you don't. If they don't say anything they get slammed. If they send out a message that they're having issues due to demand and things will be delayed, they get slammed.

Dear Lotus; just overcome whatever obstacle is slowing you down; I know you can do it. Most of us will still be here. Get it sorted out and start delivering this beautiful car you've created. Most of us still have faith in you; once people start getting their cars, all will be forgiven. #ForTheLasticeLotus

Nothing wrong with being a fan boy

But Lotus need to do whats right by customer..... clear and honest communications..... which once again they have not..... Nothing to do wether they get lambasted for it.... its there JOB

 

[Eagle7]

Nothing wrong with being a fan boy

But Lotus need to do whats right by customer..... clear and honest communications..... which once again they have not..... Nothing to do wether they get lambasted for it.... its there JOB

They did communicate. They said due to unprecedented demand, there will be a delay. That's clear and honest. Unprecedented demand affects every one of their suppliers who are being asked to supply much much more than they thought they were going to. They don't have to go into details. Probably can't due to contract confidentiality.

DIdn't you cancel your order and buy something else? These aren't your issues anymore, so at least you don't have to worry about anything.

 

[andrew6382]

They did communicate. They said due to unprecedented demand, there will be a delay. That's clear and honest. Unprecedented demand affects every one of their suppliers who are being asked to supply much much more than they thought they were going to. They don't have to go into details. Probably can't due to contract confidentiality.

DIdn't you cancel your order and buy something else? These aren't your issues anymore, so at least you don't have to worry about anything.

Yes.... but still hope one day to get a Lotus.... and friends are still in for the ride......

Sorry if you realy think this has any thing to with demand ? .... and if it turns out to be so..... they knew how many car they had to build for first batch some time ago.... long before thing in the world changed

They clearly know how many cars they had to build for the first batch, and if they had not got parts ready for at least the first batch ? something is wrong.....

Plaese dont start explianing about demand etc..... I am not some kind of simpleton

Oh and yes, clearly getting out looked like the right thing..... good chance I would be still waiting this time next year... but would still like to hope one day to buy a Lotus car.... and the company be in a better shape.

 

[Eagle7]

Yes.... but still hope one day to get a Lotus.... and friends are still in for the ride......

Sorry if you realy think this has any thing to with demand ? .... and if it turns out to be so..... they knew how many car they had to build for first batch some time ago.... long before thing in the world changed

They clearly know how many cars they had to build for the first batch, and if they had not got parts ready for at least the first batch ? something is wrong.....

Plaese dont start explianing about demand etc..... I am not some kind of simpleton

Oh and yes, clearly getting out looked like the right thing..... good chance I would be still waiting this time next year... but would still like to hope one day to buy a Lotus car.... and the company be in a better shape.

You didn't sign off on the approval for something until recently, and now one of your suppliers has just told you they either can't supply what you were expecting them to supply, or it's going to be a month longer than you were expecting. What do you do? Tell everybody the details publicly? Shame the supplier? Sue? Pitch a fit? What do you do?

Of course it has to do with demand; demand means quantity of items ordered. If demand is 5 times what you were expecting, you have to contact every one of your suppliers and renegotiate the order contracts for 5 times the original order quantity. They have to do the same with their suppliers. In the meantime, there's a giant sh!tshow going on in the world that's effecting everybody. Good times, right?

 

[LotusB]

You didn't sign off on the approval for something until recently, and now one of your suppliers has just told you they either can't supply what you were expecting them to supply, or it's going to be a month longer than you were expecting. What do you do? Tell everybody the details publicly? Shame the supplier? Sue? Pitch a fit? What do you do?

Of course it has to do with demand; demand means quantity of items ordered. If demand is 5 times what you were expecting, you have to contact every one of your suppliers and renegotiate the order contracts for 5 times the original order quantity. They have to do the same with their suppliers. In the meantime, there's a giant sh!tshow going on in the world that's effecting everybody. Good times, right?

Then the excuse is "we are having supply chain issues" not "unprecedented demand." Or "supply chain issues DUE to unprecedented demand."

You're making up your own stories as an apologist. We aren't dumb, we understand what's happening in the world. But we can also sniff through bullshit and just saying "unprecedented demand" sounds like bullshit.

For the record, I don't think there's a single person in this entire thread that wants Lotus to do bad, we all want our cars and all want Lotus to succeed. People are also understanding, especially in today's world, but say it straight and don't treat us like children, that's all.

#InForTheWait

 

[Eagle7]

What else would you like them to say, other than there's going to be a delay of one month? If people are understanding and don't want to be treated like children, then there shouldn't be the need for any further explanation for exactly the reasons you stated. If you read through all the threads, you'll note there's a fair bit of snark and sniping that comes across like... well, children.

I'm actually a centrist, but if you're on either side of the line, the middle always looks like 'the other side'. Did you notice when I created a safe space for all the complainers to complain, only 1 apparently used it? They don't mind dishing it out, but suddenly go quiet when somebody turns on the spotlight.

Thousands of people have deposits and/or orders in for the Emira. If prospective customers look to the forums to see what people are saying, what effect do you think it would have for them to see a constant stream of sniping and negativity from the same few people, thread after thread? Is that going to help Lotus succeed? I saw what that kind of thing did to Alfa Romeo in the forums over there.

At any rate, to everyone's great joy and relief, I'm getting bored with the game. I'll stop saying positive things about Lotus and trying to counter-balance the negativity. (OMG FINALLY! I THOUGHT HE"D NEVER STOP!!).

Get it right Lotus, then build and ship my car. If my efforts to understand your struggles and give you some slack meant anything to you, and you decide to build and deliver my car earlier than otherwise, that's okay too.

 

[FederGigant]

Yes.... but still hope one day to get a Lotus.... and friends are still in for the ride......

Sorry if you realy think this has any thing to with demand ? .... and if it turns out to be so..... they knew how many car they had to build for first batch some time ago.... long before thing in the world changed

They clearly know how many cars they had to build for the first batch, and if they had not got parts ready for at least the first batch ? something is wrong.....

Plaese dont start explianing about demand etc..... I am not some kind of simpleton

Oh and yes, clearly getting out looked like the right thing..... good chance I would be still waiting this time next year... but would still like to hope one day to buy a Lotus car.... and the company be in a better shape.

So if Lotus communicates the issues, you simply don't believe them? That's also an approach. You might have forgotten, but there was something else that changes a few things for a few people. It started roughly two years ago and is called Corona. Now even though some of us don't care about that or even radicalized and think they have to run down the streets every Monday screaming that the establishment played games with us, it is still around and still a thread. If you look at China for example (this country in Asia where Geely is from, which owns Lotus and supplies them with a lot of parts for the Emira), they are locking everything down at this very moment and even stop exports.
There are so many things going on that it could happen that you find yourself in a situation where your supply chain switches from everything being fine to getting not a single piece delivered from one day to another.

 

[TomE]

What else would you like them to say, other than there's going to be a delay of one month? If people are understanding and don't want to be treated like children, then there shouldn't be the need for any further explanation for exactly the reasons you stated. If you read through all the threads, you'll note there's a fair bit of snark and sniping that comes across like... well, children.

I'm actually a centrist, but if you're on either side of the line, the middle always looks like 'the other side'. Did you notice when I created a safe space for all the complainers to complain, only 1 apparently used it? They don't mind dishing it out, but suddenly go quiet when somebody turns on the spotlight.

Thousands of people have deposits and/or orders in for the Emira. If prospective customers look to the forums to see what people are saying, what effect do you think it would have for them to see a constant stream of sniping and negativity from the same few people, thread after thread? Is that going to help Lotus succeed? I saw what that kind of thing did to Alfa Romeo in the forums over there.

At any rate, to everyone's great joy and relief, I'm getting bored with the game. I'll stop saying positive things about Lotus and trying to counter-balance the negativity. (OMG FINALLY! I THOUGHT HE"D NEVER STOP!!).

Get it right Lotus, then build and ship my car. If my efforts to understand your struggles and give you some slack meant anything to you, and you decide to build and deliver my car earlier than otherwise, that's okay too.

It is possible to be an ardent, lifelong supporter of Lotus and constructively critical of things they are doing or not doing.

Many of the threads on this forum are people seeking information or clarification on things they can’t find anywhere from Lotus. Those range from details about the car to the process for ordering and status updates. We all try and help each other. I agree some people’s expectations can be unrealistic, given where Lotus are in the launch cycle. But mostly people are curious, interested and hungry for more info.

Some threads do include people expressing frustration with the lack of info from Lotus - expecting people to restrict those comments to a Complaints thread is a tad unrealistic. Sometimes whole threads start because of the info gaps or frustrations - for example when Lotus announce a delay that affects every customer. It’s Lotus who created that situation, not the people on this forum. They’re just expressing how it impacts on them.

In other circumstances this place would be devoid of threads seeking info and instead people eagerly (Eagle7-y?) awaiting delivery of their cars. A few more factory tours, press reviews, pictures of FE colours, updates from Lotus with a bit of content and we might just be able to “keep calm” until first customer cars arrive and we have some owner feedback to digest.