Lotus Cars USA

I just received an email season's greeting card from Lotus Cars USA ! This is good PR and actually eases the waiting period somewhat by adding positive thoughts when I dream about my Emira.

 

[benjh1028]

Today marks my 1 year deposit anniversary, so I decided to reach out to the sales agent at Motorcars of Atlanta for an update. The only update I have received over the course of the year has been the dealership monthly newsletter and inquired I have initiated. I was advised the dealership hasn't received any actual allocations for the FE and there was a backlog within US allocations due to certification issues. I was also advised the FE orders that were previously projected for 2023 deliveries will be 2024 model and in all probability October timeframe I will be able to submit my order for a 2024 Base Edition with a late 2024 delivery. These were estimates only and no firm commitments as information is in complete flux due to delays widely know on this forum

All confirmed on this forum.

 

[Cdwilli217]

All confirmed on this forum.

Benjh1028 indeed, I am not frustrated as I waited 17 months 4 years ago when I purchased my Alfa Romeo 4C. My thoughts overall is, there should be more official visibility into the process. For example, insight into the allocation process or providing a listing where depositors rack and stack in the allocation process to help manage expectations. Deposit are paid and its has been a black hole the moment after deposit was processed..

 

[benjh1028]

Benjh1028 indeed, I am not frustrated as I waited 17 months 4 years ago when I purchased my Alfa Romeo 4C. My thoughts overall is, there should be more official visibility into the process. For example, insight into the allocation process or providing a listing where depositors rack and stack in the allocation process to help manage expectations. Deposit are paid and its has been a black hole the moment after deposit was processed..

Agree 100%. Transparency - or lack of - has been the majority gripe here for quite some time. You'll note the use of the word "soon" in many posts, which reinforces the level of frustration around here.

I did this dance in 2005 for an Elise - from Motorcars of Atlanta - and the Lotus experience today hasn't really changed. Some like myself were hopeful that Geely ownership would provide for better stability of timelines, but unfortunately has not been the case.

In the meantime, welcome to the forum! There really is a great deal of relevant information here, along with enough humor and weirdness to keep it from being boring. And we always need more southern representation (unless you're a UGA fan)!

 

[DerTheDer]

Seems like Geely just pumped some money into Lotus UK and then spent all their time with Lotus China with the EV market. Lotus UK is suffering, but daddy throws them some cash when they get to loud, but doesnt help them out with logistics or anything like that. If they did we would have our Emiras.

 

[TomE]

Geely gave Lotus access to all the Geely group and subsidiary engineering expertise, parts catalogue and supply chain. Lotus decided which to draw on and what to do itself.

 

[Pegasi]

Today marks my 1 year deposit anniversary, so I decided to reach out to the sales agent at Motorcars of Atlanta for an update. The only update I have received over the course of the year has been the dealership monthly newsletter and inquired I have initiated. I was advised the dealership hasn't received any actual allocations for the FE and there was a backlog within US allocations due to certification issues.

What do you mean the dealership received no FE allocations? Are you saying they are a Lotus dealership that got no allocations at all for FEs but somehow they will get Base allocations?

 

[benjh1028]

Geely gave Lotus access to all the Geely group and subsidiary engineering expertise, parts catalogue and supply chain. Lotus decided which to draw on and what to do itself.

That kinda makes it more frustrating Tom. If you could have a chat with them on better decision making it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cdwilli217]

What do you mean the dealership received no FE allocations? Are you saying they are a Lotus dealership that got no allocations at all for FEs but somehow they will get Base allocations?

They didn't know what their allocations were going to be as they hadn't been released. At least that is what my sales person told me...things were fluid because of delays in production and certification. Estimates were 3rd Qtr 2023 I would be able to submit my order for a Base Edition and delivery 2nd/3rd Qtr 2024. I missed the FE cut line, so I wasn't too concern about FE or FE 2.0 as it wasn't clear as to whether I would be considered for the 2.0 either. As stated, the biggest issue I have with the process is once you pay your deposit you go into this black hole and my quarterly inquiries are met with more of the same information from this informal forum. It would be helpful to a degree if there was a database to show either my salesman or me where I am in the rack and stack to place my order and another one for actual production. I have several friends who ordered the new corvette and although they were given estimates on delivery; they were giving a build number. Paying a deposit puts you in a line but that line is open ended per say as I don't know when I will be able to submit my order.

 

[Nova]

They didn't know what their allocations were going to be as they hadn't been released. At least that is what my sales person told me...things were fluid because of delays in production and certification. Estimates were 3rd Qtr 2023 I would be able to submit my order for a Base Edition and delivery 2nd/3rd Qtr 2024. I missed the FE cut line, so I wasn't too concern about FE or FE 2.0 as it wasn't clear as to whether I would be considered for the 2.0 either. As stated, the biggest issue I have with the process is once you pay your deposit you go into this black hole and my quarterly inquiries are met with more of the same information from this informal forum. It would be helpful to a degree if there was a database to show either my salesman or me where I am in the rack and stack to place my order and another one for actual production. I have several friends who ordered the new corvette and although they were given estimates on delivery; they were giving a build number. Paying a deposit puts you in a line but that line is open ended per say as I don't know when I will be able to submit my order.

That is highly irregular. As far as we know, *ALL* US dealerships received their FE 1.0 allocations. The orders were not finalized until late 2022, but I *squeezed* into one of the remaining FE allocation slots in December of 2022 and have an actual order submitted with Lotus. Aside from the FE 1.0 allocations, however, I agree that nothing else is known at this point. The availability/timeline of base or FE 2.0 cars is anyone's guess at this point.

 

[Cdwilli217]

That is highly irregular. As far as we know, *ALL* US dealerships received their FE 1.0 allocations. The orders were not finalized until late 2022, but I *squeezed* into one of the remaining FE allocation slots in December of 2022 and have an actual order submitted with Lotus. Aside from the FE 1.0 allocations, however, I agree that nothing else is known at this point. The availability/timeline of base or FE 2.0 cars is anyone's guess at this point.

May I ask, when did you put down your deposit

 

[Nova]

May I ask, when did you put down your deposit

I put down my deposit in September of 2021. I was outside of the initial FE allocation, but not by an absurd amount. I accepted that I would not get an FE but got a call in December of 2022 from my dealer that enough people had backed out of their FE orders that I was "next name on the list". I grabbed the chance on the spot and submitted my order the same day. My dealer told me this was one of the last orders to be finalized and that they were under pressure to lock all orders in.

However, every dealer's situation is different, so my initial deposit may be 1-2 months behind someone who is still outside the FE order cut-off at their dealer. I know of people who had 2022 deposits who still got an FE deposit because they worked with one of a handful of newly opened Lotus dealers across the country.

 

[Aero]

They didn't know what their allocations were going to be as they hadn't been released. At least that is what my sales person told me...things were fluid because of delays in production and certification. Estimates were 3rd Qtr 2023 I would be able to submit my order for a Base Edition and delivery 2nd/3rd Qtr 2024. I missed the FE cut line, so I wasn't too concern about FE or FE 2.0 as it wasn't clear as to whether I would be considered for the 2.0 either. As stated, the biggest issue I have with the process is once you pay your deposit you go into this black hole and my quarterly inquiries are met with more of the same information from this informal forum. It would be helpful to a degree if there was a database to show either my salesman or me where I am in the rack and stack to place my order and another one for actual production. I have several friends who ordered the new corvette and although they were given estimates on delivery; they were giving a build number. Paying a deposit puts you in a line but that line is open ended per say as I don't know when I will be able to submit my order.

I almost went to ATL to put my deposit down (fall 2021). The Lotus manager there seemed to know his stuff so hard to believe they cant tell you more based on their allocations. (which they should know). I deposited in Nashville since its closer and they had less deposits at the time than ATL but they may be getting more allocations/month. My dealer can tell me (roughly) how many cars they are scheduled to get per month and for sure how many FE1.0 they got. I'm on the cusp of a FE2.0 which may be known soon. FYI: I haven't officially ordered yet either, was told in december 22 it would be april/may but was before the latest delay for FE USA cars.
I attended the Emira roadshow in ATL in Dec21 and the Lotus reps (and I think ATL sales manager) told me the USA allocations were coming out in March22 so they shouldve known at your deposit time. I followed up with my dealer later and he confirmed they got their numbers.
Good to see another Emira owner in HSV...i live around Hartselle so only have Emira at work occasionally.

 

[HydroJim]

Wow, two people from Huntsville. I'm surprised to see that. I put my deposit down in August, 2022 with Gator Motorsport in Indianapolis. I found them easier to work with than the Nashville or Atlanta dealers, but that doesn't mean I'll be getting my car any sooner. I'm down for a base edition. I was originally told two years from the date of my deposit and I'm assuming a day-to-day slip until they actual start shipping cars to the US. At this point, I'd be very shocked to see a car in late 2024.

I was too late to the C8 Z06 game but I have a shot at getting a 2nd year e-ray or some other C8 future variant if I find myself interested.

 

[Pegasi]

May I ask, when did you put down your deposit

I put my deposit in August 2021 in ATL. At that time I believe I was told I was #46. At some point, sorry I can't remember, when allocations were released I was told by the sales manager that they received 17 FE allocations and I would not be getting an FE. Don't quote me on these numbers because I didn't write anything down. I just wasn't concerned when I got my car just as long as I got one.

 

[SmallerBaller]

Wow, two people from Huntsville. I'm surprised to see that.

I did a double take, myself!

 

[Aero]

Wow, two people from Huntsville. I'm surprised to see that. I put my deposit down in August, 2022 with Gator Motorsport in Indianapolis. I found them easier to work with than the Nashville or Atlanta dealers, but that doesn't mean I'll be getting my car any sooner. I'm down for a base edition. I was originally told two years from the date of my deposit and I'm assuming a day-to-day slip until they actual start shipping cars to the US. At this point, I'd be very shocked to see a car in late 2024.

I was too late to the C8 Z06 game but I have a shot at getting a 2nd year e-ray or some other C8 future variant if I find myself interested.

Wow now there's three of us. I'm going with Seneca.
I almost went with Gator as well since I called most of the dealers in the East to see their situation. Gator told me at the time they expected a similar wait to Nashville based on deposits but nobody knew for sure since actual allocations weren't released. They actually recommended I go with Nashville to be closer for upcoming demos/test drives etc. (which I was impressed they did that) If I happen to get my car first other hsv people are welcome to check it out.

 

[Cdwilli217]

I almost went to ATL to put my deposit down (fall 2021). The Lotus manager there seemed to know his stuff so hard to believe they cant tell you more based on their allocations. (which they should know). I deposited in Nashville since its closer and they had less deposits at the time than ATL but they may be getting more allocations/month. My dealer can tell me (roughly) how many cars they are scheduled to get per month and for sure how many FE1.0 they got. I'm on the cusp of a FE2.0 which may be known soon. FYI: I haven't officially ordered yet either, was told in december 22 it would be april/may but was before the latest delay for FE USA cars.
I attended the Emira roadshow in ATL in Dec21 and the Lotus reps (and I think ATL sales manager) told me the USA allocations were coming out in March22 so they shouldve known at your deposit time. I followed up with my dealer later and he confirmed they got their numbers.
Good to see another Emira owner in HSV...i live around Hartselle so only have Emira at work occasionally.

Thanks...I initially was working with the guy in Nashville, but after waiting nearly 2 weeks for him to send me the form to pay online I thought it was a prelude of what would be in store for me from a service standpoint. I opted to contact the Atlanta dealership and immediately received the deposit form...the rest is captured in previous post.