Lotus Day Event in China with Jenson Button

[lynchy73]

A few days ago they had a pretty big Event in China for Lotus, between 29-31st March, called Lotus Day, at a track about 2hrs drive from my home. Jenson Button was there, Colin Chapman’s son and various others came from the UK. Sounds great, but it’s invitation only.

Not sure who thought it was a great idea to put on this Lotus Day event, but only for their select special friends and to hand over some 2.6 tonne Emeya EV. For me as a British (citizen) Emira owner in China, it’s kind of crap to be reminded every day in my feed about what a great event it was, but I wasn’t welcome to even show my face and look around.

I don’t need a complimentary hotel or anything else to drive the 2 hours to the track, just an invitation to turn up under my own steam, in my virtually new Lotus Emira, for a Lotus Event would be great. You never know, I might even be more tempted to purchase an Emeya R+ as my next car purchase if I got all warm and fuzzy at a Lotus Event.

Maybe I’m just a whiny bitch, but to me this was all pretty annoying and was plain dumb to have such a lack of interest in the people that actually bought their pretty expensive cars. While they are at it they could also put on some track training/courses (personally don’t have a problem paying) that I might attend, so I can enjoy my Sports Car on the track where it would shine, rather than lots of PR nonsense, Luxury/Race Heritage blah blah social media BS.

 

[Porter]

But they don't want ACTUAL great owner experiences. That would take thoughtful effort.

They just want the APPEARANCE of great owner experiences, for their Instagram and Facebook posts. That just takes some staging, some logo banners, and a few paid extras to stand consistently in the right spot for a photo while making joyful faces.

 

[wallstbear]

It's indeed rather annoying, even though I have more or less gotten used to it. There is generally a "fnck the regular guy" mentality in most corporations and definitely in all branches of the government.

Same goes for marathon races where spectators are often expelled by cops.

 

[lynchy73]

But they don't want ACTUAL great owner experiences. That would take thoughtful effort.

They just want the APPEARANCE of great owner experiences, for their Instagram and Facebook posts. That just takes some staging, some logo banners, and a few paid extras to stand consistently in the right spot for a photo while making joyful faces.

It’s not all bad. I was given a track experience previously and was very well looked after, all complimentary (before purchase). I’ve also had excellent experience with my local dealer (new showroom, close to my home) who are great and extremely nice.

Agreed, there is definitely a large amount of PR BS. My point is that, if you’re gonna put on an Event and call it Lotus Day, surely all Lotus owners should be welcome to come.

I’ve got a great Lotus Sports Car, I love to drive it, any excuse I can find, I’ll take (outside of daily stuff). Why can’t they have little meets, or whatever. Surely a train of Emiras is good for the exposure/sales and it doesn’t need ti cost Lotus much if anything.

 

[lynchy73]

It's indeed rather annoying, even though I have more or less gotten used to it. There is generally a "fnck the regular guy" mentality in most corporations and definitely in all branches of the government.

Same goes for marathon races where spectators are often expelled by cops.

I’m not looking to generalise this, just talking about Lotus. It seems like bad choices and missed opportunities from Lotus. If other Chinese Lotus owners also feedback to Lotus, they may listen?
I personally told my Lotus contacts I wasn’t impressed that I don’t qualify for an invitation. Also said I’d love to get involved in tge track events we were previously promised (happy to pay too).

 

[Porter]

On the flip side, compare it to the US owner experience, where not only are there no track events or other inclusive marketing effort, on the contrary, you put down your money and then there was a 3 year wait with no meaningful communication whatsoever from Lotus. Meanwhile the dealers aren't getting paid because they aren't moving any product, and besides, they know less about regulatory approval and inventory arrival than the customers.

Things are getting better in the US, but man... I'd love some of the good treatment the Chinese customer base has been given.

 

[lynchy73]

On the flip side, compare it to the US owner experience, where not only are there no track events or other inclusive marketing effort, on the contrary, you put down your money and then there was a 3 year wait with no meaningful communication whatsoever from Lotus. Meanwhile the dealers aren't getting paid because they aren't moving any product, and besides, they know less about regulatory approval and inventory arrival than the customers.

Things are getting better in the US, but man... I'd love some of the good treatment the Chinese customer base has been given.

Ok, fair enough. Was silly of me to say anything whilst living in China, my apologies.

 

[Porter]

Ok, fair enough. Was silly of me to say anything whilst living in China, my apologies.

Oh I wasn't saying that at all! I was expressing my jealousy. Please do continue to post about this stuff, it's awesome.

 

[Lotustoronto]

In fairness, the Lotus test drive event at the Quail last year was pretty good from what I heard. I do think they are trying and could certainly do better. Let's not forget that Lotus' largest market is now China (EV's), it does make business sense to keep a focus there and in Europe. North America will get more focus as time goes on. Hopefully. On another note, Lotus is announcing 2023 and q1 '24 sales on April 8th. Will be very interested to know how that goes for them.

 

[ameeriklane]

Where was it held? I was in Wenzhou last month and was surprised to see so much Lotus visibility in what is a second-tier city in China. There were Lotus billboards, and even Lotus branding on some kind of ferris wheel thing.

The Lotus main showroom in Shanghai was also pretty amazing -- way better than what I've seen in the US so far.

 

[brainf18]

A few days ago they had a pretty big Event in China for Lotus, between 29-31st March, called Lotus Day, at a track about 2hrs drive from my home. Jenson Button was there, Colin Chapman’s son and various others came from the UK. Sounds great, but it’s invitation only.

Not sure who thought it was a great idea to put on this Lotus Day event, but only for their select special friends and to hand over some 2.6 tonne Emeya EV. For me as a British (citizen) Emira owner in China, it’s kind of crap to be reminded every day in my feed about what a great event it was, but I wasn’t welcome to even show my face and look around.

I don’t need a complimentary hotel or anything else to drive the 2 hours to the track, just an invitation to turn up under my own steam, in my virtually new Lotus Emira, for a Lotus Event would be great. You never know, I might even be more tempted to purchase an Emeya R+ as my next car purchase if I got all warm and fuzzy at a Lotus Event.

Maybe I’m just a whiny bitch, but to me this was all pretty annoying and was plain dumb to have such a lack of interest in the people that actually bought their pretty expensive cars. While they are at it they could also put on some track training/courses (personally don’t have a problem paying) that I might attend, so I can enjoy my Sports Car on the track where it would shine, rather than lots of PR nonsense, Luxury/Race Heritage blah blah social media BS.

Been to China many times for work....I'm not a fan

 

[lynchy73]

Where was it held? I was in Wenzhou last month and was surprised to see so much Lotus visibility in what is a second-tier city in China. There were Lotus billboards, and even Lotus branding on some kind of ferris wheel thing.

The Lotus main showroom in Shanghai was also pretty amazing -- way better than what I've seen in the US so far.

It was at Zhejiang Circuit, I’ve been there once before: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhejiang_International_Circuit

Yes, there has been a big push from Lotus in China, lots of new plush showrooms.

Unfortunately, I don’t think sales are great, it’s not a great time to be trying to sell what are pretty expensive cars. Its a very competitive car market in China these days.

Been to China many times for work....I'm not a fan

Thanks for sharing that

 

[lynchy73]

On the flip side, compare it to the US owner experience, where not only are there no track events or other inclusive marketing effort, on the contrary, you put down your money and then there was a 3 year wait with no meaningful communication whatsoever from Lotus. Meanwhile the dealers aren't getting paid because they aren't moving any product, and besides, they know less about regulatory approval and inventory arrival than the customers.

Things are getting better in the US, but man... I'd love some of the good treatment the Chinese customer base has been given.

Are Lotus’s China manufactured EV’s even sold in the USA? If they are, the additional duties/taxes are not going to make them very competitive.

It doesn’t make sense for Lotus to invest heavily in North America, unless they can shift lots of EV’s too.

 

[JimH]

Are Lotus’s China manufactured EV’s even sold in the USA? If they are, the additional duties/taxes are not going to make them very competitive.

It doesn’t make sense for Lotus to invest heavily in North America, unless they can shift lots of EV’s too.

USA Eletre orders are open now ("Expected" delivery 2024), USA Emeya "Launching in 2024" ("Expected" delivery 2025) ...... https://www.lotuscars.com/en-US/

 

[wallstbear]

Are Lotus’s China manufactured EV’s even sold in the USA? If they are, the additional duties/taxes are not going to make them very competitive.

It doesn’t make sense for Lotus to invest heavily in North America, unless they can shift lots of EV’s too.

They are probably better off keeping a decent sized ICE division.

 

[lynchy73]

They are probably better off keeping a decent sized ICE division.

Agreed. Telling the World that the Emira is their last ICE car was premature.

 

[lynchy73]

USA Eletre orders are open now ("Expected" delivery 2024), USA Emeya "Launching in 2024" ("Expected" delivery 2025) ...... https://www.lotuscars.com/en-US/

I hope Lotus sell lots EVs in all markets. Sales in China are not good it seems.

It seems to me the profit margin on Lotus EVs in China are higher than in other markets. Prices are quite comparable between China, Europe and USA it seems, despite the additional taxes, duty and shipping costs outside of China. A MIC Tesla for example will be much cheaper in China than in Europe or the UK.

Lotus is not an established brand in China, I suspect they will struggle to get anywhere near their China Sales Targets at their current EV pricing. Their EVs are expensive in China and there are lots of very good value alternatives.

 

[Nova]

I have some theories about the big presence of Lotus marketing in China. The simplest explanation is that the brand is a relatively unknown entity in China. Although not a household name, it is *MUCH* better known in the western world because it was an established western brand, which was kind of the point for Geely to buy it. The Chinese domestic market is becoming an increasingly important market for any Chinese brands because of the decoupling that is taking place between China and the rest of the world. The US has a 25% tariff on all Chinese produced cars, and EU is currently looking long and hard at a similar tariff to fend off Chinese state subsidies in the EV market. Some Chinese companies have started to open factories in friendly third party countries like Mexico, but this takes time, and not all brands have the appetite to do this.

Another explanation is simply that Geely is in China and they know their local market the best, so it's a lot easier for them to find effective things to do with their marketing dollars in China, versus elsewhere in the world, where marketing costs are high and the results are questionable.