Lotus halt all delivery to the US.

[docron]

EU President just stated a couple hours ago they are ready for talks with the US and even offered zero for zero tariffs on industrial goods as a starting point.

 

[ross7alex]

I was originally going to put in a custom order a few weeks ago, but got cold feet from the impending tariffs and ended up looking around the dealers and finding one locally that was an exact match to my ideal spec which I bought instead. When I talked to the dealer (Victory Lotus in central NJ) they said the V6's are moving but the i4's are sitting, which makes sense given the extensive searching that I did prior to finding my car, all the dealers I looked into had around a 5:1 split of i4 to V6 on the lots. He also said he remembered putting in the order for that specific car, and said they came up with the spec based on what they figured people would want (which is almost identical to the Seneca blue model used in the press photos).

 

[DeltaTL6]

According to Car and Driver, they confirmed with a Lotus rep that shipment is indeed paused. Makes sense until we can settle on what tariff will stay.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64406719/lotus-emira-imports-paused-tariffs/

 

[RobR]

Truly unbelievable.

 

[exigest]

And now we’ve got word from Mercedes that that’ll be eating the tariffs for all MY25 cars. Honestly not even sure which news is more surprising.

 

[Biggles of Norwich]

EU President just stated a couple hours ago they are ready for talks with the US and even offered zero for zero tariffs on industrial goods as a starting point.

Guardian headline this morning:
"Donald Trump rejects EU’s proposals for ‘zero for zero’ tariffs deal on cars and industrial goods.
US president tells reporters offer ‘is not good enough’, putting further dent in European hopes for negotiated solution instead of trade war".
Oh well.......
Hope something gets sorted soon for you guys in the USA, both for your sakes and for Lotus here in the UK.

 

[Quasimoto]

Also VW, Audi and Jag/Rover…

 

[freeheelbille]

Terrible for those waiting forever to get their car

Good for those that received their car

Value should hold up and long term is even better

Probably price goes up

It will be interesting to see what the used market does...if the tariffs stick, long term.

 

[docron]

Guardian headline this morning:
"Donald Trump rejects EU’s proposals for ‘zero for zero’ tariffs deal on cars and industrial goods.
US president tells reporters offer ‘is not good enough’, putting further dent in European hopes for negotiated solution instead of trade war".
Oh well.......
Hope something gets sorted soon for you guys in the USA, both for your sakes and for Lotus here in the UK.

Yeah, i knew that wouldnt be good enough for US…at least its a starting point.

 

[Quasimoto]

Personally, I’d rather see more Emiras here than a small bump in my residual… :/

 

[freeheelbille]

Personally, I’d rather see more Emiras here than a small bump in my residual… :/

Yeah, I feel for those who have been waiting...and waiting. But I selfishly don't mind that it adds to the rarity and uniqueness on the road.

 

[jp129]

Yeah, I feel for those who have been waiting...and waiting. But I selfishly don't mind that it adds to the rarity and uniqueness on the road.

Perhaps it may add rarity, but that doesn't bode well for Lotus support/service. Atleast for those that actually want to drive their cars and not just have it sit as a collector piece. If dealers don't have incentive to sell the brand they're going to pull out.

I don't see this being a positive thing for current Emira owners either.

Let's be real, Lotus support prior to this situation was already inadequate in my opinion.

 

[Jinba ittai]

Personally, I’d rather see more Emiras here than a small bump in my residual… :/

Yeah I’m never selling so I don’t care about residual. I’d rather see this work out for lotus and their customers so this type of car continues to be built. Maybe financial success is off the table at this point though…

 

[freeheelbille]

Perhaps it may add rarity, but that doesn't bode well for Lotus support/service. Atleast for those that actually want to drive their cars and not just have it sit as a collector piece. If dealers don't have incentive to sell the brand they're going to pull out.

I don't see this being a positive thing for current Emira owners either.

Let's be real, Lotus support prior to this situation was already inadequate in my opinion.

100% agree. I have a great relationship with my dealer, and it's been painful to watch their struggles.

 

[RoryBellows]

Rarity is only cool when the car is no longer meant to be driven. We dont want rarity for this car. We want lots of parts availability and owners right now.

 

[RobR]

A dealer just confirmed that Lotus is pausing all cars destined for the US alas.

Does that make my nonrefundable deposit refundable??

 

[JohnnyB]

A dealer just confirmed that Lotus is pausing all cars destined for the US alas.

Does that make my nonrefundable deposit refundable??

I haven't read the terms that you agreed to, but if Lotus isn't building and shipping US cars, I'd like to think that you can get your deposit back. My agreement with my dealer was that my deposit was refundable up to the point that Lotus issued the VIN for my car. I don't have a VIN, Lotus has no plans to build the car, so I did get my deposit back and will keep an eye on things.

 

[Bulls-Vivid-Red]

A dealer just confirmed that Lotus is pausing all cars destined for the US alas.

Does that make my nonrefundable deposit refundable??

Whoa I hadn't heard of anyone with a nonrefundable deposit, are you sure that's the case? Even people paying dealer markups didn't hand over that cash until the actual delivery of the car. How much of your money are they holding?

I canceled a deposit I had with a dealer in order to get my car from a location closer to my home. Overall it was a very painless process, but obvious difference was my deposit was clearly stated as being refundable. Like JohnnyB mentioned, it was refundable until the build was submitted and a VIN issued.

 

[3A3968M]

Whoa I hadn't heard of anyone with a nonrefundable deposit, are you sure that's the case? Even people paying dealer markups didn't hand over that cash until the actual delivery of the car. How much of your money are they holding?

I canceled a deposit I had with a dealer in order to get my car from a location closer to my home. Overall it was a very painless process, but obvious difference was my deposit was clearly stated as being refundable. Like JohnnyB mentioned, it was refundable until the build was submitted and a VIN issued.

My initial $2500 deposit got me a production spot in July 2021 (refundable at that point) followed by additional $2500 in May 2022 to lock the build. At that point $5K had become non-refundable. The VIN issued in November 2023, and I took the delivery of my car in May 2024.
I don’t know if the process has changed since.

 

[DerTheDer]

Whoa I hadn't heard of anyone with a nonrefundable deposit, are you sure that's the case? Even people paying dealer markups didn't hand over that cash until the actual delivery of the car. How much of your money are they holding?

I canceled a deposit I had with a dealer in order to get my car from a location closer to my home. Overall it was a very painless process, but obvious difference was my deposit was clearly stated as being refundable. Like JohnnyB mentioned, it was refundable until the build was submitted and a VIN issued.

I had 11k nom refundable down. There were def non refundable after you placed order.