Lotus produce record number of sports cars in H1 of 2023

Lotus produces record 2,200 sports cars in first half of 2023

British carmaker also gearing up for sales of new Eletre electric SUV under Chinese owner Geely’s expansion plans

www.theguardian.com

Lotus achieves record H1 2023, surpassing previous business years - Lotus Cars Media Site

media.lotuscars.com

 

[Cachaco131]

Where are all the Emiras going?

Let's assume that Lotus is producing 30 cars each day. My understanding (which may be wrong), is that they run 4 days each week, and 3 days off.
So they would make 30/day * 200 days/year = 6000/year. Sounds similar to what Lotus has estimated in the past.

If they are making 30/day, where are they going? None to North America, formally their largest market. And Lotus has indicated that it will take them 3 months to produce the 700 original FE 1.0 cars scheduled for NA. Yet at 30/day it should take less than 1.2 months (24 production days).

And all of this math is at 30/day, not 46 as mentioned in Nelly111s post.

Are Emiras mostly going to China? I would think the i4 possibly, due to the tax on cars with engines larger than 2.0L. Yet that model is just now coming out.

Volvo, another Geely Brand, has no problems selling in the US, so I'm not buying what TomE stated.....


So maybe they are producing much less than 30/day, and continue to have supply chain issues on certain parts? Or a combination of mostly shipping into China and Production issues??

Area 51

 

[981KMAN]

Area 51

Well... I didn't think any were coming to the US yet.

But it would answer many of my questions.......

 

[981KMAN]

When they build the NA cars they will be building for other markets in parallel, and a mix of V6 and i4. So 700 cars might take 8-10 weeks but the NA cars will take 3-4 months.

My understanding of the US tariffs is they are based on country of manufacture of the individual car, not the HQ of the parent. So US Emiras will get the UK tariff and US Eletres the China tariff. The majority of Volvos for the US are built in Sweden, so have that tariff. There’s a US plant (North Carolina) where they build the S60, so no tariff.

The possible cultural obstacles are more complicated, as some people will consider build country and others will consider company or parent company location.

Regarding Emira production mix, Yes you are probably correct, yet you would think Lotus would just knock out the 700 US spec vehicles and move on. Rather than mixing different spec cars down the line, as it appears that Lotus does not have as sophisticated a JIT manufacturing system as other manufacturers, and some markets appear to already be saturated with Emiras.

US Vehicle Import Tariffs are 2.5% for UK, EU & 27.5% for China EV manufactured vehicles. I don't think sales price in the US is a major concern here for the Emira - some importance, yet not a "deal breaker".

The obstacle for the Eletre will be more that it is an EV, than where it was manufactured. Yet I agree that with the current politics some folks will not consider a vehicle manufactured in China. Which will hurt Lotus CAFE and Emission averages in the long run.

Many moving pieces to this puzzle... with too many political regulations gumming up the consumer market.

Thanks for your insight and comments!!

 

[Cachaco131]

Well... I didn't think any were coming to the US yet.

But it would answer many of my questions.......

There are some aliens tracking them within Area 51. They don't care about AC, limp mode and power steering failures.

 

[TomE]

The Hethel production facility lets them build each car on the line to a different spec. They could build US V6 FE, EU i4 FE, UK V6 Base, V6 manual and auto and a mix of colours and interior trims in the same morning.

They have done some batching for ramp up, training and efficiency reasons. But most of the batching is driven by regional market, regulatory approval and commercial reasons. In theory they could have built V6 FEs for all markets in parallel, but they decided not to.

 

[Eagle7]

Keep in mind that the 3 months to deliver cars to the U.S. isn't just production. It includes building 700 cars, delivering them to the docks to be loaded onto a ship, the ship transporting them across the Atlantic, clearing customs, then being unloaded at whatever port they arrived at.

 

[TomE]

Keep in mind that the 3 months to deliver cars to the U.S. isn't just production. It includes building 700 cars, delivering them to the docks to be loaded onto a ship, the ship transporting them across the Atlantic, clearing customs, then being unloaded at whatever port they arrived at.

Not quite. The 700 NA cars will take 3 months to build. But the cars built in month 1 will be shipped at the start of month 2 and will take until roughly the end of month 3 to be transported, registered and handed to owners. So from start of NA build to final car handed to owner is about 5 months.

 

[Eagle7]

Not quite. The 700 NA cars will take 3 months to build. But the cars built in month 1 will be shipped at the start of month 2 and will take until roughly the end of month 3 to be transported, registered and handed to owners. So from start of NA build to final car handed to owner is about 5 months.

Yeah but I thought they were going to produce them all, ship and store them while awaiting CARB certification?

 

[nelly111s]

Where are all the Emiras going?

Let's assume that Lotus is producing 30 cars each day. My understanding (which may be wrong), is that they run 4 days each week, and 3 days off.
So they would make 30/day * 200 days/year = 6000/year. Sounds similar to what Lotus has estimated in the past.

If they are making 30/day, where are they going? None to North America, formally their largest market. And Lotus has indicated that it will take them 3 months to produce the 700 original FE 1.0 cars scheduled for NA. Yet at 30/day it should take less than 1.2 months (24 production days).

And all of this math is at 30/day, not 46 as mentioned in Nelly111s post.

Are Emiras mostly going to China? I would think the i4 possibly, due to the tax on cars with engines larger than 2.0L. Yet that model is just now coming out.

Volvo, another Geely Brand, has no problems selling in the US, so I'm not buying what TomE stated.....


So maybe they are producing much less than 30/day, and continue to have supply chain issues on certain parts? Or a combination of mostly shipping into China and Production issues??

“Normal” build rate is 23 per day, currently. 46 was a different shift system (2 full, or 3?) for the day. 46 is the target rate I understand.

 

[Nova]

Yeah but I thought they were going to produce them all, ship and store them while awaiting CARB certification?

At this point, I'm not sure what the official plan is. Lotus initially said in March that they were going to build the cars starting in June (or was it July?) then ship them over to be stored at the port for delivery. They scratched that plan and went radio silent with the US buyers because they didn't start building the US cars - instead they shifted to the I4s for China and filled more UK/EU orders. Recently, with the start of FE 2.0 allocations, we are hearing some dealers say Lotus will build the cars to be stored at port, but it's not clear whether this was reaffirmed by Lotus or if it's just the dealers repeating what they had heard back in March.

 

[981KMAN]

Hmmm, rather not have a car that has been "Stored at Port", maybe outside?, for any length of time..... Isn't that what cause the brake pad sticking/delamination issue??

 

[digilotus]

Hmmm, rather not have a car that has been "Stored at Port", maybe outside?, for any length of time..... Isn't that what cause the brake pad sticking/delamination issue??

Probably. I notice that more recently delivered Emiras now have wheel covers to protect from the elements.

 

[eriegz]

Probably. I notice that more recently delivered Emiras now have wheel covers to protect from the elements.

Where have you seen this?

 

[Eagle7]

Hmmm, rather not have a car that has been "Stored at Port", maybe outside?, for any length of time..... Isn't that what cause the brake pad sticking/delamination issue??

They're supposed to be stored inside a covered and secured facility, but who knows what the current plan is. It's like they use an 8 ball to find out what to do.