Prices increase update from Lotus - and stopping of reservations for V6 FE

Please be advised that, as a result of significantly increasing costs, the Lotus Emira will later this year be subject to new pricing.

Whilst a significant level of cost increase has been absorbed, with effect from 1 June 2023, the retail price will increase to £81,995 (incl VAT) for the Emira V6 First Edition, and £77,795 (incl VAT) for the Emira First Edition 4-cylinder turbocharged variant. Full pricing details can be found on our website. However, your Emira reservation will not be affected by this increase, we can confirm your reservation has been price protected.

We are fully committed to our production schedule and in the next two weeks, we will be in touch via email to update you further on the progression of your Lotus Emira.

Due to overwhelming demand, we will be closing reservations for Lotus Emira V6 First Edition. We will be sharing the exact timings soon.

 

[Concept24]

Stock for stock maybe not, but with aftermarket suspension and R compounds mine kept pace with a stock 570S on a 1.6 mile course. VIR has some longer straights which takes away a lot of the EV advantage, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were very close.

I can't speak for an Evora as I haven't driven one, but I second @GetawayDriving, my Model 3 was the most "fun" car I've ever tracked after an Atom. For me that's the main reason I go. Lap times don't mean much outside of wheel to wheel racing.



Edit: To get back on topic, I'm also very close to cancelling and seriously looking at Porsche's at this point. Lotus anecdotally seems to be quite amateurly managed for the size of the business...

That reminds me of when I used to ride on a sled, right after a snowstorm.
Car & Driver's annual Lightning Lap requires that all vehicles have only components that are available as OEM. Some manufacturers do have track rubber as an option.
A neighbor tracks his 2019 C7 Corvette Grandsport. One day, a younger driver in a Honda Civic Type R passed him easily on a corner and actually had a better time, overall on that track. Afterward, my neighbor walked over to the Honda driver to see what kind of giant turbo or supercharger it had. The owner told him that it was all stock EXCEPT for the racing tires. They make a huge difference.
Stock for stock, I have no doubt that the McLaren 570S would easily defeat a Model 3. The McLaren's lighter weight and power are definitely advantageous.
I'll take lightness over power on the street. A well set up Miata is always a blast on tight curvy roads, and there are plenty where I live. As they say, to each his own!

 

[GetawayDriving]

Was it a better track car than your Evora? I wonder which one would have a better time on VIR?

Better track car than Evora? Definitely not. That doesn’t make it invalid as a track choice. Not everyone can afford a sports car in addition to their daily, and not everyone can daily an Evora. That doesn’t make Model 3 people posers. The cars are capable.

I haven’t driven an Evora on track, but I have spent at least an afternoon on track behind the wheel of Emira, Elise, Exige, Alpine A110, Radical, 991 GTS, and ND Miata, so I think I have a proper frame of reference.

In my case, I did have a dedicated sports car, an ND Miata Club. The Model 3 was my daily, but when I bought it I did so with full expectation of using it at the track. I wanted to see what it was like to be an enthusiast with an EV. I’m a nerd, and like being on the cutting edge and wanted to experiment with EV performance. The Model 3 is the only EV under $100k suitable for track work.

When the weekend rolled around, I legitimately found it hard to choose which car I wanted to bring to the track. Sometimes the decision was made for me, if there were no superchargers close enough to the track I was visiting that weekend Miata was the answer.

I don’t have to describe the Miata’s virtues to a fellow owner or to a lotus forum, but what’s interesting is how the Model 3 was the total opposite experience but with the same fun factor.

Where the ND had good steering feedback and a communicative chassis, the Model 3 was video game steering and traction control that had a mind of its own but weirdly in a good way.

The ND is unforgiving. Get the line wrong, miss the apex, get a little sideways and you’d pay the price in scrubbed speed. The Model 3 was extremely forgiving. Make a mistake? The computer would keep the car straight under power and you could recoup that speed before anyone noticed. It feels like a superpower, the car has your back.

The Model 3 is hilariously fast on the straights and hilariously bad in the bends. The whole thing is white knuckle, and yet the car gives confidence that it won’t go totally wrong and that means I could really push it. Yes it’s heavy, yes it’s sloppy, yes it burns through tires and brakes so fast that annually the Miata was cheaper than my Model 3 consumables, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t great fun.

Model 3’s onboard track software was seriously fascinating to play with, trying different power distribution setups, tracking lap times, and reviewing footage later. It was also a big bonus that I could camp in the car at the track. I’d plug into a 220 port and just run camp mode with an air mattress in the trunk. How many track cars can you sleep in comfortably?

So yeah I’m not saying the Model 3 can outperform an Evora. I’m just saying the guys who show up with them have made an interesting choice and are probably having just as much fun.

 

[Concept24]

Thanks for the very detailed writeup. While my track time was limited to a McLaren 570S and a Ferrari 488 GTB, I have rented lots of fast cars (McLaren 570S Spider, Porsche 911 4S, 2022 C8 Corvette to name a couple). Now if you asked me which was the most quirky and hilarious, that would have to be the Vanderhall Venice. It was no Ariel Atom but I had a blast with it. I guess in a way, it was like your Model 3 in that few people would expect to see one on a track. Perhaps that makes it all the more fun.

 

[Emira94]

It’s been discussed in this thread and the USA/Canada thread. No price increase for US FEs. The communication was only meant for the UK.

I spoke to lotus CC yesterday who confirmed the price increase was a “global decision across all markets”. I’m a uk depositor for clarity

 

[simonb]

I do wonder whether the base emira will be as much of a myth as the £60K emira. If the order book is strong enough to take a jump to a £80K starting price, maybe the reviews of the i4 will make it more desirable than the v6.
Pegging the i4 at 360hp may be a cynical move to allow higher price / higher margin models at the "off the peg" 416 and 469hp levels that already exist for that engine +50 and +100 horsepower are significant numbers

 

[EM12AAM]

So it's just UK deposit holders that are getting shafted is it?

As recently as 24 November I was assured that my car was confirmed for production in May 2023. On 18 January 2023 I was told that this had been pushed back to June 2023. And I am supposed to accept that my order, which has been repeatedly delayed, is subject to a significant price increase because it could now be built on 1 June instead of 31 May? I'm sorry, but whatever the legality that just doesn't seem fair to me and I am not prepared to have further dealings with a company that can treat its customers that way.

Let's all remind ourselves shall we:

"I commit to you that these costs will not be passed on to you. The price you have been quoted will be the price you pay for your Emira. That is a promise"

Matt Windle, Managing Director, Lotus Cars. 10 June 2022.

 

[FlashingBlade]

Thats my thoughts too. I was promised a 'confirmed' May build and then it was pushed back to 'June'. This is on top of all the other delays we've already had (the car should have been here late 2022 originally). So now I'm going to pay an extra 8% beccause Lotus couldnt get its sh!t together and deliver the car on a (revised numerous times) schedule? I get the feeling I was bumped back a month just so that I'd fall into the unprotected bracket!

The other thoughts I'm having are on residuals. A seller of a car made a few days earlier than mine is going to need 8% less from the sale to break even or have a significantly more attractive PX proposition when that time comes, how is that fair? As others have said, Lotus should have just said 'all orders placed after November-22 (for example) will be subject to a price increase IN November 2022, when they must have known the current situation was going to become unsustainable. I've been committed to buy from a deposit perspective since 2021, why should I have to pay more because of their delays?

I've been doing man maths on configurators and finance sites today. My original plan was to use the Emira as a summer car and carry on using my BMW 435d as the winter car since the Emira isnt AWD and to help reduce mileage on it. This was based on putting 25k deposit down on the Emira and my BMW is worth 18-20k PX.

But if I was willing to PX it in, I could get a 1 owner, circa 10k miles 2020 R8 V10 from a main dealer for £150 a month more than what the Emira is going to cost, with a little more saving I could get that down to parity. It would also mean only one insurance payment, one service and tax payment etc and from what I've seen so far, the fuel economy (low 20's) wouldnt be much different to the Emira.

 

[Twin Cam]

So it's just UK deposit holders that are getting shafted is it?

As recently as 24 November I was assured that my car was confirmed for production in May 2023. On 18 January 2023 I was told that this had been pushed back to June 2023. And I am supposed to accept that my order, which has been repeatedly delayed, is subject to a significant price increase because it could now be built on 1 June instead of 31 May? I'm sorry, but whatever the legality that just doesn't seem fair to me and I am not prepared to have further dealings with a company that can treat its customers that way.

Let's all remind ourselves shall we:

"I commit to you that these costs will not be passed on to you. The price you have been quoted will be the price you pay for your Emira. That is a promise"

Matt Windle, Managing Director, Lotus Cars. 10 June 2022.

That Video along with yesterdays email tells me everything I need to know about Lotus 2.0.
Let’s face it, it’s not a good look.
proceed at your peril

 

[JasonR]

This is almost certainly Geelys decision

 

[SJR202]

Overall I understand Lotus cant absorb increased costs and based on what was probably a competitive price from the start well the headline 59k figure certainly got attention! But the bit which is disappointing is the increased costs were known months and months ago, maybe more than a year and as per Matt's video they really should have increased the price for all new deposits for all future cars at that point, not wait another 6 months then retrospectively increase customers orders who've had deposits down for 18+ months, not to mention as per most people here, if the build schedule was met as per Lotus' own forecasts then a lot of people on here would already have their car, not be pushed back into the summer 'price increase' zone.

 

[GAVLA]

Overall I understand Lotus cant absorb increased costs and based on what was probably a competitive price from the start well the headline 59k figure certainly got attention! But the bit which is disappointing is the increased costs were known months and months ago, maybe more than a year and as per Matt's video they really should have increased the price for all new deposits for all future cars at that point, not wait another 6 months then retrospectively increase customers orders who've had deposits down for 18+ months, not to mention as per most people here, if the build schedule was met as per Lotus' own forecasts then a lot of people on here would already have their car, not be pushed back into the summer 'price increase' zone.

I couldn't agree more

 

[action_turtle]

Someone should make sure the Matt Windle "the price you pay is the price you were quoted" video doesn't get removed from youtube.
ETA:
“I commit to you that these costs will not be passed on to you – the price you are being quoted will be the price you pay for your Emira and that is a promise”
1:09-1:19
That's pretty unambiguous in a non-public communication to customers (who were the only people to receive the link). I don't see how they can argue their way out of it.

... and its gone.

They removed that from the Lotus channel listing. If you view the video directly from the video you posted it now also says "unlisted". I assume it will be taken fully removed later today

 

[FlashingBlade]

Not unexpected but a tad underhand in that they're now backtracking and seemingly trying to cover their tracks.

 

[donskibeat]

... and its gone.

They removed that from the Lotus channel listing. If you view the video directly from the video you posted it now also says "unlisted". I assume it will be taken fully removed later today

downloaded just in case......

 

[JasonR]

... and its gone.

They removed that from the Lotus channel listing. If you view the video directly from the video you posted it now also says "unlisted". I assume it will be taken fully removed later today

Nope it’s still there. It was always unlisted so only those who had the link could see it.

 

[Gizmo750]

I've not received any email from Lotus in regard to the pricing. I wonder if they were sending them in batches and stopped the process when they received a deluge of responses / backlash?

 

[GetawayDriving]

Thanks for the very detailed writeup. While my track time was limited to a McLaren 570S and a Ferrari 488 GTB, I have rented lots of fast cars (McLaren 570S Spider, Porsche 911 4S, 2022 C8 Corvette to name a couple). Now if you asked me which was the most quirky and hilarious, that would have to be the Vanderhall Venice. It was no Ariel Atom but I had a blast with it. I guess in a way, it was like your Model 3 in that few people would expect to see one on a track. Perhaps that makes it all the more fun.

Not to stay off topic for too long here, I’ll just add that the Model 3 has a reasonably large and growing enthusiast community, including organizers (such as Tesla Corsa) and aftermarket parts (unplugged performance, Mountain Pass) I’m sure it varies by region but I’d be way more surprised to see a Ferrari or McLaren show up to a track day than a Model 3 these days.

Mountain Pass even electrified an Evora with Tesla running gear, perhaps the example I should have started with to express that tinkering with Teslas is no less an enthusiast’s choice.

 

[fellman3]

The summary of my conversation with Lotus this morning as a 14/7/21 deposit for an i4 Base - you’ve had my deposit for over 18 months and now you can’t tell me when my car will be built or how much it will cost. Yes that’s correct.
Unbelievable.

 

[Porter]

The summary of my conversation with Lotus this morning as a 14/7/21 deposit for an i4 Base - you’ve had my deposit for over 18 months and now you can’t tell me when my car will be built or how much it will cost. Yes that’s correct.
Unbelievable.

An awful lot of people on this thread seem to be angry I4 depositors. Which is fair, but we should recognize that the I4 version is a car that has never been launched or shown by Lotus in any formal way to the Western public, ever. Not as a prototype, not as a press car, not at all.

The Goodwood launch in 2021 showed the V6 car and the order book opened for that car, with clear guidance that the FE would be first and everything else would come later. I4 was mentioned as well but very clearly was a future product, not the car being immediately launched by Lotus. And now in 2023, it still hasn't been launched.

What I'm saying is that placing a deposit on the I4 was always speculative. It wasn't a concrete transactional deposit on an expected production car the way the V6 FE was, and is.

No offense intended. I just think some perspective about the difference in situation is warranted. People with long standing V6 FE orders that are being shafted on build date technicality are right to be angry. But I4? Be angry that the product doesn't exist yet, sure, but there has still been no concrete evidence that it's even a product that's developed enough to produce. The price was always going to move with time, and the car is still squarely in vaporware territory as far as I can tell.

 

[Eagle7]

An awful lot of people on this thread seem to be angry I4 depositors. Which is fair, but we should recognize that the I4 version is a car that has never been launched or shown by Lotus in any formal way to the Western public, ever. Not as a prototype, not as a press car, not at all.

The Goodwood launch in 2021 showed the V6 car and the order book opened for that car, with clear guidance that the FE would be first and everything else would come later. I4 was mentioned as well but very clearly was a future product, not the car being immediately launched by Lotus. And now in 2023, it still hasn't been launched.

What I'm saying is that placing a deposit on the I4 was always speculative. It wasn't a concrete transactional deposit on an expected production car the way the V6 FE was, and is.

No offense intended. I just think some perspective about the difference in situation is warranted. People with long standing V6 FE orders that are being shafted on build date technicality are right to be angry. But I4? Be angry that the product doesn't exist yet, sure, but there has still been no concrete evidence that it's even a product that's developed enough to produce. The price was always going to move with time, and the car is still squarely in vaporware territory as far as I can tell.

You beat me to it by seconds lol. The reality that they may need further development on a model with an engine and trans they've never used before is not surprising. The delay and lack of info may frustrating, but it's not unexpected with the i4 version.