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.

 

[simonb]

..........

So they delayed it as late as they could and then realised they needed to backdate the price increase to deposits placed the week after Goodwood, 15 July 2021 - NINETEEN MONTHS AGO! That's the really shocking part - this is not a price increase now, it's a retrospective price increase backdated to just after the reveal.

and earlier

If dealer i4 demonstrators are due April, then we cannot be far from press cars being made available. If that April date gets delayed, then I guess July build will also be delayed.
Price rise and further delays will make a shit sandwich that customer services may struggle to butter up

 

[FlashingBlade]

Exactly as ADC says. In the UK after the 6 July reveal you were placing a deposit for an "Emira", with drivetrain and Edition not specified. Lotus then ran an outbound calling campaign to depositors in deposit date order to ask whether they wanted a V6 FE or other variant.

The V6 FE folks were then put into a process for finalising specification and paying second deposit (I was locked in by Dec 2021, 5 months after the reveal, 6 months before the original due date and 12 months before my car was eventually built). Lotus changed the process so that no third deposit was required and the point of order/commitment was shifted to 30 days before delivery. It appeared to me at the time Lotus had done this to avoid a run of cancellations if they'd asked for a third and non-refundable deposit with no test drives available. It could be dressed up as being flexible for customers, who could wait for test drives before committing. The T&Cs also allowed Lotus to change spec, change prices, delay delivery dates, change financing and even cancel production entirely, because it was still a reservation fee and not an order.

The non-V6 FE folks were then asked if they wanted i4 FE or Base Edition, being told that i4 FE would follow the same process of spec/second deposit and checkout/final payment roughly 6 months after the process for V6 FE. Around April 2022 they started contacted i4 FE folks to confirm spec and pay second deposit but then stopped. Some people contacted Lotus and were sent the links to do that step. Then Lotus started announcing delays to V6 FE and knock on to i4 FE and Base.

Lotus did not differentiate the specifications or process for V6 and i4, just the six month time difference. There were separate order books and queues for V6 FE, i4 FE and Base. The show car displayed at the reveal and Goodwood was a non-running prototype with a manual gear stick and an i4 engine cover, no actual engine and a stack of batteries. Exterior and interior were identical to either a V6 FE or i4 FE. Development i4s have been running for over 2 years. I saw running i4 prototypes in Jan 2022 at the factory, with the same bodywork, mechanicals and interiors as V6 cars. The cars have existed at identical stages in the development cycle as V6s, just shifted 6 months later. The i4 is as much a soon-to-be delivered car as the V6 was 6 months ago.

Lotus could have handled this simply and fairly by shutting down their website one evening last October and re-launching it the next day with increased prices for new deposits from that date forward. We'll never know why they didn't do that. My hunch is that with repeated delays to V6 deliveries and problems with finishing early cars to the required standard, they were scared a price increase could kill off new orders before any cars were out there with customers.

So they delayed it as late as they could and then realised they needed to backdate the price increase to deposits placed the week after Goodwood, 15 July 2021 - NINETEEN MONTHS AGO! That's the really shocking part - this is not a price increase now, it's a retrospective price increase backdated to just after the reveal.

Its interesting that all the 'media' managed to get their cars on time and before the price rise though, isnt it?

 

[fellman3]

Exactly as ADC says. In the UK after the 6 July reveal you were placing a deposit for an "Emira", with drivetrain and Edition not specified. Lotus then ran an outbound calling campaign to depositors in deposit date order to ask whether they wanted a V6 FE or other variant.

The V6 FE folks were then put into a process for finalising specification and paying second deposit (I was locked in by Dec 2021, 5 months after the reveal, 6 months before the original due date and 12 months before my car was eventually built). Lotus changed the process so that no third deposit was required and the point of order/commitment was shifted to 30 days before delivery. It appeared to me at the time Lotus had done this to avoid a run of cancellations if they'd asked for a third and non-refundable deposit with no test drives available. It could be dressed up as being flexible for customers, who could wait for test drives before committing. The T&Cs also allowed Lotus to change spec, change prices, delay delivery dates, change financing and even cancel production entirely, because it was still a reservation fee and not an order.

The non-V6 FE folks were then asked if they wanted i4 FE or Base Edition, being told that i4 FE would follow the same process of spec/second deposit and checkout/final payment roughly 6 months after the process for V6 FE. Around April 2022 they started contacted i4 FE folks to confirm spec and pay second deposit but then stopped. Some people contacted Lotus and were sent the links to do that step. Then Lotus started announcing delays to V6 FE and knock on to i4 FE and Base.

Lotus did not differentiate the specifications or process for V6 and i4, just the six month time difference. There were separate order books and queues for V6 FE, i4 FE and Base. The show car displayed at the reveal and Goodwood was a non-running prototype with a manual gear stick and an i4 engine cover, no actual engine and a stack of batteries. Exterior and interior were identical to either a V6 FE or i4 FE. Development i4s have been running for over 2 years. I saw running i4 prototypes in Jan 2022 at the factory, with the same bodywork, mechanicals and interiors as V6 cars. The cars have existed at identical stages in the development cycle as V6s, just shifted 6 months later. The i4 is as much a soon-to-be delivered car as the V6 was 6 months ago.

Lotus could have handled this simply and fairly by shutting down their website one evening last October and re-launching it the next day with increased prices for new deposits from that date forward. We'll never know why they didn't do that. My hunch is that with repeated delays to V6 deliveries and problems with finishing early cars to the required standard, they were scared a price increase could kill off new orders before any cars were out there with customers.

So they delayed it as late as they could and then realised they needed to backdate the price increase to deposits placed the week after Goodwood, 15 July 2021 - NINETEEN MONTHS AGO! That's the really shocking part - this is not a price increase now, it's a retrospective price increase backdated to just after the reveal.

Spot on Tom.
There was a fair and equitable way of handling this and fulfilling the promise made by the MD. Nobody could have any complaints about a prospective price increase to reflect the undoubted production cost rises. It chose not to do so.

The injustice is applying a price increase to orders placed 19 months ago, to customers who have stayed loyal despite all the delays and appalling comms.

As things stand I’ll be getting my i4 Base some 3 years after I placed my deposit and 2 years after the original estimated delivery date.

Regrettably I’m now actively looking at alternatives like the Alpine A110.

 

[FlashingBlade]

Its for that reason I'm likely not to complete. I'll keep my deposit in up until I need to commit the 3rd payment just to see what happens but will take a good look around at whats available before then and up to that point. Paying somewhere close to 90k and I'm struggling with the value proposition.

 

[0pirates0]

In fairness to Matt, he reports to someone else. I believe Matt would have held up his agreement if not forced to do otherwise. Geely is to blame (at least for the price issue). Most things in the world lead back to China.

lmao. As a previous Geely employee（left Geely since they treat employees with poor beneift, no overtime payment and no vacation) who lived in China and Canada, Geely nor China is not the one to blame at this point.
1. From my source in the company, Geely is focusing 100% on Lotus EV based in Wuhan and it has almost 0 control of Lotus UK. Thats the reason the CEO of Geely, Li Shufu, went to Hethel factory late last year. Lotus China was informed by Lotus UK the emira was delayed due to some reasons, but they didnt know how long the delay might be.
2. Geely dun care about the price of emira. As a list company, Geely‘s 2021 total income is 14.8 billion USD, i dun see any point to raise the price of emira-a sport car with less than 100000 total quantity.
3. Full of bias and stereotype with aimless hate to a country. Just blame China lol.

 

[JasonR]

lmao. As a previous Geely employee（left Geely since they treat employees with poor beneift, no overtime payment and no vacation) who lived in China and Canada, Geely nor China is not the one to blame at this point.
1. From my source in the company, Geely is focusing 100% on Lotus EV based in Wuhan and it has almost 0 control of Lotus UK. Thats the reason the CEO of Geely, Li Shufu, went to Hethel factory late last year. Lotus China was informed by Lotus UK the emira was delayed due to some reasons, but they didnt know how long the delay might be.
2. Geely dun care about the price of emira. As a list company, Geely‘s 2021 total income is 14.8 billion USD, i dun see any point to raise the price of emira-a sport car with less than 100000 total quantity.
3. Full of bias and stereotype with aimless hate to a country. Just blame China lol.

Well done! I bet that netted you at least +30 social credits!

You’ve also provided no source either. What you’ve posted is speculation just like myself.

You also assumed Chinese people in general but I referred to China as a whole but each to their own.

 

[action_turtle]

lmao. As a previous Geely employee（left Geely since they treat employees with poor beneift, no overtime payment and no vacation) who lived in China and Canada, Geely nor China is not the one to blame at this point.
1. From my source in the company, Geely is focusing 100% on Lotus EV based in Wuhan and it has almost 0 control of Lotus UK. Thats the reason the CEO of Geely, Li Shufu, went to Hethel factory late last year. Lotus China was informed by Lotus UK the emira was delayed due to some reasons, but they didnt know how long the delay might be.
2. Geely dun care about the price of emira. As a list company, Geely‘s 2021 total income is 14.8 billion USD, i dun see any point to raise the price of emira-a sport car with less than 100000 total quantity.
3. Full of bias and stereotype with aimless hate to a country. Just blame China lol.

Less than 100,000 total in world sales? Seems low. Or is that just initial sales?

 

[EM12AAM]

Less than 100,000 total in world sales? Seems low. Or is that just initial sales?

I think this is getting off-topic to be honest, but I think they probably meant that the production numbers will be low compared to many of the other cars they produce as a group.

As an aside, over 28 years of production, Lotus only made a total of 10,675 Esprits. My S4 is one of 625 made of which only 94 were registered in the UK. The Emira is a head turner for sure but it's not going to be as rare as that...

 

[SJR202]

Its interesting that all the 'media' managed to get their cars on time and before the price rise though, isnt it?

Remember Harry's build video - his car had VIP written on it. I know Harry would have been early and he certainly has contacts but you'd hope all buyers of £80k car would be treated like VIPs.
I do wonder what makes a car be branded 'VIP' in Lotus, there must be a reason for the writing, is it quality checks, prioritisation, 'take extra care' type things?
Anyone know?

 

[FlashingBlade]

He did a video on placing his order and he was actually quite late in the game compared to others. Now, it is possible that he'd placed the order and just did the video for the audience at a later date but its unlikely.

I think its obvious that people like him and Schmee were bumped up the priority list to generate more interest and publicity. Its not nice but we know it happens.

 

[NicolasB]

*** Matt Swindle haha that was a good one

*Ahem* - See my post from the New Lotus Dictionary, October 20, 2022


Post in thread 'THE NEW LOTUS DICTIONARY' https://www.emiraforum.com/threads/the-new-lotus-dictionary.2071/post-58252

 

[Nova]

3. Full of bias and stereotype with aimless hate to a country. Just blame China lol.

First, thanks for sharing your thoughts, they are interesting and are very logical. Lotus Emira is probably a thing that Geely agreed to fund as a part of the acquisition deal, and are not interested in it themselves so long as nothing particularly bad happens with it that would damage the value of the Lotus brand. The sales volume is too low to be of any interest for a company the size of Geely. In the old days, a car like the Emira would be a halo car, but there would be plenty of more expensive Lotus cars in the future so the Emira can't really be a halo car for Lotus. So what it is, is a toy that a parent let's a child to play with one last time before it is packed away for good. The parent doesn't care about the toy, he cares that the child gets good grades and gets into a good college.

Second, every country is the target of aimless hate. The stereotypes exist for a reason. Internet forums are not stages for nuanced geopolitical analysis and debate. Grow some thicker skin.

 

[Nova]

Less than 100,000 total in world sales? Seems low. Or is that just initial sales?

I really really doubt that Lotus can make/sell more than 30k-40k Emiras.

 

[Porter]

I really really doubt that Lotus can make/sell more than 30k-40k Emiras.

At the current rate of production they might have difficulty selling 3000. What have they made, 200 cars? 300? In a year?

 

[Nova]

At the current rate of production they might have difficulty selling 3000. What have they made, 200 cars? In a year?

Based on my wet finger in the wind, they have produced more than that, maybe 600-800 cars in the past 6 months? I think they will eventually settle in between 4000-5000 a year. But then there is the problem of how many they can sell and for how long. This is why I think 30-40k is an upper limit for the Emira.

 

[Porter]

Based on my wet finger in the wind, they have produced more than that, maybe 600-800 cars in the past 6 months? I think they will eventually settle in between 4000-5000 a year. But then there is the problem of how many they can sell and for how long. This is why I think 30-40k is an upper limit for the Emira.

There was a guy who took delivery just a few weeks ago who was car number 100 in the UK. Someone said there were like 37 deliveries in Germany, one of the largest EU markets.

I mean if they've delivered 500 cars globally it would genuinely surprise me.

 

[AGP]

I wasn't looking for a new sports car in July 21, I thought I was happy enough with my R8 and S2 Exige, albeit it 4 back ops meant I use the Exige less and less over the yrs.
Come the reveal, I thought I would watch. I was blown away by the looks and the £60K I4 price. I put a deposit down the next day on the 7th and thought I'd sell the R8 and keep the Exige and get a nice looking easy to get in and out of new Lotus.
Time went by and it became apparent that the BE wasn't going to be available for some time. The I4 FE was rumoured to be late £60K's/early £70K's which turned out to be close to £75K OTR price. I sucked it up and thought I'd pay the extra and configured the car.
My build is in August so I inevitably received the price increase Email.
I Feel totally let down by Lotus like everyone else. Can I justify £82K for a weekend car? Not really, I was pushing it at £75K tbh. Can I afford it? Yes, but that doesn't mean I can/want to justify it.
That leaves me with two options, Cancel or move to base car and add a few options, probably costing £75K. Of course, its a difficult decision when we still have no ideas of the BE price and cost of options.
If we did move to BE, would we still be in the que based on our original deposit, i.e. Early deposit= early build car?
I am going for a Factory tour on the 6th March, may look to cancel if I can, it has really left a sour taste in my mouth and I'm not sure I want to be walking about a Lotus Factory at this time .

As a comparison, I ordered a Jaguar F pace in Nov 21 and was given a 9 month indicated build time.
I had an Email in April for a build date mid June. Roll on a month and 3 weeks away from my build, Jaguar cancelled all outstanding orders and we all had to re-order the MY23 spec and the build would be significantly delayed. The price had increased by £4K and some of my no cost options were also now payable. The MY23 car did at least come with many more extras. The dealer said they would discuss honouring my price with Jaguar. I waited a few months and Jaguar honoured my original price along with many others. It was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions and I did think about cancelling over the waiting period. Roll on 15 months from my original order time and it was delivered to the dealer last week.
I went to see it and I am pleased I stuck in there after a long wait, I will at least have a car with a better spec and for the same price I ordered it in Nov 21.
Why couldn't Lotus have treated their customers the same?

Two similar stories, both not ideal but definitely contrasting, one with a reasonable outcome, the other leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

I'm picking up the Jag on March the 1st, at least I have something to look forward to, to ease the pain, disappointment.

 

[EM12AAM]

I wasn't looking for a new sports car in July 21, I thought I was happy enough with my R8 and S2 Exige, albeit it 4 back ops meant I use the Exige less and less over the yrs.
Come the reveal, I thought I would watch. I was blown away by the looks and the £60K I4 price. I put a deposit down the next day on the 7th and thought I'd sell the R8 and keep the Exige and get a nice looking easy to get in and out of new Lotus.
Time went by and it became apparent that the BE wasn't going to be available for some time. The I4 FE was rumoured to be late £60K's/early £70K's which turned out to be close to £75K OTR price. I sucked it up and thought I'd pay the extra and configured the car.
My build is in August so I inevitably received the price increase Email.
I Feel totally let down by Lotus like everyone else. Can I justify £82K for a weekend car? Not really, I was pushing it at £75K tbh. Can I afford it? Yes, but that doesn't mean I can/want to justify it.
That leaves me with two options, Cancel or move to base car and add a few options, probably costing £75K.
If we did move to BE, would we still be in the que based on our original deposit, i.e. Early deposit= early build car?
I am going for a Factory tour on the 6th March, may look to cancel if I can, it has really left a sour taste in my mouth and I'm not sure I want to be walking about a Lotus Factory at this time .

As a comparison, I ordered a Jaguar F pace in Nov 21 and was given a 9 month indicated build time.
I had an Email in April for a build date mid June. Roll on a month and 3 weeks away from my build, Jaguar cancelled all outstanding orders and we all had to re-order the MY23 spec and the build would be significantly delayed. The price had increased by £4K and some of my no cost options were also now payable. The MY23 car did at least come with many more extras. The dealer said they would discuss honouring my price with Jaguar. I waited a few months and Jaguar honoured my original price along with many others. It was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions and I did think about cancelling over the waiting period. Roll on 15 months from my original order time and it was delivered to the dealer last week.
I went to see it and I am pleased I stuck in there after a long wait, I will at least have a car with a better spec and for the same price I ordered it in Nov 21.
Why couldn't Lotus have treated their customers the same?

Two similar stories, both not ideal but definitely contrasting, one with a reasonable outcome, the other leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

I'm picking up the Jag on March the 1st, at least I have something to look forward to, to ease the pain, disappointment.View attachment 22782

I feel just the same way.

I haven't cancelled my order and asked for my deposit back yet... I'm going to wait until I get the call for my final deposit... but it's left a bitter taste and unless they proactively realise they've got this wrong (I'm not going to argue with them, but I most definitely will tell them what I think), apologise and honour their price promise I'm out.

 

[EM12AAM]

There was a guy who took delivery just a few weeks ago who was car number 100 in the UK. Someone said there were like 37 deliveries in Germany, one of the largest EU markets.

I mean if they've delivered 500 cars globally it would genuinely surprise me.

Weren't they talking about 17 cars a day or something? That's <5000 a year...

 

[jagseven]

I wasn't looking for a new sports car in July 21, I thought I was happy enough with my R8 and S2 Exige, albeit it 4 back ops meant I use the Exige less and less over the yrs.
Come the reveal, I thought I would watch. I was blown away by the looks and the £60K I4 price. I put a deposit down the next day on the 7th and thought I'd sell the R8 and keep the Exige and get a nice looking easy to get in and out of new Lotus.
Time went by and it became apparent that the BE wasn't going to be available for some time. The I4 FE was rumoured to be late £60K's/early £70K's which turned out to be close to £75K OTR price. I sucked it up and thought I'd pay the extra and configured the car.
My build is in August so I inevitably received the price increase Email.
I Feel totally let down by Lotus like everyone else. Can I justify £82K for a weekend car? Not really, I was pushing it at £75K tbh. Can I afford it? Yes, but that doesn't mean I can/want to justify it.
That leaves me with two options, Cancel or move to base car and add a few options, probably costing £75K. Of course, its a difficult decision when we still have no ideas of the BE price and cost of options.
If we did move to BE, would we still be in the que based on our original deposit, i.e. Early deposit= early build car?
I am going for a Factory tour on the 6th March, may look to cancel if I can, it has really left a sour taste in my mouth and I'm not sure I want to be walking about a Lotus Factory at this time .

As a comparison, I ordered a Jaguar F pace in Nov 21 and was given a 9 month indicated build time.
I had an Email in April for a build date mid June. Roll on a month and 3 weeks away from my build, Jaguar cancelled all outstanding orders and we all had to re-order the MY23 spec and the build would be significantly delayed. The price had increased by £4K and some of my no cost options were also now payable. The MY23 car did at least come with many more extras. The dealer said they would discuss honouring my price with Jaguar. I waited a few months and Jaguar honoured my original price along with many others. It was a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions and I did think about cancelling over the waiting period. Roll on 15 months from my original order time and it was delivered to the dealer last week.
I went to see it and I am pleased I stuck in there after a long wait, I will at least have a car with a better spec and for the same price I ordered it in Nov 21.
Why couldn't Lotus have treated their customers the same?

Two similar stories, both not ideal but definitely contrasting, one with a reasonable outcome, the other leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

I'm picking up the Jag on March the 1st, at least I have something to look forward to, to ease the pain, disappointment.View attachment 22782

Nice looking F-Pace - good choice, have been very happy with mine. Jaguar are certainly not perfect but I feel much safer (more likely to do the right thing) dealing with Jaguar than with Lotus