U.S. Update: Allocation & Order Date

[VL3X]

When did you place your deposit?

July 10th

 

[~el~jefe~]

All of the US allocation information is confusing. Some of the messaging indicates that there will be a ton of FE cars available including all the people who placed deposits in 2021, and other messaging indicates that FE will only be available in the first model year (of which only 700 are coming to North America) so that means that only people who placed deposits in literally the first 1-2 weeks after the Goodwood launch will have any hope of getting an FE V6 car.

Some clarity on this directly from Lotus (and NOT from local US dealers, who are notoriously bad at accurate info) would be greatly appreciated.

yes and maybe sooner than the first two weeks it seems here on Long Island.

I wish they would clarify everything. Someone here did a good job of it as a salesperson of a dealership. Be nice if Lotus itself did so.

 

[RobE67NASA]

All of the US allocation information is confusing. Some of the messaging indicates that there will be a ton of FE cars available including all the people who placed deposits in 2021, and other messaging indicates that FE will only be available in the first model year (of which only 700 are coming to North America) so that means that only people who placed deposits in literally the first 1-2 weeks after the Goodwood launch will have any hope of getting an FE V6 car.

Some clarity on this directly from Lotus (and NOT from local US dealers, who are notoriously bad at accurate info) would be greatly appreciated.

My dealer, just received their first allocation of V6 cars said to go into production in September. My confirmed Order from Lotus for my i4 starts production in 2023. Lotus will announce an update to my dealer on 14-Feb-22 regarding USA order sequence timeline for the i4 2023.

 

[DPB]

This process is definitely equal parts exciting, nerve-wracking and baffling. It's like some sort of "Squid Game" approach to selling cars (albeit nobody is dying - we're just dying to get our hands on the car we all love ). I'm in an awkward spot, having selected one of the "new" dealers (Lotus Charlotte), due to its proximity to my Raleigh home where my Emira will be kept and my positive experience talking to the salesperson.

I was a rather late deposit, so I have managed my expectations accordingly - hoping to get a car sometime in 2023. But I'd be lying if I said I am not hanging by the phone on the edge of my seat and obsessively hitting refresh on the "new posts" link here, like some lab rat hitting a food dispenser button. I'm excited at the prospect I might just get lucky with allocations and drop-outs ahead of me to get an order/build date sooner. But I'm also a bit anxious that there may be torches and pitchforks on this forum if folks like me end up with a car before someone who put in a deposit 4 months earlier and just happened to pick a dealer with a longer list.

Anyhow, the game continues. I hope all of us that are passionate about this car get behind the wheel as soon as possible and that our patience pays off in the end.

 

[Psb1816]

i'm of the opinion its on lotus and not the dealers. look at tesla. place a reservation for the cybertruck and you are in que. doesn't matter where or why, just when. i think this approach has put a lot of undue stress and work on the dealers when i would assume they have no control. with the supply chain, i would not be surprised to see all orders backed up an additional 3-6 months. buddy ordered a bmw 550 and has been told for 4 mths it's shipped. another buddy bought a model Y and at order they told him 8 weeks. ended up being 8 mths. is what it is. it's a car. life goes on.

 

[Porter]

Finally got my call from Lotus of North Jersey (Summit). Ordering in April with an Oct build date and expect delivery late Nov/early Dec. Additional $2500 deposit required at spec ordering.

I asked if I could be bumped down the list if I wanted to just take a ~April '23 delivery instead of having the car through the winter and he said I could, but I likely wouldn't get a First Edition... and "the FE's are apparently a very good value." Does this mean base pricing and options will be higher than usual? Who knows...

They have 109 deposits so far.

See this is the part that makes no sense to me. 109 deposits at a single dealer? Lotus has declared the production numbers with specificity. They have said only 700 V6 FE cars are coming to North America, and that for model year '23 no other model will be sold. All other models and configurations will be later model years and future production.

So with 45 dealers on the whole continent, numerically that accounts for only ~15 cars available for each dealer for the whole MY23 model year, and they won't begin deliveries until very late 2022, extending through into spring of 2023. Even if an exceptional dealer got double or triple that allocation, the cars have to be taken away from other dealers in order to do so, and it doesn't even begin to cover the number of deposits that are claimed to be outstanding. That leaves a huge number of people holding an empty bag until MY24 or even MY25.

I mean if the dealers across North America have taken an average of only 60 deposits each, that's 2700 cars in the backlog. I know my dealer has taken more than 60 deposits and they're in a complete backwater (Winston-Salem NC), so I suspect the actual number of paid deposits in North America might be far more, maybe 4000. How in the world can that many deposits be workable if 82% of them are for cars that won't even be orderable for another year? And as a result they would be for cars that won't in any way match the currently advertised configuration or pricing. There might not even be V6 cars being made any longer at that point... they've been vague about that.

Hell, if they doubled their output in the next model year to provide 1400 cars for North America for MY24 rather than MY23's 700, then in MY24 they would only be working through 42% of the post-MY23 remainder of the already-existing order backlog, and that's without taking any new deposits for the next year.

 

[darkling]

question is if your dealer sold 3 evora last year are you getting any allocation ? We have dealers that sold 80 to over 100 last year do you fill their orders 1st for 2022 then run down the list filling for 2023?

 

[jmn444]

question is if your dealer sold 3 evora last year are you getting any allocation ? We have dealers that sold 80 to over 100 last year do you fill their orders 1st for 2022 then run down the list filling for 2023?

I think eagle7's post earlier nailed it, they aren't tied directly to prior sales, and the smaller dealers may get more than expected while the larger ones are surprised with less maybe.

Seems to be supported with the numbers reported so far, but I'm mostly guessing...

 

[Green]

Totally stoked I made Boston first allotment. I ended up number 11 of 17 cars for Boston allotment. September build and December to January deliver. I would not be surprised if that pushes out so I’m not pushing out order.

 

[Racer X]

Finally got my call from Lotus of North Jersey (Summit). Ordering in April with an Oct build date and expect delivery late Nov/early Dec. Additional $2500 deposit required at spec ordering.

I asked if I could be bumped down the list if I wanted to just take a ~April '23 delivery instead of having the car through the winter and he said I could, but I likely wouldn't get a First Edition... and "the FE's are apparently a very good value." Does this mean base pricing and options will be higher than usual? Who knows...

They have 109 deposits so far.

Same here- got my call today from the same dealer- same timeframe as you received. The first 7 deposits are spec’ ing in March, I’ll be in April for an October build and likely a December delivery (just in time for winter weather ). The good news is that I should be able to view (or read) some road tests before final spec to see what options are must-haves.

 

[Porter]

question is if your dealer sold 3 evora last year are you getting any allocation ? We have dealers that sold 80 to over 100 last year do you fill their orders 1st for 2022 then run down the list filling for 2023?

Wait, what? What dealer is claiming to have sold that many Evoras in 2021?? The highest numbers I've seen estimated for Evora sales in the US for 2021 are somewhere between 300 and 500 cars. You're claiming that one single dealer (out of 35 dealers total) did almost 1/3 of the national sales figures all by itself?

 

[Maverick1]

Finally got my call from Lotus of North Jersey (Summit). Ordering in April with an Oct build date and expect delivery late Nov/early Dec. Additional $2500 deposit required at spec ordering.

I asked if I could be bumped down the list if I wanted to just take a ~April '23 delivery instead of having the car through the winter and he said I could, but I likely wouldn't get a First Edition... and "the FE's are apparently a very good value." Does this mean base pricing and options will be higher than usual? Who knows...

They have 109 deposits so far.

You said you will be paying an additional $2,500 at spec ordering time.
My dealer in Canada said I will need to put down 10% of the total purchase price when I spec order my car, on top of my first $2,500 initial deposit..
Does that sound right??

 

[TXEMIRA]

You said you will be paying an additional $2,500 at spec ordering time.
My dealer in Canada said I will need to put down 10% of the total purchase price when I spec order my car, on top of my first $2,500 initial deposit..
Does that sound right??

We’ve heard different deposit requirements across the US and Canada just on this forum so it’s likely true by what we’ve all heard so far.

 

[Maverick1]

We’ve heard different deposit requirements across the US and Canada just on this forum so it’s likely true by what we’ve all heard so far.

I guess in Canada dealers want to make sure customers don't walk away from the deal.
$2,500 vs $10,000 big difference.

 

[darkling]

Just got off the phone with my dealer so they got 40 fe v6 cars being #4 in u.s for sales last year. Thats like 1/2 what they thought and delivery won't be til like sept it got pushed back from june or july. I order this winter for a base v6 for mid 2023

 

[Green]

Just got off the phone with my dealer so they got 40 fe v6 cars being #4 in u.s for sales last year. Thats like 1/2 what they thought and delivery won't be til like sept it got pushed back from june or july. I order this winter for a base v6 for mid 2023

Lotus Boston said nobody in the USA will be getting a car until December, no matter what people are being told. Builds start in September. I do not know if that is true but she was very adamant.

 

[DF_Toronto]

Wait, what? What dealer is claiming to have sold that many Evoras in 2021?? The highest numbers I've seen estimated for Evora sales in the US for 2021 are somewhere between 300 and 500 cars. You're claiming that one single dealer (out of 35 dealers total) did almost 1/3 of the national sales figures all by itself?

Sadly it’s becoming more and more apparent that the UK (corporate) dealerships are communicating with their customers and appear nice. Meanwhile the private dealerships across North America are for the most part behaving like stereotypical dishonest salespeople . I don’t understand for the life of me why people who are in sales don’t recognize this on themselves and think that their clients are idiots. Fingers crossed my dealer is a good one as it’s my first Lotus, thus far they seem more on the lax side vs. pushing any non-sense.

FYI - this is in reference to many who’ve been saying in discussion with their dealer how they bragged about being the top dealership and will get a big allotment, when the story doesn’t corroborate. For example here in Canada there are 5 dealerships and 2 of them have been telling anyone who will listen that they are the top dealers and will be getting the “Lions share” (when it’s unlikely that this is either of them). Hard to believe what someone says when you know they’ve already fed you BS.

 

[VL3X]

Lotus Boston said nobody in the USA will be getting a car until December, no matter what people are being told. Builds start in September. I do not know if that is true but she was very adamant.

I suppose it's better to under promise and over deliver (or early deliver in this case). With the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised one bit if the US doesn't see it's first production Emira until '23.

It actually helps being in our area since the main port is in NJ. Lotus of NJ said they usually get their vehicles within ~24hrs of them arriving at the port.

 

[SloAlfa]

Just got off the phone with my dealer so they got 40 fe v6 cars being #4 in u.s for sales last year. Thats like 1/2 what they thought and delivery won't be til like sept it got pushed back from june or july. I order this winter for a base v6 for mid 2023

Lol. I think every dealer in the country is #4. That’s what I was told too.

 

[VL3X]

You said you will be paying an additional $2,500 at spec ordering time.
My dealer in Canada said I will need to put down 10% of the total purchase price when I spec order my car, on top of my first $2,500 initial deposit..
Does that sound right??

Correct. I haven't heard anything about the 10% requirement... just the $5k total from the two $2500 deposits.

Financing likely offered through Volvo financial (currently ~2.9-3.9%)... but who knows what the financial world is going to be like 11 months from now.