Update from Lotus (Australia) re delivery, production, base models, i4FE etc... (email pics attached)

[danmessy]

See attached screen grabs from an email received from Lotus just now (12 July 2022). Just FYI for those not in the Lotus Cars Australia mailing list

*edit, a word

 

[EM33RA]

See attached screen grabs from an received from Lotus just now (12 July 2022). Just FYI for those not in the Lotus Cars Australia mailing list

What a load of BS about certification for the Automatic cars. It’s an old gearbox with an older platform for a car. Just say we can’t get them. What a joke, at least other manufacturers just tell it how it is. 1.5 years wait in Aus for the car. Take 10k of peoples money that’s non refundable by the way.

 

[New to Lotus]

I've been banging on about this for a while now. Rubbish comms just say it's delayed like everybody else does no specific part details. Rubbish from lotus.

 

[TomE]

I believe there is a supply issue with the auto gearboxes, not a certification problem. They have enough to build an initial batch of customer cars, so people with deliveries in the first 1-2 months appear to have similar delays to manual folks. Beyond that the delays appear to be longer for autos than manuals.

 

[EM33RA]

I believe there is a supply issue with the auto gearboxes, not a certification problem. They have enough to build an initial batch of customer cars, so people with deliveries in the first 1-2 months appear to have similar delays to manual folks. Beyond that the delays appear to be longer for autos than manuals.

Yeah mate Lotus are full of shit. I basically was one of the first deposits globally prior to any Emira reveal. And will get a car in December 2022 at best. So basically as soon as I get the car it’s effectively a year old.

No offer to hand back the non refundable 10k for all Australian deposits. Another joke in itself.

Last time I will buy a Lotus and wish you all the best. I’ll head back to Porsche and Lamborghini where I get treated like a king and with much transparency than lies “Auto certification”

 

[emiraspain]

Yeah mate Lotus are full of shit. I basically was one of the first deposits globally prior to any Emira reveal. And will get a car in December 2022 at best. So basically as soon as I get the car it’s effectively a year old.

No offer to hand back the non refundable 10k for all Australian deposits. Another joke in itself.

Last time I will buy a Lotus and wish you all the best. I’ll head back to Porsche and Lamborghini where I get treated like a king and with much transparency than lies “Auto certification”

I understand your frustration, but how is the car a year old when you receive it? On one in the world will get their car before August and realistically September and as you say, in Australia you will be one of the first, so I just dont see how a brand new car you receive, one of the first if not the first in the country and only a few months after the UK cars get handed over, can be viewed as a year old.
It is unfair they dont refund your money, very unfair, given that the delivery is now quite different than you expected, but have you tried to insist with the dealer? Surely they can sell your spot/car to someone....

 

[EM33RA]

I understand your frustration, but how is the car a year old when you receive it? On one in the world will get their car before August and realistically September and as you say, in Australia you will be one of the first, so I just dont see how a brand new car you receive, one of the first if not the first in the country and only a few months after the UK cars get handed over, can be viewed as a year old.
It is unfair they dont refund your money, very unfair, given that the delivery is now quite different than you expected, but have you tried to insist with the dealer? Surely they can sell your spot/car to someone....

Mate I concur with what you’re saying. What I meant by a year old, it’s a 2022 build and it will be 2023 a month later. In Aus that’s how they value cars for resale. Build date not compliance or registration date.

Mine is an auto so they gave us an excuse that it needs certification, which as Tom stated is laughable. Im more annoyed that we are being told an excuse vs sorry we simply can’t get enough Auto boxes from Toyota.

I’ll pick up the chat with the dealer tomorrow regarding the non refundable contract we where made to sign in October 2021. Another issue is interest rates in Australia are going up at half a percent a month due to the crazy inflation. Won’t another 4 rate rises forecast this year alone.

 

[Rudolph]

Mine is an auto so they gave us an excuse that it needs certification, which as Tom stated is laughable. Im more annoyed that we are being told an excuse vs sorry we simply can’t get enough Auto boxes from Toyota.

* * * * *
Could be a general Toyota problem with availability of / and or Toyota needs automatic gear boxes themselves due to excessive increases of Toyota delivery times of several models.
Possibly extra severe now for Lotus if they did not reserve sufficient auto's because initial V6-auto reservations were estimated lower.........:

...................."The order books for the Lexus LX are temporarily closed, now that the demand appears to exceed the number of available cars. The waiting list had grown to no less than four years
Apparently Lexus thought a delivery time of three years was acceptable. The manufacturer also considered a three-and-a-half year wait for the luxurious LX reasonable. But now that the waiting period is no less than four years, the car manufacturer intervenes. Sales for the Japanese market are discontinued and the main reason for this is not the length of the waiting time. With four years, the manufacturer is in trouble with the life cycle of the large SUV. The car may have appeared on the Japanese market earlier this year, but in four years' time the mastodon will undergo its usual interim refresher. That means whoever would order now would receive a refreshed and upgraded version. The manufacturer has not yet communicated that model."..................

 

[mjw930]

Not sure how it’s done in OZ but I doubt it’s substantially different than the US and EU. The fact it’s an existing engine and trans is irrelevant. Aside from it being in a completely new car, every model year of existing models must be certified independently. Even if they shipped 10,000 2022 V6 Emira Autos into the country this year the 2023 version requires separate certification.

The non-refundable deposit sucks, that’s why I never have and never will do one of those. Luckily I have US and FL state law to help me. If you understand contract law there’s really no such thing as non-refundable where I live.

 

[Porter]

Yeah mate Lotus are full of shit. I basically was one of the first deposits globally prior to any Emira reveal. And will get a car in December 2022 at best. So basically as soon as I get the car it’s effectively a year old.

I mean you've said repeatedly that Lotus broke faith and lost your interest, and that you don't want the car. So if you're going to sell it immediately anyway, why not switch your order to the 6MT and have a more valuable build for resale? Solves your IPS-specific component delay problem and probably simplifies matters for Lotus as well.