USA/Canada Delivery Thread

[Nova]

The worst part about that were the apologists telling people we don’t know anything about supply chain and that it had to be this way.

I don't remember if I was one of the apologists, so unless someone comes up with the receipt, I'm going to assume I wasn't. Haha!

However, I remember that they were dealing with logistics challenges, and it was unclear how quickly the industry would get things sorted out. Container shipping rates were 3-4x normal and I, for one, was looking at maps of tens of container ships moored near Cali ports because they can't unload, because there is no space in the container yard, because the containers are not being pulled out fast enough, because truckers can't find container chassis, because the container chassis are being used for empty storage in truck yards, because the system of carriers only taking their own empties is broken. The reality was so frustratingly comical, or comically frustrating, that many of us gave Lotus the benefit of the doubt that they are walking a supply chain tightrope. In fact, they were so focused on the tightrope they somehow managed to not get US emissions cert.

 

[981KMAN]

........... In fact, they were so focused on the tightrope they somehow managed to not get US emissions cert.

Didn't Lotus just layoff 50% of their non-production staff? Like the ones who should have been applying for Import Certification in all their major sales markets.....??

From the way Lotus has been handling this entire rollout of the Emira, it seems like they have been significantly under staffed from day one..... or just didn't hire the right people who knew what needed to be done.

 

[HydroJim]

So when are they predicting your order will be submitted? I imagine I’m a similar position as you as I placed my order in May 2022 , but in Canada (far less allocations than the US)

If I recall correctly, Tony mentioned I might be included in the first batch of base orders early next year followed by the production for that batch starting around May.

So I'm thinking it's possible my car may be produced in the July, 2024 timeframe with delivery in the September-December, 2024 timeframe.

EDIT: Looking back, it seems base production is predicted to go through December, 2024, so I'd probably not see a car until early 2025. I'd be happy with that.

It depends on how many of the depositors in front of me back out. Tony said there would likely be some dropoff.

I also put down a $1,000 deposit for a 'future variant' of the Emira. Tony said there was 3 people on that list so now I'm the fourth.

 

[Clam]

Just completed my build order with the dealer. I'm so used to the "delay" mindset that I was half expecting a 2025 build. December build start, 2Q2024 delivery.

Time to cancel my contingency deposits on other cars and get excited again.

 

[kitkat]

Just completed my build order with the dealer. I'm so used to the "delay" mindset that I was half expecting a 2025 build. December build start, 2Q2024 delivery.

Time to cancel my contingency deposits on other cars and get excited again.

I'd keep those contingency deposits just incase

 

[Porter]

The reality was so frustratingly comical, or comically frustrating, that many of us gave Lotus the benefit of the doubt that they are walking a supply chain tightrope. In fact, they were so focused on the tightrope they somehow managed to not get US emissions cert.

The narrative I was given recently by a fairly senior person at Lotus was that it's a "small team" doing regulatory compliance and homologation, and that they were simply fully focused on getting UK and EU and several other market type approvals before engaging with US regulators to go through the critical "can we sell our product" approvals process for our market.

I, personally, find that narrative to be lacking in credulity, because the people I know who do compliance work are fully capable of participating in more than one workstream at a time. Unless Lotus UK's team are operating in some kind of reality distortion field, I can't conceive of a scenario where the Type Approval lead and Emissions Certification engineer are unable to prepare documentation at appropriate dates to be able to start selling cars in their very largest market because they are "too busy" with another market's process.

Now, maybe it was just idle talk as a casual conversational deflection, and not actually reflective of whatever was actually happening. I have no idea.

 

[Maurice R]

The narrative I was given recently by a fairly senior person at Lotus was that it's a "small team" doing regulatory compliance and homologation, and that they were simply fully focused on getting UK and EU and several other market type approvals before engaging with US regulators to go through the critical "can we sell our product" approvals process for our market.

I, personally, find that narrative to be lacking in credulity, because the people I know who do compliance work are fully capable of participating in more than one workstream at a time. Unless Lotus UK's team are operating in some kind of reality distortion field, I can't conceive of a scenario where the Type Approval lead and Emissions Certification engineer are unable to prepare documentation at appropriate dates to be able to start selling cars in their very largest market because they are "too busy" with another market's process.

Now, maybe it was just idle talk as a casual conversational deflection, and not actually reflective of whatever was actually happening. I have no idea.

Whether lacking credibility or not it does ring with some truth and that is as far as I know USA is their biggest market for the Emira,
but they seem not to care very much about the US market.
We have over the last 2 years listen to so many no truths about everything. Broken promises on delivery, certification, production start dates and so on.
Yes I am thoroughly pissed off at Lotus. But I still want the car and will wait.

 

[eriegz]

able to start selling cars in their very largest market

Isn't China Lotus's largest market now? Again, not trying to be funny, genuinely the impression I've gotten this year after hearing so many forum members reporting seeing almost exclusively "Lotus NYO" cars on the production floor during factory tours.

 

[EspritGuy]

Isn't China Lotus's largest market now? Again, not trying to be funny, genuinely the impression I've gotten this year after hearing so many forum members reporting seeing almost exclusively "Lotus NYO" cars on the production floor during factory tours.

NYO = not your order.

 

[KAR120C]

I wish we had a mole in the Hethel production department to see if the NA cars have been loaded in the system yet. Or at least someone in the parts warehouse to see if US spec lights are on the shelves.

 

[Maurice R]

Isn't China Lotus's largest market now? Again, not trying to be funny, genuinely the impression I've gotten this year after hearing so many forum members reporting seeing almost exclusively "Lotus NYO" cars on the production floor during factory tours.

Probably but that i imagine includes electric vehicles as well.

 

[Nova]

Isn't China Lotus's largest market now? Again, not trying to be funny, genuinely the impression I've gotten this year after hearing so many forum members reporting seeing almost exclusively "Lotus NYO" cars on the production floor during factory tours.

Well, they are the largest in so far as US has not sold any cars and, until very recently, was only allocated 700 cars. The long term market in China is iffy for the Lotus Emira, where it is mostly a status car for people who want to show off. There is a much much smaller enthusiast market segment to keep the sales going after the exclusive status of the Emira starts to fade with more cars on the road and just general age.

Plus, their economy is not great.

The US market was HUGE, but they let that opportunity slide away. There will be a resurgent as cars start showing up on the road.

 

[DerTheDer]

Well, they are the largest in so far as US has not sold any cars and, until very recently, was only allocated 700 cars. The long term market in China is iffy for the Lotus Emira, where it is mostly a status car for people who want to show off. There is a much much smaller enthusiast market segment to keep the sales going after the exclusive status of the Emira starts to fade with more cars on the road and just general age.

Plus, their economy is not great.

The US market was HUGE, but they let that opportunity slide away. There will be a resurgent as cars start showing up on the road.

And I am happy to let go of mine. Ready to get off this crazy train!

 

[kin]

The narrative I was given recently by a fairly senior person at Lotus was that it's a "small team" doing regulatory compliance and homologation, and that they were simply fully focused on getting UK and EU and several other market type approvals before engaging with US regulators to go through the critical "can we sell our product" approvals process for our market.

I, personally, find that narrative to be lacking in credulity, because the people I know who do compliance work are fully capable of participating in more than one workstream at a time. Unless Lotus UK's team are operating in some kind of reality distortion field, I can't conceive of a scenario where the Type Approval lead and Emissions Certification engineer are unable to prepare documentation at appropriate dates to be able to start selling cars in their very largest market because they are "too busy" with another market's process.

Now, maybe it was just idle talk as a casual conversational deflection, and not actually reflective of whatever was actually happening. I have no idea.

I largely agree - I think it does depend on how many people are on the "small team" - 2 or 3 people, yeah I could see issues with doing the rest of the world markets, 5-6+? Yeah that's untenable.

I still have no clue why Lotus simply does not seem invested in the US market - is it because historically speaking they don't sell well here? Do they sell well anywhere? Why are we an afterthought?

 

[Nova]

I largely agree - I think it does depend on how many people are on the "small team" - 2 or 3 people, yeah I could see issues with doing the rest of the world markets, 5-6+? Yeah that's untenable.

I still have no clue why Lotus simply does not seem invested in the US market - is it because historically speaking they don't sell well here? Do they sell well anywhere? Why are we an afterthought?

There could have been a general sense that in the US, the dealer will take care of everything because it's a legally mandated layer between the manufacturer and the customer. It's easy to get tunnel vision while focusing on the work at hand, with this concept at the back of one's mind that the US is different. We see this culture reflected not just in the certification but also the general lack of direct communications. It's odd that Lotus Cars USA was not tapped to keep things on track - that's one of the functions of a localized team, which is to be familiar with local regulations and contribute to the compliance process. However, Lotus Cars USA might have only been a materials-handling setup for distributing spare parts and whatnot. Who knows.

 

[Pasluc]

From Tony at Gator! More stellar comms from the team at @GatorMotorsport . Big appreciation.

To those who've already placed your order for a First Edition V6 Emira


Great news for those on the cusp of a First Edition V6 order allocation



For all future variants: Base V6, FE AMG I4, and Base AMG I4


More details on the AMG I4?


Status of the factory


Lotus Advanced Performance


Emira Test Drive Event: Round #2


Lotus Eletre, Type 133 Hyper-Sedan, and other future Lotus models

I put an order and deposit for a Base V6 manual at the beginning of October 2022 but received a call on Friday, informing me that someone who placed an order for a First Edition V6 manual had cancelled their order and gave me basically 2hrs to decide whether to take the spot or not - which I did end up configuring and placing my order on Friday - otherwise it would be offered to the next person in line. My question to as many on this forum that would like to comment, is,: do you think that since I only found out of the opportunity to take over a FE spot on August 18 - just 1 week after the deadline for configuring the order to qualify for the price protection until August 11 - and ordered my FE the same day I found out, shouldn't I acquire the rights of the order holder I took the place of and isn't the right and fair thing for Lotus to do, is to allow me to qualify for the price protection since I placed my order just 1 week after the deadline and there was no way to configure my order an earlier than the day I found out ? Thanks for anyone's and everyone's feedback.

 

[DerTheDer]

I put an order and deposit for a Base V6 manual at the beginning of October 2022 but received a call on Friday, informing me that someone who placed an order for a First Edition V6 manual had cancelled their order and gave me basically 2hrs to decide whether to take the spot or not - which I did end up configuring and placing my order on Friday - otherwise it would be offered to the next person in line. My question to as many on this forum that would like to comment, is,: do you think that since I only found out of the opportunity to take over a FE spot on August 18 - just 1 week after the deadline for configuring the order to qualify for the price protection until August 11 - and ordered my FE the same day I found out, shouldn't I acquire the rights of the order holder I took the place of and isn't the right and fair thing for Lotus to do, is to allow me to qualify for the price protection since I placed my order just 1 week after the deadline and there was no way to configure my order an earlier than the day I found out ? Thanks for anyone's and everyone's feedback.

Fe 1.0s were price locked to 93900. But I feel the dealer should have discussed prices with you.

 

[981KMAN]

You are probably getting a FE2 and not an FE1.....??

 

[benjh1028]

I put an order and deposit for a Base V6 manual at the beginning of October 2022 but received a call on Friday, informing me that someone who placed an order for a First Edition V6 manual had cancelled their order and gave me basically 2hrs to decide whether to take the spot or not - which I did end up configuring and placing my order on Friday - otherwise it would be offered to the next person in line. My question to as many on this forum that would like to comment, is,: do you think that since I only found out of the opportunity to take over a FE spot on August 18 - just 1 week after the deadline for configuring the order to qualify for the price protection until August 11 - and ordered my FE the same day I found out, shouldn't I acquire the rights of the order holder I took the place of and isn't the right and fair thing for Lotus to do, is to allow me to qualify for the price protection since I placed my order just 1 week after the deadline and there was no way to configure my order an earlier than the day I found out ? Thanks for anyone's and everyone's feedback.

Short answer, yes (if it’s an FE 1.0).

 

[Nova]

I really doubt that there is any ability to take over and resubmit specs for a FE 1.0 order at this time, at least not in the US, since those orders were submitted and locked a LOOOOOOONG time ago. Of course, we don't know what's going on in Canada, which may be going by different rules.