USA/Canada Delivery Thread

[kitkat]

Any chance the cars seen in the factory to date are for dealer demos? They may be gambling the current spec can be registered when EPA/CARB cert comes through with a relatively low number of cars vs the customer FE1/FE2 batch.

Does Lotus USA buy the cars from Lotus and then sell to the dealers who sell to customers, or is this more direct than other car companies?

The dealer demos are owned by the dealer and the dealer demos will arrive with the first batch of FE1.0s.

 

[EspritGuy]

I just woke up from a coma from 2021. There are no Emiras yet?!?! WTF! I was able to find an Emira toy car at the Party Store today which was cool. Currently in the process of offloading some of my vehicles. I plan on retiring down south sooner rather than later. I have bad migraines brought on due to bright lights (Brights kill me) and the sun. Just driving home from work every day is a chore now. Shame I didn't have these few years to enjoy the Emira. Maybe I will still be able to enjoy it before i decide to sell it as well.

If anyone in the States is interested in an Elise (Clean Title) or Ferrari California (Clean Title + History) please let me know.

Well-being is certainly important and it's got my endorsement.
Moving from a northern clime where it darker earlier and for longer to a southern one where it is brighter and lighter would suggest sunshine is a big consideration.
Sell your snow shovel as well. There aren't many that have much use for it. However it is a conversation piece.

 

[DerTheDer]

Well-being is certainly important and it's got my endorsement.
Moving from a northern clime where it darker earlier and for longer to a southern one where it is brighter and lighter would suggest sunshine is a big consideration.
Sell your snow shovel as well. There aren't many that have much use for it. However it is a conversation piece.

Thank you! I am thinking Myrtle beach or Tybee Island area. Not sure if I want to go so far to the south. Ill buy a miniature snow shovel and keep it by the door.

I stayed at Hilton Head a few years back and while its nice, the price markups there are insane. Where I am at now, driving home I drive directly into the sun and it ruins my day, and when I go to work, Its dark and I get hit by the car lights for a hour.

 

[Maurice R]

Oh I’m in agreement it’s a British car, just wondering if American regulators are giving Lotus and overly hard time because of Chinese ownership. I know it’s a bit conspiracy theorist lol, but they had a long time to pass US emissions.

Yes long time but Lotus submitted incorrect paperwork which was rejected and they had to start the process over which put them at the back of the line.
Volvo is owned by Geeley and no issues as far as I know

 

[Maurice R]

I will be test driving a car at my dealer this coming Saturday. I will see if it is a U.S. spec car.

It’s not US spec

 

[DerTheDer]

All quite on the NA front!

 

[benjh1028]

All quite on the NA front!

Everyone is too busy cleaning out their garage in anticipation!

 

[Nova]

Everyone is too busy cleaning out their garage in anticipation!

Man... I am very concerned about the predictability of our behaviors.

 

[DerTheDer]

Everyone is too busy cleaning out their garage in anticipation!

Did some news drop that I missed? I thought we were still in limbo?? lol.

 

[dgrace]

Possibly the whole reason for the delay of US cars is that Lotus has to replace all their N/m torque wrenches with ones that work in lb/ft. Maybe they're backordered or something.

 

[Porter]

Possibly the whole reason for the delay of US cars is that Lotus has to replace all their N/m torque wrenches with ones that work in lb/ft. Maybe they're backordered or something.

I heard they were having trouble converting the tires so they could inflate in PSI.

 

[kitkat]

Everyone is too busy cleaning out their garage in anticipation!

Where did you put the camera in my garage?

 

[EspritGuy]

Man... I am very concerned about the predictability of our behaviors.

Guilty, damn you..

 

[EspritGuy]

Possibly the whole reason for the delay of US cars is that Lotus has to replace all their N/m torque wrenches with ones that work in lb/ft. Maybe they're backordered or something.

Great, size matters (again)?

 

[Dr.JDK]

But how does Lotus make money selling a car that they are not legally allowed to sell? And that's precisely my point - they can't sell any of these cars, so they can't make any money, which is why they are likely not building a meaningful number of US cars yet.

Producing cars to be held in a warehouse is not the same as selling cars. That activity does not make Lotus any money, nor does it make the dealers any money. In fact, it *costs* Lotus money as I already explained in my previous post. One may argue "Well, they can get a jump start on the production so that there will be more cars available for sale in the US." However, Lotus is production-limited right now in terms of worldwide demand and for the foreseeable future so producing extra cars for the US brings them no additional sales volume - they don't have excess production capacity. Let's be reminded that as of now, Lotus has had *no problems* allocating all of its production capacity to existing non-US demand, with non-US customers persistently pestering them for a production update.

The US dealers have very little say on production volume/allocation of Lotus so their opinions on the matter are worth very little.

I doubt the statement in bold. If you read my previous posts carefully, I have pointed out evidence in different countries that the new demand for Lotus has been slowed down and new cars and used are sitting on dealers' floor (facts and public information). Therefore, I don't see lotus has any incentives of reallocating production capacity to a saturated market and keep North America waiting. It will be bad optics for brand new Emiras to flood showrooms.
Previously, it made sense to prioritize Europe, UK, Japan because it is easier for them to clear the regulation, it is an EDM car after all. It also made sense to prioritize China market because Geely is the parent company, do not disobey your daddy.
It also make logical sense now to anticipate that lotus is doing all they can to push US production and clear way for the Emira to sale in the NA market because that is where Lotus can grow business. The statement that Lotus has started production for US market has been corroborated by two forum members in factory tours and a man named Scott (previous posts in this thread).
At the end of the day, your opinion and mine are all guesses. I try my best to make a guess based on interpreting information objectively. You have every right to be pessimistic and skeptical about Lotus and US dealers. I just don't see they gain anything by delay US production at this moment.
Maybe you are right and we will never see the car until this time next year or never. I will be looking at this post and cry all over my keyboard. Or maybe by Feb next year, I, amongst other FE 1.0 depositors, will drive the Emiras to fix Lots of Troubles, Usually Serious

 

[NicolasB]

I cleaned my garage this weekend!

 

[Nova]

I doubt the statement in bold. If you read my previous posts carefully, I have pointed out evidence in different countries that the new demand for Lotus has been slowed down and new cars and used are sitting on dealers' floor (facts and public information). Therefore, I don't see lotus has any incentives of reallocating production capacity to a saturated market and keep North America waiting. It will be bad optics for brand new Emiras to flood showrooms.
Previously, it made sense to prioritize Europe, UK, Japan because it is easier for them to clear the regulation, it is an EDM car after all. It also made sense to prioritize China market because Geely is the parent company, do not disobey your daddy.
It also make logical sense now to anticipate that lotus is doing all they can to push US production and clear way for the Emira to sale in the NA market because that is where Lotus can grow business. The statement that Lotus has started production for US market has been corroborated by two forum members in factory tours and a man named Scott (previous posts in this thread).
At the end of the day, your opinion and mine are all guesses. I try my best to make a guess based on interpreting information objectively. You have every right to be pessimistic and skeptical about Lotus and US dealers. I just don't see they gain anything by delay US production at this moment.
Maybe you are right and we will never see the car until this time next year or never. I will be looking at this post and cry all over my keyboard. Or maybe by Feb next year, I, amongst other FE 1.0 depositors, will drive the Emiras to fix Lots of Troubles, Usually Serious

Bringing up used cars is just muddying the waters - the market dynamics there are very different. Some markets may have new cars immediately available, but we all know that this is largely due to cancellations after the long production delay, and early adopters tend to be enthusiasts who want to order their own specs for a special car like this rather than take one off the lot. As a global whole, Lotus does not appear to have any excess unused capacity. Also, just because there may be some inventory on dealer lots doesn't mean a market is oversupplied. We have plenty of non-US buyers on this very forum complaining about waiting for their orders.

The only thing we have from the forum members, in addition to Scott, is that they saw "A" US-spec car being made. We don't have *any* indication from any of them that it was more than one car or even more than a few cars. Lotus can certainly make US-spec cars on their production line, but making even a handful of them is meaningless to the 700 FE 1.0 customers. As to why it behooves Lotus to *NOT* produce the cars now, it's already been mentioned before and I'll list them here again: Lotus can save money not making the cars just to store them away in a warehouse somewhere. They can save the interest expense of money spent on idle inventory. They can also save the cost of any warranty work that may be avoided from product improvements. Lastly, regulatory compliance is never a sure thing no matter how confident someone is about obtaining it. Applying corrections to already-built cars is costly. It is financially *detrimental* to Lotus to build US cars before they get regulatory approval to sell them in the US.

I agree we are all just guessing. I'm guessing from the default position that unless I see something based on evidence and logic, it doesn't exist. You can call it pessimism if you want; I call it 2+ years of lived experience.

 

[MYFASTEFE]

Everyone is too busy cleaning out their garage in anticipation!

I am guilty! lol

 

[Dr.JDK]

Bringing up used cars is just muddying the waters - the market dynamics there are very different. Some markets may have new cars immediately available, but we all know that this is largely due to cancellations after the long production delay, and early adopters tend to be enthusiasts who want to order their own specs for a special car like this rather than take one off the lot. As a global whole, Lotus does not appear to have any excess unused capacity. Also, just because there may be some inventory on dealer lots doesn't mean a market is oversupplied. We have plenty of non-US buyers on this very forum complaining about waiting for their orders.

The only thing we have from the forum members, in addition to Scott, is that they saw "A" US-spec car being made. We don't have *any* indication from any of them that it was more than one car or even more than a few cars. Lotus can certainly make US-spec cars on their production line, but making even a handful of them is meaningless to the 700 FE 1.0 customers. As to why it behooves Lotus to *NOT* produce the cars now, it's already been mentioned before and I'll list them here again: Lotus can save money not making the cars just to store them away in a warehouse somewhere. They can save the interest expense of money spent on idle inventory. They can also save the cost of any warranty work that may be avoided from product improvements. Lastly, regulatory compliance is never a sure thing no matter how confident someone is about obtaining it. Applying corrections to already-built cars is costly. It is financially *detrimental* to Lotus to build US cars before they get regulatory approval to sell them in the US.

I agree we are all just guessing. I'm guessing from the default position that unless I see something based on evidence and logic, it doesn't exist. You can call it pessimism if you want; I call it 2+ years of lived experience.

I interpret the forum members' posts differently. At least two distinct forum members said they saw one (or more) US spec Emira in production line at different time. One of trusted source @VL3X posted a screenshot early in September showing a screenshot that a V6 MT US spec car in production (tho later on the source clarified it seemed like a one-off car then his production line was switched to I4).
In conclusion, multiple sources suggested that it is more likely than not that US Emira are in prodution.
I will settle with that. And it is my best guess, just as good as yours.

 

[morphious]

Not quite sure where to post this, so mods, if you move it, I'm good. Just got off the phone with Cerritos Nissan inquiring about the new Z Nismo. MSRP is $64,990, not bad, sales guy told me ADM was $80,000. WTF? I said you really think you can get that, he said "yes, it's where the market is at". WTF? I said good luck, it's a Nissan, and ended the call.