USA/Canada Delivery Thread

I was thinking about the number of cars the other day. It's crazy that 600 cars across the US will for the most part go unnoticed by the public. Sightings will be so rare it may as well be an Enzo Ferrari (well maybe not that rare!). And VL3X posted the numbers for the Evora which is crazy low too. I have see about a 1/2 dozen Evoras in my life. I would love to see how many US forum members we have with deposits. Heck, we may have almost a 1/3 or 1/2 on on this forum. Crazy!
Mine is on order.. Build May deliver (hopefully) June, maybe July
 
I was thinking about the number of cars the other day. It's crazy that 600 cars across the US will for the most part go unnoticed by the public. Sightings will be so rare it may as well be an Enzo Ferrari (well maybe not that rare!). And VL3X posted the numbers for the Evora which is crazy low too. I have seen about a 1/2 dozen Evoras in my life. I would love to see how many US forum members we have with deposits. Heck, we may have almost a 1/3 or 1/2 of the US cars on this forum. Crazy!
Isn’t it the count only for 2020MY and 2021MY model?
 
I was thinking about the number of cars the other day. It's crazy that 520+ Emiras across the US will for the most part go unnoticed by the public. Sightings will be so rare it may as well be an Enzo Ferrari (well maybe not that rare!). And VL3X posted the numbers for the Evora which is crazy low too. I have seen about a 1/2 dozen Evoras in my life. I would love to see how many US forum members we have with deposits. Heck, we may have almost a 1/3 or 1/2 of the US cars on this forum. Crazy!
520 is only the first batch of cars. There will be well over 2K coming into North America this year. Probably closer to 3K for 2024 calendar year. That is a healthy amount and by the end of 2025 it will be close to 6K Emira's total. Is it going to be as common as a Cayman or 911. No of course not. It will be more common than any other Lotus before it, including Elise's, Exige's and Evora's combined in the US market.

As for the comment of big discount from Lotus, I wouldn't count on it. I really do not believe Lotus has the same profit margins in this Emira like the Evora did. Inflation and costs are much more than 2010-2020 and the Evora 400 (not even GT) was about the same price as the Emira is today.

Lastly, although rareness is a good thing, being too rare is a bad thing. We want aftermarket support for the cars and longevity for Lotus in general. Especially the UK division. So let them pump out has much as they can, in the end the 3K or so units coming in each year shouldn't be too much to handle or over saturate our market. As a data point, Porsche sells approx. 3.5K-4.5K Caymans per year in the US and F-type around 2K-3K. (Emira will probably be as common as an F-type in a few more years) Both these cars are at the end of their life cycle and the Cayman will be going electric shortly. Will Lotus see some of those buyers cross over to Lotus. Probably, especially the f-type buyer I would think.I A lot more M2/3/4 buyers will cross into Lotus as well. So the buyer pool is there. They have a winning formula and I fully expect them to have a successful run out with the Emira. At least until type 135.
 
Last edited:
That's in the UK, which has a shit economy at the moment, high cost of borrowing, and low public appetite for luxury purchases at the moment.

In NO WAY should the current UK used car market be used as an indicator of general global interest or per-unit resale value for the Lotus Emira.
Europe also. 90 in stock first editions doesn't look like many need to get on an order waiting list.

I for one can't wait for there to be real dealer inventory in the states. It's always been a joke when a dealer has 1 or zero new Lotus in inventory.

The difference now though is the factory can, and will, produce more Emiras than 3 previous models combined ever. The amount of inventory is going to be nuts in the fall of 2024 with this level of output, even if just manual V6 only. They won't stop in Hethel, they can't stop. Their Geely funding is tied to production and sales results. And dealer inventory in USA is a revenue sale for Hethel.

Is there a market for 1,000 manual Emiras in the USA at $100k+ in 2024? That's not even the build rate so far.

Now add in EV SUV sales, and dealer floor plan financing are going to be stretched if anything sits for more than 30 days.

Matt W better hope there is a real market in the USA at this volume or this time in 2025 is going to have amazing deals and a new leader. We have seen this happen before at Lotus.

 
I wish the best for Lotus and the Emira. I think the Emira is a great car. That being said, I wouldn't overestimate the market for it. Elise sales were very strong in their first year and then tapered off. It seems like the enthusiasts get the car and then there is nobody left that wants them. Most people have never even heard of Lotus.

 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2013-06-10 at 2.01.35 PM.png
    Screen Shot 2013-06-10 at 2.01.35 PM.png
    127.6 KB · Views: 70
I wish the best for Lotus and the Emira. I think the Emira is a great car. That being said, I wouldn't overestimate the market for it. Elise sales were very strong in their first year and then tapered off. It seems like the enthusiasts get the car and then there is nobody left that wants them. Most people have never even heard of Lotus.

This is actually a good argument for Lotus wrapping up the Emira quickly to move Hethel onto more high volume EV stuff.
 
The big caveat is everyone going electric and true enthusiast cars are going away. In 2025 there is no mid-engine manual sports car you can buy new. Except Emira. That has never happened before, we are treading new waters. Even the GT1, Mini Cooper, Corvette no longer offer them. Looking at sales data on how many people can afford a 100K sports car is one thing, but when you delve into the pkg. they are offering it is just different than before.

2018 Evora 400 MSRP - 95K MSRP
2018 Corvette Z06 Manual - 79K MSRP

2024 Corvette Z06 - 115K MSRP
2024 Lotus Emira - 105K MSRP

At 79K the corvette was a clear winner and no one would consider the Evora. The Emira at 10K cheaper and offers a manual? This alone will pull some ppl.
 
I wish the best for Lotus and the Emira. I think the Emira is a great car. That being said, I wouldn't overestimate the market for it. Elise sales were very strong in their first year and then tapered off. It seems like the enthusiasts get the car and then there is nobody left that wants them. Most people have never even heard of Lotus.

The Elise is an entirely different car than an Emira though. It shouldn't be a surprise that only enthusiasts bought them considering the large compromises that were required compared to other manual sports car options on the market in 2005. Those same issues don't exist for the Emira since it and the Cayman are the only remaining options in their class. The last ICE Cayman's are being sold right now, so the Emira will soon be on its own. This bodes well for sales, barring any outside forces like a recession or regulatory changes, etc.
 
Here is a video that describes what a certain buyer is looking at; it’s an interesting monologue. I am sure others think the same way. This is the difference.

 
Can someone walk me through an order?

You give your spe to the dealer, and you get an email with a number? More than six digits?
 
Can someone walk me through an order?

You give your spe to the dealer, and you get an email with a number? More than six digits?

I did it over the phone with my sales. we both have the configurator open and i went through each selection with him and then you should get a pdf once your order have been entered. Double check that. then you're done.

 
Last edited:
I did it over the phone with my sales. we both have the configurator open and i went through each selection with him and then you should get a pdf once your order have been entered. Double check that. then you're done.

I got a PDF with a six digit number. Lotus in Hethel say the number should be like T131-ABERJQRS-ST as an example.
 
I got a PDF with a six digit number. Lotus in Hethel say the number should be like T131-ABERJQRS-ST as an example.
Approved Customer Submission ID is a 6 digit number in my pdf. I think that just an acknowledgment that you config have been submitted to Lotus. The other long number is probably your production number that will be used once your car is assigned to production.
 
Last edited:
Approved Customer Submission ID is a 6 digit number in my pdf. I think that just an acknowledgment that you config have been submitted to Lotus. The other long number is probably your production number that will be used during production.
I only received a 6 digit numbers only confirmation....
 
I wish the best for Lotus and the Emira. I think the Emira is a great car. That being said, I wouldn't overestimate the market for it. Elise sales were very strong in their first year and then tapered off. It seems like the enthusiasts get the car and then there is nobody left that wants them. Most people have never even heard of Lotus.


I agree with this. The idea that out of nowhere Lotus is going to sell thousands of Emiras here in the US is highly unlikely for a variety of reasons.

Lotus has always been a niche car, and it will remain so. That's a great thing for exclusivity, but not for those that think the Emira is going to somehow break through and make Lotus a competitor with other popular and established sportscar brands on a sales level.
 

Create an account or login to comment

Join now to leave a comment enjoy browsing the site ad-free!

Create account

Create an account on our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top