Lotustoronto
Emira Addict
I agree with everything you said about EV's. Even a hybrid Emira isn't a bad option. However, I don't think Lotus is making enough margin on the First Edition pricing. I know it's not cheap, but these cars are not built at scale. The temptation of higher profit margin options and running the i4 to more BHP and adding 20K is just too great. Expect to see a higher price, more BHP and some other options to be added in over the next 4 years. It is one of the reasons I think the base pricing will not be as attractive as first thought. The only reason we got more First Editions was due to delays and every other market is saturated enough with the V6.I don't know. Considering that Johnstone said flat out that they were going to discontinue the Emira in 2028, and Lotus has said they have enough orders for the FE for 3 years of production, and that's BEFORE the cars hit the streets in the U.S., will they even bother with any other model? If their production capacity is already accounted for through 2027, why would they come out with another model?
I think they're making a big mistake by not only discontinuing the most successful car they've ever had, but going 100% into electric when everybody else is scaling back. Ford said they lost over $4 billion on EV's last year and are scaling way back. GM said they lost over $1 billion last year on EV's and they too are scaling back. Both are restarting ICE production. Toyota never bought into the all-in-for-EV craze; they went hybrid, and they didn't lose any money at all, in fact they've made a lot of money. Their stock is up too as a result.
If Lotus was to play it smart (I know, it's Lotus) they'd keep the Emira, go hybrid for another 10 years, and see how the technology develops not only for batteries, but for electricity production. Wind and solar farms aren't cutting it, especially in the colder climates. The governments need to get on the ball and start building power generation plants, and that's going to take at least 10 years, if not longer.