In debt now but looking forward...
Discussion
I think the fact that lotus has reported a loss before tax of over £42 million for the year could be seen as quite encouraging for the future. The losses nearly all point back to develoments made for the future (Barring the delays). I hope new designs do come out, however, I do not want the exclusivity of lotus to be lost, which could easily be the case if expansion over into America etc. is occurring! Any comments?
The danger in going to america won't be a lack of exclusivity - they will never sell enough for this to be a problem. The danger will be neutering the elise etc by making it fit for 'federal' requirements... emission, crash testing etc.
Remember the rubber bumper MGB that looked like it was on stilts... that was ride height/headlight height and crash protection regulations for the USA.
Californian emissions law is very stringent - often strangles the engines out there. You'd probably end up with an Elise 2 that was 50 kgs heavier and only had 110 bhp once through all the red tape.
Remember the rubber bumper MGB that looked like it was on stilts... that was ride height/headlight height and crash protection regulations for the USA.
Californian emissions law is very stringent - often strangles the engines out there. You'd probably end up with an Elise 2 that was 50 kgs heavier and only had 110 bhp once through all the red tape.
hope you're right about the losses being attributed to developemtn - does look that way (and Vauxhall really did penalise them quite hard). I hope as well that the build quality on my elise carries over to whatever is next. If they can produce a new model, with this sort of quality then they'll do very well I think - but if they leave it too long they'll be in trouble - fans just don't wait forever and theres a lot of tasty alternatives on the horizon.
Quite agree nightmare and good point domster.
I just want Lotus to come out with some new cars, in particular, to replace the gorgeous M250 concept. Why can't they pierce the European bubble before venturing accross to the states. Our European friends (pardon the cliche) has massive potential and surely could be an inexpensive but lucrative market to penetrate first.
I just want Lotus to come out with some new cars, in particular, to replace the gorgeous M250 concept. Why can't they pierce the European bubble before venturing accross to the states. Our European friends (pardon the cliche) has massive potential and surely could be an inexpensive but lucrative market to penetrate first.
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