Exige orders = 383
Discussion
Dany Bahar reports demand for the new Exige is crazy, yet they're still on programme for the new range of supercars.
Given how few Evoras must have been sold ( I've seen just one on the road in 3 years ) it can't need much of a business genius to work out what end of the scale the Market really wants. Or can it? Am I missing something?
Given how few Evoras must have been sold ( I've seen just one on the road in 3 years ) it can't need much of a business genius to work out what end of the scale the Market really wants. Or can it? Am I missing something?
So how do you explain Ferrari's latest sales figures -
http://europe.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...
And this was on the back of a record 2010, in the teeth of one of the worst recessions this century. Aston Martin have delivered 65 of their £1.4m One-77 with apparently half a dozen buyers fighting over the very last RHD model.
It seems to me that demand at the top end is very strong if the product is right. And that is Lotus' challenge of course. I see nothing wrong with aiming for this market as it is a lot less price sensitive than the lower end. And lets not forget that apart from one year Lotus Cars has made a loss every year for over 15 years building small, light, minimalist sports cars. Without Lotus Engineering and their third party contracts as well as Proton Lotus Cars would have gone to the wall years ago.
Tesla has nearly 5,000 orders, with deposits, for it new Model S which goes on sale later this year. So maybe the future is in all electric family sedans?
But what the hell do I know. I just hope the new Esprit appears and I can afford it in 18 months.
http://europe.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...
And this was on the back of a record 2010, in the teeth of one of the worst recessions this century. Aston Martin have delivered 65 of their £1.4m One-77 with apparently half a dozen buyers fighting over the very last RHD model.
It seems to me that demand at the top end is very strong if the product is right. And that is Lotus' challenge of course. I see nothing wrong with aiming for this market as it is a lot less price sensitive than the lower end. And lets not forget that apart from one year Lotus Cars has made a loss every year for over 15 years building small, light, minimalist sports cars. Without Lotus Engineering and their third party contracts as well as Proton Lotus Cars would have gone to the wall years ago.
Tesla has nearly 5,000 orders, with deposits, for it new Model S which goes on sale later this year. So maybe the future is in all electric family sedans?
But what the hell do I know. I just hope the new Esprit appears and I can afford it in 18 months.
Hedgerley said:
It seems to me that demand at the top end is very strong if the product is right.
I'm sure you're right. The fundamental difference is surely that Aston, Ferrari etc are proven operators in this area. Lotus have shown that they're key strength is little & lightweight. How many Elise/Exige types do we see on the road in a typical week? I dont think i've ever seen an Evora on the road. I was chatting to the saleman at Christopher Neil who suggested to me that buyers really dont want Evoras!
Lightweight & little is the way forward for me
cirvy said:
I'm sure you're right. The fundamental difference is surely that Aston, Ferrari etc are proven operators in this area. Lotus have shown that they're key strength is little & lightweight. How many Elise/Exige types do we see on the road in a typical week?
I dont think i've ever seen an Evora on the road. I was chatting to the saleman at Christopher Neil who suggested to me that buyers really dont want Evoras!
Lightweight & little is the way forward for me
Shame there's not enough of you.I dont think i've ever seen an Evora on the road. I was chatting to the saleman at Christopher Neil who suggested to me that buyers really dont want Evoras!
Lightweight & little is the way forward for me
If people do not really want Evoras, why do they want Caymans?...other than brand/image etc?..oh yes, and less depreciation, cheaper to run, less to insure, less hassle..hmm answered my own question. Thankfully some people choose not to be sheep and take a chance....unfortunately not enough people for Lotus.
23 Lotuses UK registered in January, only 19 for Jan 2011.
It would appear the market wants neither the Evora nor the Elise anymore.
Even if there was only one dealer they'd be struggling to live on that.
In comparison 63 Astons UK registered in January, up from 55 last January.
Porsche registered 409 cars.
So you can see now why 380+ V6 Exige orders already is a big deal for Lotus.
I am, like a good few others I suspect, waiting to drive first one but intend to order shortly after.
It would appear the market wants neither the Evora nor the Elise anymore.
Even if there was only one dealer they'd be struggling to live on that.
In comparison 63 Astons UK registered in January, up from 55 last January.
Porsche registered 409 cars.
So you can see now why 380+ V6 Exige orders already is a big deal for Lotus.
I am, like a good few others I suspect, waiting to drive first one but intend to order shortly after.
Bibs_LEF said:
I heard it took 6 men 4 days to photoshop every raindrop out of that picture!!
Knockhill has its own climate. It can be a beautiful sunny day all over Scotland, and knockhill will be covered I snow 
There are loads (relatively) of Evoras in Scotland, maybe the Scots just have more imagination and less sheep like mentality
The Pits said:
23 Lotuses UK registered in January, only 19 for Jan 2011.
It would appear the market wants neither the Evora nor the Elise anymore.
Even if there was only one dealer they'd be struggling to live on that.
In comparison 63 Astons UK registered in January, up from 55 last January.
Porsche registered 409 cars.
So you can see now why 380+ V6 Exige orders already is a big deal for Lotus.
I am, like a good few others I suspect, waiting to drive first one but intend to order shortly after.
The Elise is an old car now despite the refresh. Lotus did need something new, things have moved on with the market place now.It would appear the market wants neither the Evora nor the Elise anymore.
Even if there was only one dealer they'd be struggling to live on that.
In comparison 63 Astons UK registered in January, up from 55 last January.
Porsche registered 409 cars.
So you can see now why 380+ V6 Exige orders already is a big deal for Lotus.
I am, like a good few others I suspect, waiting to drive first one but intend to order shortly after.
I'm with you on the new Exige, i'm hoping its a great drive & will look to sort myself one out too.
Still not seen one mind!
cirvy said:
The Pits said:
23 Lotuses UK registered in January, only 19 for Jan 2011.
It would appear the market wants neither the Evora nor the Elise anymore.
Even if there was only one dealer they'd be struggling to live on that.
In comparison 63 Astons UK registered in January, up from 55 last January.
Porsche registered 409 cars.
So you can see now why 380+ V6 Exige orders already is a big deal for Lotus.
I am, like a good few others I suspect, waiting to drive first one but intend to order shortly after.
The Elise is an old car now despite the refresh. Lotus did need something new, things have moved on with the market place now.It would appear the market wants neither the Evora nor the Elise anymore.
Even if there was only one dealer they'd be struggling to live on that.
In comparison 63 Astons UK registered in January, up from 55 last January.
Porsche registered 409 cars.
So you can see now why 380+ V6 Exige orders already is a big deal for Lotus.
I am, like a good few others I suspect, waiting to drive first one but intend to order shortly after.
I'm with you on the new Exige, i'm hoping its a great drive & will look to sort myself one out too.
Still not seen one mind!
cirvy said:
Bloody hell! Did someone have to photshop the Evoras in as well!!
Er, no. And that wasn't a full turn out. As for the weather, Knockhill is one of those places where you can get all 4 seasons in one day. But its only 20 minutes up the road from me and there are some great driving roads in the vicinity so I can't complain.Lotus produced over 2,000 cars last year but sales were down 43% according to the analysis of 2011 in CAR. Slightly worrying I guess. Proton were down 42% also. Best selling sports car, not surprisingly, was the Porsche 911 with 1,616. Worst was KTM with one car sold in the past 2 years!
cirvy said:
The Elise is an old car now despite the refresh. Lotus did need something new, things have moved on with the market place now.
I'm with you on the new Exige, i'm hoping its a great drive & will look to sort myself one out too.
Still not seen one mind!
The Elise is still an excellent platform for a sports car, especially considering these times low capacity, low emission engines are important. Lightweight is a must if you want to be environmental friendly (of course our European politicians do not understand that building a new car pollutes much more than the difference between an EU3 or a EU5 emission class vehicle, but this is an entirely different matter).I'm with you on the new Exige, i'm hoping its a great drive & will look to sort myself one out too.
Still not seen one mind!
Furthermore, in some Countries there are tax penalties for large capacity engines and this is a very good marketing point for Lotus.
The new supercharged Elise, with air con, a chargecooler and an oil cooler, appears to me a very well enginered choice. The new engine has more low down torque than the previous one and a new gearbox, which hopefully will make people forget of the old awful one.
All in all I would say it is far ahead the competitors. What it lacks is good reputation in build quality. I am sure that if Porsche could have the same chassis in the Cayman they would do really big numbers.
The new Exige... I am confident it will be a good car with good performance, but to have a good market share it will have to be BETTER than a Porsche, weighting a bit less, going a bit faster, being a bit cheaper to buy and run and being at least on a par for buil quality. Not something you usually achieve with a restiling, this needs years and years of good company management.
Hedgerley said:
Lotus produced over 2,000 cars last year but sales were down 43% according to the analysis of 2011 in CAR. Slightly worrying I guess. Proton were down 42% also. Best selling sports car, not surprisingly, was the Porsche 911 with 1,616. Worst was KTM with one car sold in the past 2 years!
With only a 136 BHP Elise and a N/A Evora available I would be surprised if they could have done better!Nonetheless here in Italy they sold quite a few N/A Evora. Nothing comparable to Porsche numbers, but dealers are very optimistic with the new model range.
FrancoZ said:
With only a 136 BHP Elise and a N/A Evora available I would be surprised if they could have done better!
Nonetheless here in Italy they sold quite a few N/A Evora. Nothing comparable to Porsche numbers, but dealers are very optimistic with the new model range.
Just been reading the latest issue of Evo and there was some talk of the new tax of 20€ (£17) per bhp over 248bhp on new cars annual road tax there. Sounds like it could actually bode quite well for Lotus given their relatively low power outputs.Nonetheless here in Italy they sold quite a few N/A Evora. Nothing comparable to Porsche numbers, but dealers are very optimistic with the new model range.
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