Ill have one Please!

[Gooby]

Blue + White stripes

http://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/lotus-ca...

Basic model with 350bhp and less than 1000kg -

That will define "Rocket Ship", lets hope the VVA chassis is up to it.

[boobles]

Does look rather tidy. Shame about the door mirrors though.

[CooperS]

Gooby said:

Blue + White stripes

http://www.thelotusforums.com/latest-news/lotus-ca...

Basic model with 350bhp and less than 1000kg -

That will define "Rocket Ship", lets hope the VVA chassis is up to it.

White with deep blue stripes for me thank you!

Shame its going to cost far more than i can afford for the immediate future. Saying that i presume the car is a 45k+

[sng45]

Does anyone have any idea if there is an order process/letter of intent for one of these with the dealer network at the moment ? - I know it's some years ahead but better to be prepared !

[Bebee]

That's very nice, want one!

[kambites]

Confirmation, I suspect, that Lotus is abandoning the bottom end of the market; ie the end that I can afford.

[GTRene]

nice specs.

[TonyHetherington]

kambites said:

Confirmation, I suspect, that Lotus is abandoning the bottom end of the market; ie the end that I can afford.

That's what i was thinking. For me, I mean

[Gooby]

There is a price?

[Beachbum]

Gooby said:

There is a price?

One so high they dont publish for fear of alienating their existing clientele

[TonyHetherington]

Gooby said:

There is a price?

No, but do you honestly think it will be <£30k?

[GKP]

It's expected to be around £35k plus options. (A Toyota powered Elise SC was/is £34,500)

[thegreenhell]

If they can do an all-new car with <1000kg and >350bhp for £35k I will be very impressed. By the look of the press images released so far, it isn't some stripped-out lightweight like the original Elise.

[TonyHetherington]

GKP said:

It's expected to be around £35k plus options. (A Toyota powered Elise SC was/is £34,500)

That's interesting. I'd never have guessed the Elise SC was that expensive - it shows my price point is way out!

[Scuffers]

TonyHetherington said:

GKP said:

It's expected to be around £35k plus options. (A Toyota powered Elise SC was/is £34,500)

That's interesting. I'd never have guessed the Elise SC was that expensive - it shows my price point is way out!

if it is £35+ then it's basically abandoning the exsisting Elise market.

that would be brave.....

[Beachbum]

Scuffers said:

TonyHetherington said:

GKP said:

It's expected to be around £35k plus options. (A Toyota powered Elise SC was/is £34,500)

That's interesting. I'd never have guessed the Elise SC was that expensive - it shows my price point is way out!

if it is £35+ then it's basically abandoning the exsisting Elise market.

that would be brave.....

Not wishing to state the obvious, but think thats already happened. I couldnt afford a new one today. And I did 6yrs ago

[Scuffers]

Beachbum said:

Scuffers said:

TonyHetherington said:

GKP said:

It's expected to be around £35k plus options. (A Toyota powered Elise SC was/is £34,500)

That's interesting. I'd never have guessed the Elise SC was that expensive - it shows my price point is way out!

if it is £35+ then it's basically abandoning the exsisting Elise market.

that would be brave.....

Not wishing to state the obvious, but think thats already happened. I couldnt afford a new one today. And I did 6yrs ago

point taken, maybe this has something to do with the lack of sales recently?

Quick look at SMMT's figures, Lotus total UK registrations for 2010 - 577 cars - spot the problem.

[GKP]

Why would it be brave? The last 15 or so years of selling Elises hasn't exactly been a profitable exercise for them. The current shape Elise has been around for 10 years now, it's well overdue to be dropped and something new to take its place.

[Scuffers]

GKP said:

Why would it be brave? The last 15 or so years of selling Elises hasn't exactly been a profitable exercise for them. The current shape Elise has been around for 10 years now, it's well overdue to be dropped and something new to take its place.

your having a laugh?

to try and claim they made no money selling the Elise (short of creative accounting) is just bullst.

SMMT's site only goes back to 2000, the figures are:

2000 - 1613
2001 - 1184
2002 - 1305
2003 - 964
2004 - 879
2005 - 934
2006 - 820
2007 - 712
2008 - 647
2009 - 485
2010 - 577

now, remember this is UK registrations, does not include export but does include demo cars, factory cars, etc.

what it does show though is that in 2000 their UK registrations was 3X last year (and from memory, pre-2000 they were selling every car they could make).

[GKP]

Huh? What has numbers produced got to do with anything? The key quote from this article ( Autocar clicky) is:

"company owner Proton has held a briefing in Malaysia outlining its plans to make Lotus profitable within five years. Lotus has not made a profit for Proton since it bought it in 1996."

So they need to sell a different product because the business case for the current line-up doesn't pay its way. I thought this was common knowledge nowadays?