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The strategy was deeply flawed, mostly because they launched it about ten years too early. The number of consumers who will buy an all-electric luxury vehicle is still absolutely tiny, and those who have (Taycan buyers) have been badly burned by technology issues and a collapse in residual...

The money has been burned, so it's now a sunk cost. I don't think Geely will exit. I'm betting that they wash out the Malaysians, L Catterton, and other shareholders and fold Lotus fully into Geely Group.

Agree that a green roof would be a much more cohesive look.

I quite like the outside, especially the Clark Green paint colour. Not so keen on the interior . . . looks a bit cheap and tacky.

When he says Emira . . . but really means Elise?!

https://carbuzz.com/the-automotive-industry-might-be-on-the-verge-of-losing-an-iconic-brand/ It's hard to argue that Lotus is in trouble, but the completely incompetent "journalism" is frustrating. The author doesn't seem to realise that Geely owns over 50% of Lotus Technology, so this doesn't...

Based on Lotus's current financial losses, the Emira still might be the last ICE Lotus ever! :D

Tesla makes great EVs, but beyond that the US auto industry just isn't globally competitive. If you put aside niche models like the Mustang or Corvette, Europeans stopped buying US cars decades ago. Ford now has only a 3.3% market share in Europe. Sure, the Chinese copy other brand's design...

This. We know there have been multiple waves of employee lay-offs. My guess is that head office has told them to cut every cost to the bone because the business is in serious financial trouble.

Almost certainly, IMO. The CEO recently said that they were conscious that the Lifestyle cars were "off brand" for Lotus and that they needed a new car to reinforce the sports car and racing heritage.

Maybe the V8 will be part of the 2027 Emira facelift, with the first V8 cars delivered in early 2028?

Lots of big news hidden in this updated product pipeline! 1. TYP 135, the EV Emira replacement, is gone. Instead they're going to keep Emira alive for far longer than originally planned. 2. The 2027 Emira facelift, which will be an upgrade to the power of the AMG unit. Perhaps the R model...

First quarter deliveries of only 1,282 vehicles is a train-wreck for Lotus. They delivered over 4,000 in Q4 last year. It's a yearly run rate of just 5,128 vehicles from a company that planned to be selling 100,00+ by now. US car tarrifs didn't come into effect until the end of the quarter...

I'd keep a very close eye on your doors. Teijin Automotive made the doors, the rear quarters and the clamshell. You've already got blistering on 2 out of 3, so clearly there's an issue with the batch of composite panels used in your car.

I noticed that the Top Gear cars were #22 and #23. So they've built at least 23 Evijas . . . though how many are customer cars is unknown. We also know that the eight Fittipaldi edition Evijas sold out (or at least that they took deposits on all of them!). Personally, I'd stretch another...

PPF won't prevent blistering because the moisture isn't entering the composite panels from the painted side. There are two scenarios: 1. Water molecules are trapped inside the composite panels during manufacturing or storage. 2. Water molecules enter the composite panels because the...

This story isn't really the big news it seems. The plan was always that Lotus Technology would eventually take full ownership of Lotus Cars. This was noted in the original Lotus Technology investor presentations. They are tidying up a very messy corporate structure that investors find hard to...

I think he was referring to the 25% tariff on USA car imports, not UK. Europe charges a ~30% tariff on Geely EVs, which I assume also applies to Lotus EVs coming from China (10% standard car tariff + 19% Geely EV tariff).

To be fair, Lotus has been staggeringly unlucky since the Emira launch: COVID pandemic, Ukraine war, US and European tariffs on Chinese EVs, and now the tariff war. They just can't catch a break. Unfortunately they compounded this bad luck with a couple of major strategic blunders and...

I agree. I'm afraid they're in real trouble and totally reliant on Li Shufu's willingness to keep funding their massive losses so his automotive empire can include a prestige sportscar brand with racing heritage.

Not for cars. 25% on cars.

They can't keep all the workers if the US market is closed to Lotus for the foreseeable future. US has been accounting for about one-third of Emira sales, so it's a major blow to the business. Sadly, they've also lost several of the key Emira design team since merging the Hethel team in with...

They also pulled out because Lotus took 2+ years to deliver on some of those deposits!

Current UK government EV policy is that "small volume car maker" means manufacturing less than 2,500 cars a year. Perhaps this will change given events, but at the moment Lotus Cars doesn't qualify because Emira volumes are well above this. On the other hand, if the US market is no longer...

But the US is a LHD market and the UK is RHD?

No, the reciprocal tariff doesn't stack on top of the 25% auto tariff. Here's the official policy statement from the White House: Some goods will not be subject to the Reciprocal Tariff. These include: (1) articles subject to 50 USC 1702(b); (2) steel/aluminum articles and autos/auto parts...

I think that's just a special exception for Canada and Mexico because of the CUSMA agreement. AFAIK, it does not apply to cars made in Europe, UK, China, Korea, etc. But who knows? Trump could easily change his mind if he wakes up in a good mood tomorrow.

Don't think that's the way the tariff works. If the car is imported, it is taxed 25%, regardless of whether or not it contains some US-sourced parts. The parts only matter for cars built in the USA.

I struggle to see how Lotus can continue selling the Emira in the United States. The 25% tariff can only be absorbed by three potential parties: Lotus, the car dealers, or the American consumer. In the investor calls, Lotus has indicated that margins on the Emira are already unacceptably...

Eagle, you are destroying a thread that is supposed to be about discussing the impact of possible tariffs on the Lotus Emira. Please just stop.

This video about McLaren paint issues is interesting from an Emira POV. Having visited Hethel, I've always wondered whether poor storage of the Teijin panels could be the cause of the blistering paint.

Can we talk about cars again?

I'm pretty sure they're also composite, but they are supplied by a different company, not Teijin. The Teijing panels have been suffering the issues with osmosis.

This is consistent with what Lotus has said since the early days of Emira. They've always indicated that the V6 would be around for just a few years and that the AMG engine would bridge them to an electric sports car. For this reason I've always assumed that models like the R would be based on...

Supercar has become so overused as a term. I don't think even an entry-level Ferrari or Lambo is a "supercar". It's just a great sports car. Surely to be a genuine supercar you have to be talking about something extraordinary like an F40, 918 or the P1. The term has been misused so often...

That's just not true. Lotus themselves have only ever set a target of 5,000 Emiras per year and the Hethel factory is only designed to build that many. They hit that number last year, but I suspect they won't be able to sustain it in 2025.

Most of the EV makers had a nice pump after Trump hinted at softer tariffs. BTW, Geely is clearly running out of patience, having just parachuted in two senior Polestar execs to try and turn around terrible Chinese sales.

Just some masking tape stuck to the unpainted back of the door? Should be able to carefully remove it.