Canada dealers

[John777]

@Lotustoronto I see your from Toronto. I'm about 3.5hrs away from Gentry Lane in TO. I finally decided to put a deposit $5k in Oct 3 2022. The other dealership was closer and only wanted $2.5k. I'm from Lakeshore, Ontario. I wasn't invited for the first test drive, actually would of been happy just to see it in person. I'm assuming they will get a demo car for people to test drive eventually. I believe I am around 160 the wait list. Which dealership did you choose and where are you on their list, if you don't mind me asking. I think the other dealership(oakville) I would of been in 80s.

 

[Lotustoronto]

I went with Oakville, mostly due to it's Location. I think I was in the 30-40's, but in all honesty I have no idea where I am now. I am sure there have been some cancellations and some more depositors. I did go for a test drive in the Emira, did a review in the big review thread. It's a special car. Worth the wait IMO. The very long wait. I just hope they sort the small build quality issues and improve CS. The only way I would drop out is if new owners report big failures/issues and/or customer service (warranty, dealers etc.) start to get worse not better.

As for how many deposits are at each dealer and allocations they will receive, difficult to say. I know Oakville and I believe Gentry received around 12-14 Emira V6 F/E allocations for all of 2023. So not a lot. No where near the demand. If they sort production issues throughout 2023 I can see them releasing the base mid '23 and possibly some deliveries before end of year. I assume I will see an Emira in Q1/2 2024. This is not from the dealer, but just my guess based on information I see. The info Canadian dealers have for the amount of cars they will receive from Lotus is really an unknown. My educated guess based on factory production and from other sources (gator dealer in US) will be around 35-60 (maybe 80 for gentry / larger dealer) Emira's per year for Canadian dealers. So if your in at 160, I would guess mid/fall 2024? Early 2025? I will say, once the dealers receive the Demo cars, which I last heard is Q1/2 this year, I can see the order book increasing.

If you follow the forum, you will see different markets will have different outcomes. Lotus in the UK will be more saturated and they also have had the pleasure of being able to buy other Lotus models that we did not receive. So a different situation. The Emira will have a lot more demand in Canada/US and less production allocated compared to the size of the population. China/Asia will probably receive the bulk of new Emira's after the UK. I would say hang in there and be prepared for a long wait.

Regarding the Emira, it's a unique car for us over here. North America does not get a lot of the cool European sport cars. No Alpine, no S3 Exige/Elise, no Morgan, no Caterham.... The options for a unique sports car, especially a manual mid-engine, is limited. Making demand higher compared to EU/UK IMO. Lotus have always had good brand recognition amongst North American car enthusiasts. Be it from the movies (Bond, Pretty Women) or it's F1 history and having an American (Andretti) win the championship with a Lotus in 1978,(the last American driver to win) either way the history of Lotus is certainly more vibrant/recognized in North America than other places. Yet, to the average person a Lotus is an exotic. They recognize the name but that is about it.

I think when you add all those things up and the beautiful design of the last ICE manual Lotus and a factory that can only produce 5-6K Emira's per year (max output), it will be worth the wait. I think the V6 manual Emira will be sold out by the end of this year and will forever be a rare beauty. The i4 will have a longer production run, and probably the most collectible version V6 is yet to come. I am looking forward to driving mine.....eventually.