Car Buying Strategy Video Mentions the Emira

[Pegasi]

As with most everybody on this forum I am 24/7 Emira. I watched this video which is interesting because it talks about putting deposits on cars among a lot of other things. As I was watching and I saw the date of the video, I said to myself, "If he doesn't mention the Emira, this is hogwash!" Emira mentioned at 5:15! This is an interesting take on purchasing cars especially for car enthusiasts.

 

[EspritGuy]

As with most everybody on this forum I am 24/7 Emira. I watched this video which is interesting because it talks about putting deposits on cars among a lot of other things. As I was watching and I saw the date of the video, I said to myself, "If he doesn't mention the Emira, this is hogwash!" Emira mentioned at 5:15! This is an interesting take on purchasing cars especially for car enthusiasts.

This applies rather well to the Emira scenario. He also admitted at 9.54 mins. in that he placed a deposit on one. Good information. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Pegasi]

This applies rather well to the Emira scenario. He also admitted at 9.54 mins. in that he placed a deposit on one. Good information. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for adding that he also placed a deposit, I forgot to add that info.

There is a lot of discussion on the forum about Lotus marketing, customer experience etc. Perhaps Lotus has enough demand that they aren't focusing too hard on communication, experience, etc. and they are just trying to position themselves to scale production. I do know this, there is no need to offer every option in the beginning if demand is strong. Hence limited colors and only offering the V6.

 

[Mike-engel]

Thanks for adding that he also placed a deposit, I forgot to add that info.

There is a lot of discussion on the forum about Lotus marketing, customer experience etc. Perhaps Lotus has enough demand that they aren't focusing too hard on communication, experience, etc. and they are just trying to position themselves to scale production. I do know this, there is no need to offer every option in the beginning if demand is strong. Hence limited colors and only offering the V6.

You are probably right. There are different dimensions to their comms and customer experience issues, and I’m sure being surprised by, and having to respond to, the demand for Emira is contributing. One could honestly interpret what’s been happening and feel bad for the lotus team for what they must do to respond to all this on a tight time line. That’s the generous version. But one could look at the same facts and think Lotus callous for thinking they have plenty of customers so if someone bails because they didn’t feel the love there’s plenty of other customers to take their place. I’m not suggesting either of these is the case. Just saying reasonable people could come to these divergent conclusions. The problem for Lotus is the risk of ignoring advice many of us got from our grandmothers long ago…..don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Lotus is not just selling cars here. They are building a brand. Going the extra mile is an important part of that.

 

[Pegasi]

You are probably right. There are different dimensions to their comms and customer experience issues, and I’m sure being surprised by, and having to respond to, the demand for Emira is contributing. One could honestly interpret what’s been happening and feel bad for the lotus team for what they must do to respond to all this on a tight time line. That’s the generous version. But one could look at the same facts and think Lotus callous for thinking they have plenty of customers so if someone bails because they didn’t feel the love there’s plenty of other customers to take their place. I’m not suggesting either of these is the case. Just saying reasonable people could come to these divergent conclusions. The problem for Lotus is the risk of ignoring advice many of us got from our grandmothers long ago…..don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Lotus is not just selling cars here. They are building a brand. Going the extra mile is an important part of that.

There are numerous strategies that a large company can employ to attract and keep customers. One trade off is do you make an excellent product and have lousy support/experience/service, or do you make a lousy product and have support/experience/service. Yes you can do both or neither! You know how when you buy something that breaks after 1 week and you return it and the company replaces it with no questions asked. Horrible product, great service that allows them to keep you as a customer or at least not bad mouth them.

Lotus has said the Emira is on a wider wheel base which allows them to make a "better" handling car. That combined with an interior that's more geared toward daily driving could attract a lot of new customers, such as myself. The car looks great, the interior is upgraded, if it handles on another level you now have an excellent product. Another assumption is the car is priced at a reasonable level. Some disagree because it's not faster and therefore the car should be cheaper. I think the car is a priced correctly even lower than I expected.

If Lotus has made an awesome product that is priced right, then possibly they made a decision not to put money into extras such as communication, experience, etc. I am assuming they have to make budget decisions too and they don't have unlimited money to go the extra mile. My point is, your observation is 100% correct but people who make the big bucks have to make these decisions and what you are describing could very well be intentional and part of the launch strategy. A better experience and building a brand costs more money and could easily make the car more expensive.

That's kind of why I posted the video. Everyone knows when something is in high demand that it's a sellers market, not a buyers market. Why should I change my approach if I am sold out! And to your point I agree, how long can Lotus be sold out with sub par service. Time will tell and can certainly ruin the brand or elevate it if it goes correctly. I am willing to put up with whatever just as long as my car gets here in the next 18 months.