Deposit vs Order vs Purchase

[TXEMIRA]

Seeing lots of posts using these terms interchangeably. Especially US posts.

Deposit: someone gave a dealer money ($2,500 for example) to potentially secure a “spot in line*”.

Order: hasn’t happened yet (in the US). Someone gave a dealer their final spec and the dealer sent it in to Lotus.

Purchase: someone picked up their car and is having the time of their life.

*line hasn’t yet truly been defined…

For those that read this, thank you and spread the word. It’s going to be a bumpy and confusing ride already.

 

[Eagle7]

A deposit is just a placeholder, and it's refundable. It does not guarantee a sale for the dealer, only that you're interested and serious enough to be willing to put money down on a deposit. It does give the dealer (and the manufacturer) an idea of what kind of demand there might be for a particular car though.

An order is when you've made the commitment to purchase. You've signed the agreement to buy, and made the down payment which is non-refundable. When ordering becomes available, the dealer will contact their depositors who they know are interested, and see if they are still interested and want to order now. If they say no, their deposit is refunded. If they say yes, their deposit is usually converted to a non-refundable down payment, and the dealer may or may not ask for more money as part of the down payment; depends on how much they usually require for a down payment, and how much you gave them for the deposit.

What you called a Purchase, is actually the delivery, and unless financing has already been arranged, the balance is due at that time in order to pick up your car.

 

[EspritGuy]

A deposit is just a placeholder, and it's refundable. It does not guarantee a sale for the dealer, only that you're interested and serious enough to be willing to put money down on a deposit. It does give the dealer (and the manufacturer) an idea of what kind of demand there might be for a particular car though.

An order is when you've made the commitment to purchase. You've signed the agreement to buy, and made the down payment which is non-refundable. When ordering becomes available, the dealer will contact their depositors who they know are interested, and see if they are still interested and want to order now. If they say no, their deposit is refunded. If they say yes, their deposit is usually converted to a non-refundable down payment, and the dealer may or may not ask for more money as part of the down payment; depends on how much they usually require for a down payment, and how much you gave them for the deposit.

What you called a Purchase, is actually the delivery, and unless financing has already been arranged, the balance is due at that time in order to pick up your car.

Definitions:
An Early Adopter is .......... ?
An Important Market is .......?
A First Edition is ......... ( never mind)
An allocation-to-deposit ratio is ....... ?
A superior Customer Communications experience is .........?

#Forthefroth

 

[TXEMIRA]

Definitions:
An Early Adopter is .......... ?
An Important Market is .......?
A First Edition is ......... ( never mind)
An allocation-to-deposit ratio is ....... ?
A superior Customer Communications experience is .........?

#Forthefroth

#ForTheJeopardyFans

 

[TomE]

“How to deal with ten times more deposits than you expected without disappointing anyone and your dealers won’t always play ball is….”

 

[TomE]

Seeing lots of posts using these terms interchangeably. Especially US posts.

Deposit: someone gave a dealer money ($2,500 for example) to potentially secure a “spot in line*”.

Order: hasn’t happened yet (in the US). Someone gave a dealer their final spec and the dealer sent it in to Lotus.

Purchase: someone picked up their car and is having the time of their life.

*line hasn’t yet truly been defined…

For those that read this, thank you and spread the word. It’s going to be a bumpy and confusing ride already.

For Emira in the US (and everywhere else apart from UK) deposit also means the dealer has communicated the details of the deposit and deposit holder to Lotus.

 

[EspritGuy]

“How to deal with ten times more deposits than you expected without disappointing anyone and your dealers won’t always play ball is….”

........ And the answer is 'issue build slots by date of deposit not place of deposit."
"While supplies last' is a common concept. So is 'FIFO.
Oh, might as well throw in, 'Your results may vary."

If you're going to play the game ya gotta know the lingo.

 

[TomE]

What many people don’t seem to appreciate is what Lotus would like to do and what the US dealers and US legislation will let them do are completely different things.

Every customer thinks single queue by deposit date is fairest. Lotus do too, which is why they’ve changed the model in the UK to exactly that. They are currently prevented from implementing such a system in the US. That’s down to the dealers and legislation originally put in place to protect consumers.

 

[EspritGuy]

What many people don’t seem to appreciate is what Lotus would like to do and what the US dealers and US legislation will let them do are completely different things.

Every customer thinks single queue by deposit date is fairest. Lotus do too, which is why they’ve changed the model in the UK to exactly that. They are currently prevented from implementing such a system in the US. That’s down to the dealers and legislation originally put in place to protect consumers.

Prospects to Dealer - I really want an Emira
Dealer to Lotus - I have a boatload of interest right now
Lotus to Dealer - Past sales matter, take this portion instead
Dealer to Prospect - The demand can't be met
Prospect to Dealer - They're actually turning sales down?
Dealer to Prospect - Sorry about the wait
Lotus to Dealer - Legislation won't allow that
Legislator to Prospect - You can't have it, for your own good
Prospect - Sigh......

 

[TomE]

Prospects to Dealer - I really want an Emira
Dealer to Lotus - I have a boatload of interest right now
Lotus to Dealer - Past sales matter, take this portion instead
Dealer to Prospect - The demand can't be met
Prospect to Dealer - They're actually turning sales down?
Dealer to Prospect - Sorry about the wait
Lotus to Dealer - Legislation won't allow that
Legislator to Prospect - You can't have it, for your own good
Prospect - Sigh......

That’s not quite the scenario, but it’s equally farcical. Lotus isn’t allowed to impose certain types of supply rules or constraints on dealers.

In the situation where demand exceeds supply that prevents them doing the obvious thing of a single US-wide queue and first deposited means first delivered.