Lotus Emira resale prices? How much will the Emira sell on the 2nd hand market?

[Eagle7]

Yup. Agree. China.

I don’t think we will see a lot of Lotus on the road in the US until 2030 unless they can run the direct to consumer model and cut out the US dealers.

#ForTheBranding

I agree. Anyone with an Emira is going to be the Lone Ranger for quite awhile before others start to show up on the roads, unless you're in high concentration areas like Los Angeles, Miami, etc. I've had my Alfa Romeo Giulia for 4 1/2 years and I still rarely see another one where I live, and they sell 10 times what Lotus traditionally have.

Yeah and that's going to be tough to do. Every state has its own laws for dealers and franchises. The critical area is service and support. I think the old business model of dealers with loads of cars on a huge lot are going to be a thing of the past in the very near future.

 

[Cachaco131]

Just remember, Yellow cars depreciate less. I had shared proof of that in another thread.

 

[GetawayDriving]

Just remember, Yellow cars depreciate less. I had shared proof of that in another thread.

I read a study on this, and the takeaway was that safer colors sold fast and bold colors took longer to sell but ultimately sold for more.

 

[TomE]

Has Lotus delivered more than 25,000 total vehicles since inception?

#ForTheMath

They built car number 100,000 in 2018 for the 70th anniversary:

https://media.lotuscars.com/en/news-articles/hazel-chapman-and-the-100,000th-lotus-in-70th-celebrations.html

 

[digilotus]

The way things are currently going, prices of new cars are rising with increased inflation. For example, Porsche just increased their Cayman prices across the board by about 5% for MY23 cars.

e.g. (USD base price)
Cayman S - $72,500 to $75,400
Cayman GTS 4.0 - $87,400 to $90,300
Cayman GT4 - $101,200 - $106,500

Similar rises have occurred in all other countries.

This makes the Emira FE and Base even better value which will help with resale as well. I'd get one while you can before the inevitable price increases.

 

[GetawayDriving]

The way things are currently going, prices of new cars are rising with increased inflation. For example, Porsche just increased their Cayman prices across the board by about 5% for MY23 cars.

e.g. (USD base price)
Cayman S - $72,500 to $75,400
Cayman GTS 4.0 - $87,400 to $90,300
Cayman GT4 - $101,200 - $106,500

Similar rises have occurred in all other countries.

This makes the Emira FE and Base even better value which will help with resale as well. I'd get one while you can before the inevitable price increases.

This is my mantra whenever I feel buyer’s remorse.

 

[Honeywell]

I am waiting for a base i4 car and if they stick to £60,000 I will be very pleased and I think inflation will run the list prices up throughout the production run by quite some way. So in nominal terms the car should depreciate at a very slow rate. With a full factory warranty and new components on the car (as its brand new) I think real running costs will be very low. I intend to do about 6000 miles a year.

 

[Daz]

I am waiting for a base i4 car and if they stick to £60,000 I will be very pleased and I think inflation will run the list prices up throughout the production run by quite some way. So in nominal terms the car should depreciate at a very slow rate. With a full factory warranty and new components on the car (as its brand new) I think real running costs will be very low. I intend to do about 6000 miles a year.

Do you think that the i4 base will still be £60,000 by next year, when they start building them ? With inflation running at about 7-8% I can see raising their prices by at least 5% in the very near future, so we’re looking at £63,000 minimum. I too am holding out for the base as some things I don’t need (12 way seats and 300w stereo) but I’m thinking that the FE may be more of a bargain than first advertised

 

[Twin Cam]

Do you think that the i4 base will still be £60,000 by next year, when they start building them ? With inflation running at about 7-8% I can see raising their prices by at least 5% in the very near future, so we’re looking at £63,000 minimum. I too am holding out for the base as some things I don’t need (12 way seats and 300w stereo) but I’m thinking that the FE may be more of a bargain than first advertised

Hi, another i4 base customer here, I think you have hit the nail on the head. I foresee a price rise between end of FE production and base model production, which may well leave some of us wishing we stumped up the extra for the FE.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing

 

[vision]

I am waiting for a base i4 car and if they stick to £60,000 I will be very pleased and I think inflation will run the list prices up throughout the production run by quite some way. So in nominal terms the car should depreciate at a very slow rate. With a full factory warranty and new components on the car (as its brand new) I think real running costs will be very low. I intend to do about 6000 miles a year.

Can any one assist / comment - £60K is basic, oh don't forget VAT + minimal pack options + £2k registration etc. £60K sports car for the price of super car - first edition marketing.

 

[Wizardwings]

Do you think that the i4 base will still be £60,000 by next year, when they start building them ? With inflation running at about 7-8% I can see raising their prices by at least 5% in the very near future, so we’re looking at £63,000 minimum. I too am holding out for the base as some things I don’t need (12 way seats and 300w stereo) but I’m thinking that the FE may be more of a bargain than first advertised

It'll be interesting to see what Lotus/Geely does with pricing. I expect them to accept reduced margins and not pass all of the increased costs to customers -- in an effort to maintain goodwill. Average consumer inflation may be around 7-8%, but the inflation rate that the automotive industry is facing, as I understand it, is much much higher - it would be silly for any automotive company not to consider price increases.

 

[TomE]

Can any one assist / comment - £60K is basic, oh don't forget VAT + minimal pack options + £2k registration etc. £60K sports car for the price of super car - first edition marketing.

£60k includes VAT. That’s with no options, so in theory you could add OTR costs and get a bare bones i4 Base for £62k. I think with some useful driver-focused options and avoiding premium stuff (paint, wheels, seats, audio) you could get a nice car for £65-66k.

 

[TomE]

It'll be interesting to see what Lotus/Geely does with pricing. I expect them to accept reduced margins and not pass all of the increased costs to customers -- in an effort to maintain goodwill. Average consumer inflation may be around 7-8%, but the inflation rate that the automotive industry is facing, as I understand it, is much much higher - it would be silly for any automotive company not to consider price increases.

The UK deposit agreements give Lotus the option to change prices right up to when they tell you the balance is due at 30 days before delivery. That was part of my worry about their switch from the original 3rd deposit and order locked (in Jan for June delivery) to no 3rd deposit and order commit at 30 days prior.

The longer Lotus leave it, the more evidence they will have from other manufacturers about their inflation-related increases. That could make it easier to announce as “they’re all doing it”.

It’s a stretch to expect Lotus to have secured fixed prices with suppliers last July (and earlier) for 18-24 months ahead. So it’ll come down to things like how much Geely are prepared to support the initially declared prices (base prices might remain but options prices might increase), or whether they have got volume discounts or labour savings from increasing production.

 

[Twin Cam]

The UK deposit agreements give Lotus the option to change prices right up to when they tell you the balance is due at 30 days before delivery. That was part of my worry about their switch from the original 3rd deposit and order locked (in Jan for June delivery) to no 3rd deposit and order commit at 30 days prior.

The longer Lotus leave it, the more evidence they will have from other manufacturers about their inflation-related increases. That could make it easier to announce as “they’re all doing it”.

It’s a stretch to expect Lotus to have secured fixed prices with suppliers last July (and earlier) for 18-24 months ahead. So it’ll come down to things like how much Geely are prepared to support the initially declared prices (base prices might remain but options prices might increase), or whether they have got volume discounts or labour savings from increasing production.

So many variables at play. Inflation, interest rates, possible downturn, chip shortages, oil price, Russia, and Covid.

It’s easy for the accountants to get carried away and insist on price rises but it really will have to be kept to a minimum on the Emira, at least for the first couple of years, as a lot has been made of the £60k price point.
Geely have deep pockets and an eye on taking a massive piece of the global car market, in the scheme of things the Emira figures are chicken feed, I think the Emira’s job is to get the Lotus Brand on a bigger footing, the Wuhan plant will be where the golden eggs are laid, that’s not to say that Hethel will never turn a profit, I’m sure the new range of sports cars coming out of Norfolk will be very desirable, keenly priced and profitable, but that’s for the future and this is now
all imo

 

[wallstbear]

A couple of observations:

1. While Lotus has to re-create its pizzazz in front of a global crowd, the job is easier for Emira than the Eletre, as the former is simply prettier. Plus Lotus has a better following in the traditional sports car world.

2. That being said, the Eletre will be made in China where big name SUVs are sold at obscene prices (X5@USD100K-250K，GLE@USD110K-250K， URUS@over half a million). So they will have much more room to play with in terms of gross margin. Obviously in the US it's completely different as they will be selling them at DOUBLE the price of X5/GLEs.

I am not going to compare it with the Purosangue or Urus because Lotus brand is not at their level on the vanity totem pole. Not to mention Lotus China will need to sell lots of these to make it worthwhile.