Lotus Emira sales in the UK- Finished?

It doesn't matter how you skin this, it's not good news. This was a factory that was designed to build 4800 cars a year.

It seems nobody (well 3 owners so far) are willing to pay the current price for a new car.

Unless things drastically change, I suspect the majority of Emiras that will ever be built, have already been built. It's going to be a rare car.

Maybe buy one of the cheap nearly new examples still available and put it in storage as an investment.

Only 3 cars sold in the UK since the First Edition.

*Source: howrareismycar.co.uk

 

[Frimley111R]

Have you looked at the competition's sales??

Lotus are a global company, Emiras still sell well across the world but all premium sports car manufacturers are really struggling. Ferrari expects 40% lower sales next year and some finance companies have stopped covering their cars because they are so worried about the market.

Plus over 10,000 have been sold so far.

 

[jonsealsportscars]

The UK isn't a big market for Lotus in the grand scheme of things. Nobody is going to be buying the post FE cars as they are just so expensive and crucially it looks like Porsche are going again with the Cayman with Engines so a new GT4.0 and GT4 are big competition that will hold money a bit better (Porsches have still tanked this last 2 years I have one in my garage at home so I know all too well!) and the big thing is our economy is going down the toilet quicker than a pound of mashed up Dundee cake. Given that they fired half the staff at Hethel I would think they are either planning on a production location shift. Or they are just running the Emira down and focusing on the stuff they make in China.

It's a strange time at the moment as ALL luxury and performance cars are facing a battering in the UK the party is well and truly over for Supercars as well. The prices of them have got out of control add in higher financing costs and crushing depreciation a lot of people won't buy them even if they can afford them who wants to buy an asset thats going to depreciate like a new Ferrari? Legislation around making them hybrid won't help either.

 

[PsymonR]

Your post has reminded me to update the numbers of UK cars in this thread.

The figures from howrareismycar.co.uk are taken from the DVLA figures, the same the website I got my data from (howmanyleft.co.uk). These figures are only up to date as of Q2 2025, with the next update expected in January 2026 (which will take them up to the end of Q3 2025).

The main thing of note is that the new variants haven't really started appearing in the statistics yet, only a small number of cars (1 or 2 per variant show up, which my guess means factory cars). So yes, Emira sales of new First Edition cars have basically stopped (though there were some new registrations in Q2) meaning UK Emira sales have essentially been on hiatus until the new variants hit the roads. The numbers will start going up again but to what extent will remain to be seen of course. And when they'll start showing up will depend on to what extent the cars have been manufactured in blocks per region.

 

[PsymonR]

It's a strange time at the moment as ALL luxury and performance cars are facing a battering in the UK the party is well and truly over for Supercars as well. The prices of them have got out of control add in higher financing costs and crushing depreciation a lot of people won't buy them even if they can afford them who wants to buy an asset thats going to depreciate like a new Ferrari? Legislation around making them hybrid won't help either.

Shmee put out an interesting video discussing this topic last night.

 

[NJemira85]

I’m a Yankee, but could Shmee run for and win MP?

Shmee seems like he knows what’s up. He used to be a d5 trident mechanic, right?

 

[EspritGuy]

Shmee put out an interesting video discussing this topic last night.

Incredibly informative and interesting. I still feel the US market is different (with similarities). Love it, buy it, enjoy it for the engagement but view it in emotional not financial terms. Thanks for sharing.

 

[LotsOfTriumphsUsuallySexy]

When I bought my Model S P85DL new for $140k (total out the door) I knew this would happen and the only recourse was to keep it forever. When I bought my Emira they offered $12k for it which I declined as it is worth far more to me (been babied and in excellent condition). However it represents a 20% annual depreciation which is high but in line with expectations.