Bang for buck there is no doubt the c8 leaves the Emira in its wake and Im sorry to even mention it, but for an american car it isn't bad looking *UK has made many many many ugly cars too..... Around a track, where Lotus should be excelling, your car will no doubt again leave the Emira for dead, unless its the shortest twistiest track around.
I would say you may have a similar experience with the C8 in terms of delivery though as ALL car companies are experiencing issues and a friend in the US has had his Tesla delayed 3 times within 6 months, so it really isn't a Lotus issue despite what people think here. The Spring deliveries were always optimistic and should have been changed a long time ago to "Summer", but for most of us there has probably only been ONE official delay from the official and emailed delivery. I was initially told June and then told June made and July hand over. So thats just one month or even 1-2 weeks in theory, BUT it may well get pushed to actually be 1-2 months, BUT again, its nothing in the scheme of things industry wide.
I ordered my Ionic 5 last year, maybe in March and was promised August delivery, but apparently for the color... yes the colour, it was delayed and I got it in February. My previous new car, an Ariel Nomad, hand made and you would think easilly planned, was also delays by 2 months and that was before Covid. So I really dont think Lotus is the bad guy here, just poor wording and communication, but their delays are really nothing so far in terms of what they have said to real customers directly, ignoring the very idea of spring 2022, which was perhaps marketing and sales/////
In terms of the other factors; announcing and working on other cars, this is not delaying our cars. The work in terms of design and even marketing and sales is pretty much done for the Emira, the engineering team are now maybe 10/15% on this car and the remainder on the other cars ... The production facilities are 1000's of miles away from each other and again, one should not really effect the other. And I agree, new cars add value to the brand and to your Emira when it comes to resale. I imagine there will be far fewer Emira's in the US than the C8's and hence, perhaps the resale maybe a little better, although right now both will be great I am sure.
Anyway, I dont think anyone can judge your decision, apart from you and its a very difficult one. For me the C8 is the better car for the price, MSRP that is, no doubt. And each year less people want manuals anyway as they are technically slower, for those that like their track day battles.... However, in terms of looks, image and style, I personally would not change from the Emira and yes for me a manual, as I dont care too much about track day battles and split seconds.
Good luck in any case