Pricing Thoughts....

[Black Ice]

There's been a lot said about Emira pricing, especially following the latest round of increases and the company's widely reported financial woes. Whilst the price has increased significantly since the original (proposed) launch, I'd argue that in the current market there's simply no way the Emira is a £60-70k car (the price range I often see quoted).

It's true that Porsche offer a great value competitor in the form of the Cayman, and this is often the reference point, but I thought the following cars offer an interesting comparison.

Firstly the Alpine A110 R:

This is the top of the range A110 and it's very track-focused, but is arguably a more direct competitor to the Emira than the lower spec car(s) which don't offer Emira-levels of performance or visual drama.

Secondly, there's the AMG GT 43. This I think makes for a very interesting comparison:

It's so similar to the I4 in some ways yet so different in others I'm not sure many people will cross-shop them, but for me the spec and price make for an eye-catching comparison. You could argue it offers more car for the money (quite literally!), but the Emira is every bit as bespoke and I suspect more focused as a sports car.

When you look at the list prices of these cars I'm really not sure criticism of the Emira stands up to scrutiny. Of course we'd all like a new Emira for less than £70k, but I think it's completely unrealistic. The Cayman (and M2 as that's another car that gets thrown into the mix) are relatively mass-produced, and I don't see how a handmade bespoke product can compete on price, and the above supports this.

Final thought: if you adjust for inflation, in 2017 the list price of an Exige Sport 380 was very close to the Emira Turbo SE's now....

 

[geoffbland]

All true - and I agreed it is worth the money for what you get. But Lotus shot themselves in the foot by stating they were developing it as a 60/70K sports car and then even when production was getting into trouble doubling-down and promising customers it would still definitely be a 60/70K sports car. That may be why people expect it to be a 70K car now?

All-new Lotus Emira priced at £71,995 in First Edition trim | Autocar

Porsche 718 Cayman rival gets updated platform, transformed cabin and choice of V6 or turbo four power

www.autocar.co.uk

Prices increase update from Lotus - and stopping of reservations for V6 FE

Please be advised that, as a result of significantly increasing costs, the Lotus Emira will later this year be subject to new pricing. Whilst a significant level of cost increase has been absorbed, with effect from 1 June 2023, the retail price will increase to £81,995 (incl VAT) for the Emira...

www.emiraforum.com

The Porsche Cayman S with similar performance as far as "average joe" is concerned is around £60-70K new.

 

[Black Ice]

All true - and I agreed it is worth the money for what you get. But Lotus shot themselves in the foot by stating they were developing it as a 60/70K sports car and then even when production was getting into trouble doubling-down and promising customers it would still definitely be a 60/70K sports car. That may be why people expect it to be a 70K car now?

All-new Lotus Emira priced at £71,995 in First Edition trim | Autocar

Porsche 718 Cayman rival gets updated platform, transformed cabin and choice of V6 or turbo four power

www.autocar.co.uk

Prices increase update from Lotus - and stopping of reservations for V6 FE

Please be advised that, as a result of significantly increasing costs, the Lotus Emira will later this year be subject to new pricing. Whilst a significant level of cost increase has been absorbed, with effect from 1 June 2023, the retail price will increase to £81,995 (incl VAT) for the Emira...

www.emiraforum.com

The Porsche Cayman S with similar performance as far as "average joe" is concerned is around £60-70K new.

Also all true!

My perspective may be slightly skewed as I only started looking at the Emira in January this year (in fact I wasn't even aware of it prior to then!), so I missed the "price promise". I can understand how it may have impacted those who'd already placed deposits etc. though.

 

[Eagle7]

All true - and I agreed it is worth the money for what you get. But Lotus shot themselves in the foot by stating they were developing it as a 60/70K sports car and then even when production was getting into trouble doubling-down and promising customers it would still definitely be a 60/70K sports car. That may be why people expect it to be a 70K car now?

All-new Lotus Emira priced at £71,995 in First Edition trim | Autocar

Porsche 718 Cayman rival gets updated platform, transformed cabin and choice of V6 or turbo four power

www.autocar.co.uk

Prices increase update from Lotus - and stopping of reservations for V6 FE

Please be advised that, as a result of significantly increasing costs, the Lotus Emira will later this year be subject to new pricing. Whilst a significant level of cost increase has been absorbed, with effect from 1 June 2023, the retail price will increase to £81,995 (incl VAT) for the Emira...

www.emiraforum.com

The Porsche Cayman S with similar performance as far as "average joe" is concerned is around £60-70K new.

Lotus didn't really shoot themselves in the foot, they were machine-gunned by covid, supply chain issues, Brexit, inflation and things they never imagined were in their future when they originally did their forecasts for costs and production.

I still think it's a great car, but it's not enough to keep them afloat. The problem is they're just not an above $100k company. They don't have all the pieces in place to support selling vehicles at that price point and above.

Closing Hethel (HUGE mistake if they do) isn't going to fix things, and moving production to the U.S. isn't going to fix things. They need a partner for all those other things. Ideally I think Toyota would be good for that. The Miata was just a Japanese copy of the Lotus Elan after all, so I think Toyota would be friendly to partnering with Lotus at dealerships for service and support. Lotus should position themselves as the slightly upscale version of Toyota, and create an upscale 4 door Saloon, and an upscale SUV, and by upscale I don't mean above $100k, but around the $65K-85K mark. Make it look great like the Emira looks great, but keep the features within reason so it's not trying to do too much. Looks sell which is what got the Emira the attention it did (and still does), but does anybody in the decision making positions understand what their real problem is? Recent ads certainly don't indicate they do. We'll just have to wait and see what they do.

 

[Teshoo Lama]

I agree, and current Emira pricing is in line with historical comparisons, too.

In 1987, the Esprit started at £20,570 or £25,980 for the Turbo. The Ferrari 328 started at £44,196, and the BMW M3 was £22,750.

Today, the Roma is £178,180 (Amalfi will be more), while the M3 starts at £89,545, compared to the Emira Turbo SE at £89,500.

 

[SimonT]

All true - and I agreed it is worth the money for what you get. But Lotus shot themselves in the foot by stating they were developing it as a 60/70K sports car and then even when production was getting into trouble doubling-down and promising customers it would still definitely be a 60/70K sports car. That may be why people expect it to be a 70K car now?

All-new Lotus Emira priced at £71,995 in First Edition trim | Autocar

Porsche 718 Cayman rival gets updated platform, transformed cabin and choice of V6 or turbo four power

www.autocar.co.uk

Prices increase update from Lotus - and stopping of reservations for V6 FE

Please be advised that, as a result of significantly increasing costs, the Lotus Emira will later this year be subject to new pricing. Whilst a significant level of cost increase has been absorbed, with effect from 1 June 2023, the retail price will increase to £81,995 (incl VAT) for the Emira...

www.emiraforum.com

The Porsche Cayman S with similar performance as far as "average joe" is concerned is around £60-70K new.

If you configure a Cayman 4.0 GTS to a similar spect to a 3.5 First Edition its close to £90k/$115k, with a manual (I did it a few days ago). Other than the outstanding looks I'd go for the Cayman, and save£15k. More reliable and the availability of an extended warranty via Porsche for a reasonable price outweighs the looks.

 

[Andrew25]

As good as the A110 can be, I would never get one. It's simply not appealing to me. The cayman is so different from the Emira I think they just can't be compared. The Porsche is way more daily than the Emira, has a different feeling to it and gives different vibes. I first got the Emira because the way of driving it reminds me of how I drive my kart on track. Anyway, the Emira here is now 115-120k euros...a bit too much indeed.