U.S. Allocation Update

[JKP]

Hi Everyone -- I received an email from my dealer last night (Las Vegas Motorcars) stating the following, and I "quote" (1) Lotus Cars Las Vegas will have confirmed allocations numbers by end of January (2) Lotus plans to increase overall production (3) Estimated arrival for the first orders will be fall of 2022 (4) We haven't forgotten about you and haven't placed any orders quite yet. I makes sense that if they are getting finalized allocation that all U.S. dealers likely are at the same time. Thought other US buyers might appreciate this news and might want to check if it's the same at their dealer.

 

[Eagle7]

Checked with my dealer at Bellevue yesterday, and he said they were told all 2022 FE's would be delivered between September and December. He was supposed to get more information today.

 

[TomE]

Aspects of this already being discussed here:

.

.

www.emiraforum.com

All US dealers should have more info by end of Jan on allocations, timing and process.

 

[Magma]

Checked with my dealer at Bellevue yesterday, and he said they were told all 2022 FE's would be delivered between September and December. He was supposed to get more information today.

This is incorrect. Please see the other thread for the quote from Lotus.

 

[Eagle7]

This is incorrect. Please see the other thread for the quote from Lotus.

How is it incorrect? It makes sense that they would have to ship model year 2022 cars in 2022. Traditionally a model year's production stops in either late June or early July, and they begin to gear up for the next year's model production which usually starts in September. So if Lotus follows that industry standard, then they would make the last 2022 model year car at the end of June for example, and everything after that will officially and legally be a 2023 model year car. What my salesman said was they were told that all 2022 model year FE's would be shipped between September and December. That fits the industry standard. Where do you see them saying otherwise?

 

[RapidLotus]

Checked with my dealer at Bellevue yesterday, and he said they were told all 2022 FE's would be delivered between September and December. He was supposed to get more information today.

I assume you are talking 2022 V6 FE's. I4 FE's will not arrive until 2023 so I guess they would be considered 2023 models. I agree with others when they say not all V6 FE's will be delivered by December. There are way too many orders to fulfill in 3 months. Therefore some V6 FE's will be considered 2023 cars. I'm not sure how that impacts equipment mandated by law. It will be "Interesting" to say the least.

 

[Eagle7]

I assume you are talking 2022 V6 FE's. I4 FE's will not arrive until 2023 so I guess they would be considered 2023 models. I agree with others when they say not all V6 FE's will be delivered by December. There are way too many orders to fulfill in 3 months. Therefore some V6 FE's will be considered 2023 cars. I'm not sure how that impacts equipment mandated by law. It will be "Interesting" to say the least.

Yes, V6 FE's. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they were aiming at a production rate of about 19 cars a day, so that's roughly 400 cars a month. If they're able to do that, they could build the entire North America allotment of 700 cars in about 7 to 8 weeks, so if they start in September, they could have them done by the end of October. That means technically they could actually ship all V6 Fe's produced in 2022 by the end of 2022. Now whether they're legally identified as 2022 model year cars or not we don't know yet.

I believe the particulate filter is going to be required for the U.K. and Europe starting in 2023, which probably explains why they're building nothing but early deposit U.K. cars in the first half of this year, but I don't know if that regulation goes into effect in North America or not. Hopefully not, and we get cars without it. It was either Road & Track or Car and Driver who tested a C8 in either the U.K. or Europe that had the filter on it, and they noted there was a drop in power and it also affected the sound.

 

[Pegasi]

I assume you are talking 2022 V6 FE's. I4 FE's will not arrive until 2023 so I guess they would be considered 2023 models. I agree with others when they say not all V6 FE's will be delivered by December. There are way too many orders to fulfill in 3 months. Therefore some V6 FE's will be considered 2023 cars. I'm not sure how that impacts equipment mandated by law. It will be "Interesting" to say the least.

My dealer all but conceded that I should not look for a car until 2023 Q1. My deposit was placed late August.

 

[Notlob42]

Yes, V6 FE's. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they were aiming at a production rate of about 19 cars a day, so that's roughly 400 cars a month. If they're able to do that, they could build the entire North America allotment of 700 cars in about 7 to 8 weeks, so if they start in September, they could have them done by the end of October. That means technically they could actually ship all V6 Fe's produced in 2022 by the end of 2022. Now whether they're legally identified as 2022 model year cars or not we don't know yet.

I believe the particulate filter is going to be required for the U.K. and Europe starting in 2023, which probably explains why they're building nothing but early deposit U.K. cars in the first half of this year, but I don't know if that regulation goes into effect in North America or not. Hopefully not, and we get cars without it. It was either Road & Track or Car and Driver who tested a C8 in either the U.K. or Europe that had the filter on it, and they noted there was a drop in power and it also affected the sound.

Eagle, I also have a deposit at the Bellevue store. Did you hear anything about number of allocations? Seems to me I remember hearing something about 25 builds for 2022. At last notice I was #113 so at this rate I better find another car to buy.

 

[Eagle7]

Eagle, I also have a deposit at the Bellevue store. Did you hear anything about number of allocations? Seems to me I remember hearing something about 25 builds for 2022. At last notice I was #113 so at this rate I better find another car to buy.

Bellevue got 45 allocations. I'm assuming they're keeping one for a showroom model, so that leaves 44 that will be available. I'm #46 so there's a chance I can get one if they have a couple of dropouts, which my salesman says he believes will happen. I'll just have to wait and see. If that happens though, I'll be locking in my order in May for a December delivery, or maybe into January.

The allocation situation right now is due to the fact that this factory hasn't ever produced anything yet, so they had to hire an entire production crew, and not only train them, but go through the process of getting a brand new production facility up and running too. They're also starting very late in the production year, but these are all first time ever issues. They're already working on adding a second shift, so by the time next year's production starts this September, they should be able to produce a much greater number of cars than this first half-year run.

By this time next year, things should be in much better shape production-wise.