❓ QUESTION When will i4 ordering start

[Cutting42]

I had a good look around and could not see this question asked recently. Is there any clarity when the FE i4 ordering (phone calls) process will start? All these updates are building my excitement and am now regretting not ordering a V6 just to have got one of the first cars.

Nah, not really, the i4 is perfect for me, I am just impatient.

 

[TomE]

There is due to be a release of further info in about 2 months, before and after the first press reviews. That will include i4 First Edition pricing and Base + options pricing as well as specs, more pictures etc.

I’d expect i4 FE calls to start after that, or they may do it primarily via email and submitting configuration online.

 

[Apple tree drives]

I was at and speaking to a UK dealer today...they suggested that the current waiting list would split into two...people who ordered the v6 already and want the v6 still and people who ordered the v6 and changed to the amg. I wonder who gets their amg first...people who order the amg on day 1 or people who had a existing v6 order and change it to amg. Hmmm

 

[TomE]

The UK list has already split into two - V6 FE and the rest. The UK process is based on date of first deposit. So if you placed a 6 July (reveal day) deposit and initially decided to be in the V6 FE queue, if you then drop out into the i4 FE queue you will be ahead of someone who paid a deposit on 7 July and decided to go straight to i4 FE.

If you are low down the V6 FE list (say a Nov delivery) it's possible if you defer deciding to switch to i4 FE until very late that someone with a later deposit date might get ahead of you, but I think the timing would work in most cases. I think anyone considering switching from V6 FE to i4 FE will probably decide that in March when prices come out or June after demo V6 FEs reach dealers.

 

[Cutting42]

Many thanks Tom. Any concept of potential delivery time. I placed a deposit on the 7th July

 

[cihan]

Greetings from Türkiye.
I'm also waiting for the i4 because the excise taxes are very high in Türkiye. 220% tax is applied for 2000cc+ vehicles. 150% tax is applied for 1500-2000cc. If the £60,000 vehicle is over 2000cc, £132,000 has to be taxed to the state (excluding other taxes).
I hope that the order and sales process for the 2000cc will start soon.

 

[TomE]

Many thanks Tom. Any concept of potential delivery time. I placed a deposit on the 7th July

Not exactly, but I can have an educated guess based on known info. Setting out my thought process so others can also work out for theirs:

We know more people opted for V6 FE over i4 FE or Base of the deposits placed up to end of Goodwood.

We know people who picked V6 FE and are in the June delivery batch (month 1 of delivery) placed deposits up to middle of 8 July.

So we could extrapolate that i4 FE deposits up to 8 July would be in first month of i4 delivery. This assumes they build i4s in month 1 at the same rate as they build V6s. This probably won’t be the case, as they will be running i4 FE build in parallel with V6 FE tail end build. But I think they’ll have second shift running by then (or nearly). And also some people will drop out of the i4 FE queue into the Base queue.

So I think you’ll be month 1 or month 2 of i4 FE production. We think they’ll start UK i4 deliveries in Q4 but it may be late Q4 or slip into early 2023. Should know more details in March.

 

[AGP]

I don't know why, but I thought the I4FE calls were going to be December and then moved to Jan.
To have to wait until March to know the price doesn't feel good and I see no reason for it when you consider the V6FE has been announced sometime ago now.

 

[TomE]

The i4 development and approval programme has been running to a (planned) timetable 3-4 months after the V6 programme. The first i4 deliveries were originally planned to start 3-6 months after first V6 deliveries. But demand for the V6 FE has hugely exceeded original expectations and first i4 deliveries will now be late 2022.

So there's no rush from Lotus to ask customers on i4 specification decisions yet. Hence why details on pricing, timescales, specifications haven't been published yet. It is coming in March and you won't need to make i4-related decisions until after that.

I appreciate it's frustrating not having the info and that Lotus haven't provided an update on what was previously said to be happening in Dec/Jan. This was a key point I fed back while at the factory last week - if you tell people you're going to do something in Jan then you have to do that or update and re-set expectations. They accepted that feedback and the need to update people. I'm waiting to see if they do!

 

[NickR]

The i4 development and approval programme has been running to a (planned) timetable 3-4 months after the V6 programme. The first i4 deliveries were originally planned to start 3-6 months after first V6 deliveries. But demand for the V6 FE has hugely exceeded original expectations and first i4 deliveries will now be late 2022.

So there's no rush from Lotus to ask customers on i4 specification decisions yet. Hence why details on pricing, timescales, specifications haven't been published yet. It is coming in March and you won't need to make i4-related decisions until after that.

I appreciate it's frustrating not having the info and that Lotus haven't provided an update on what was previously said to be happening in Dec/Jan. This was a key point I fed back while at the factory last week - if you tell people you're going to do something in Jan then you have to do that or update and re-set expectations. They accepted that feedback and the need to update people. I'm waiting to see if they do!

I think the main issue is that there is no communication. For example why not just say "i4 orders commencing in March"? Even if this proves to be a bit off, you could then put out a communication to say "Due to the large number of V6 orders there will be a delay of 4 weeks". I just wonder if saying nothing to keep the balls in the air is worse than just communicating the truth

 

[TomE]

That was exactly what I said in my feedback to Lotus before Christmas and in the meeting last week - better to manage expectations and provide updates on timing than leave this void. They accepted they needed to improve on this, now waiting to see what they do.

 

[AGP]

That was exactly what I said in my feedback to Lotus before Christmas and in the meeting last week - better to manage expectations and provide updates on timing than leave this void. They accepted they needed to improve on this, now waiting to see what they do.

Not having a go at you Tom, we are lucky to be getting the information through you for which I and everyone is grateful.
But as you say, if we are told that we will get a call in Dec /Jan regarding the I4 FE orders, then that's what should have happened or at least been given a new date and a reason. It's only now that I find out its March, which is a significant difference.
Why can't the prices be announced?
The price may mean that I won't think the I4 FE is for me and I can move on and get something else.
The comms is poor and as a Lotus owner for 12yrs, it does make me worried about the well known weaknesses/pitfalls with buying/owning a new Lotus.
If they can't get the basic customer communication right.
Are we really expecting them to make a massive leap in production output with a much improved quality product?
Apologies for the negativity, I have been wearing my Rose tinted glasses upto now because I want it to be a great product, with great Quality. Just think my glasses are starting to slip down as time goes by😀

 

[darkling]

my question is which i4 the one out of the 35 or the 45s they are different the 45 the exhaust exits on the ps vs the 35 thats why the 45 has so much hp more was reading on that yesterday ?

 

[AGP]

The main questions usually seems to be if it's the AMG45 OR AMG45S variant. With I think the answer being AMG45

 

[cihan]

As far as I've heard, the sound of the A45s engine is better than the A45. If Lotus is only going to use the A45, I hope they work to make it sound good.

 

[Johnson]

Greetings from Türkiye.
I'm also waiting for the i4 because the excise taxes are very high in Türkiye. 220% tax is applied for 2000cc+ vehicles. 150% tax is applied for 1500-2000cc. If the £60,000 vehicle is over 2000cc, £132,000 has to be taxed to the state (excluding other taxes).
I hope that the order and sales process for the 2000cc will start soon.

Holy hell... and I thought Australia was bad.

 

[Pegasi]

Not having a go at you Tom, we are lucky to be getting the information through you for which I and everyone is grateful.
But as you say, if we are told that we will get a call in Dec /Jan regarding the I4 FE orders, then that's what should have happened or at least been given a new date and a reason. It's only now that I find out its March, which is a significant difference.
Why can't the prices be announced?
The price may mean that I won't think the I4 FE is for me and I can move on and get something else.
The comms is poor and as a Lotus owner for 12yrs, it does make me worried about the well known weaknesses/pitfalls with buying/owning a new Lotus.
If they can't get the basic customer communication right.
Are we really expecting them to make a massive leap in production output with a much improved quality product?
Apologies for the negativity, I have been wearing my Rose tinted glasses upto now because I want it to be a great product, with great Quality. Just think my glasses are starting to slip down as time goes by😀

My two cents, feel free to kick me out. Lotus is doing what all companies do during certain product cycles. They are currently in the introduction/growth phase and since they have a product that's highly in demand, there are certain things they don't have to do, such as communicate to a certain level of consumer satisfaction. The reason is because if they loose customers now, more customers just take their place. So putting money into marketing, communication (during a pandemic also) may not make smart business sense.

The real magic for Lotus is when the Emira has matured, that's when the consumer experience portion will have to increase in order to maintain sales. They can also introduce new variants of the car. The Emira is rooted in performance so I am confident production will be spot on. Unlike a new Hyundai which may not need an oil change for 25K miles. That information needs to be communicated to potential Hyundai users so they will buy the car.

Lastly in the span of a couple of years, Lotus is going from 1000 cars a year to 5000 cars a year. Its rare that companies have this type of explosive growth. That means they are literally figuring things out day by day. It's actually quite astonishing and special to watch.

Your points are all valid. Companies do make mistakes and suffer. Lotus could very well miscalculate or not be ready for the moment.

 

[TomE]

Not having a go at you Tom, we are lucky to be getting the information through you for which I and everyone is grateful.
But as you say, if we are told that we will get a call in Dec /Jan regarding the I4 FE orders, then that's what should have happened or at least been given a new date and a reason. It's only now that I find out its March, which is a significant difference.
Why can't the prices be announced?
The price may mean that I won't think the I4 FE is for me and I can move on and get something else.
The comms is poor and as a Lotus owner for 12yrs, it does make me worried about the well known weaknesses/pitfalls with buying/owning a new Lotus.
If they can't get the basic customer communication right.
Are we really expecting them to make a massive leap in production output with a much improved quality product?
Apologies for the negativity, I have been wearing my Rose tinted glasses upto now because I want it to be a great product, with great Quality. Just think my glasses are starting to slip down as time goes by😀

That's OK, I'm frustrated by the comms situation too, which is why I have been raising it with Lotus. Some of it is due to Lotus deciding not to communicate until they had more certain info, but they haven't explained that or kept to promises they made about when next info or next contact would be.

There are reasons why they aren't announcing the i4 FE and Base + options prices until March, mainly because they haven't finished working them out yet. Order volumes are different to original assumptions, start date of i4 production is different due to V6 FE demand, inflation has increased, they are still streamlining some of the production processes (reducing the build time) and timing of second shift isn't fixed yet.

The investment in and focus on a step change in quality was very apparent when we visited last week. We know it'll be a great drivers car and I think we're all going to be impressed by the quality. But the jury is till out on customer experience pre-sale and post-delivery.