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I fear the end is nigh for Lotus...


Mook
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There's a great article in this month's EVO by Harry Metcalfe about how SUVs seem to be taking over the world - in the first six months of this year, the Range Rover Evoque has outsold the collective sales of a huge number of cars, some of which you wouldn't expect. I'll dig out the numbers.

One thing that leads me to think that Lotus has got about 5 minutes before it dies its final death is the total sales of its cars this year to date.

From 1st Jan to 30th June, they sold 17 Elises and 11 Evoras.

Not in the UK, worldwide :eek:

I know we've a couple of die-hard Lotus fans on here and although I'm not a real fan of the Evora, the Elise and Exige are two of the most fantastic cars around. Totally impractical, can only be used as toys, but bloody great cars to drive on B roads or on track.

How they've kept going this long so far this year amazes me, but I simply can't see how they'll survive long-term :(

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They need a massive cash injection, I suspect the reason for the low sales (apart from the high list prices) is the perception that they're on their last legs, who buys an expensive car when you think the company is going to go pop at any minute?

How do they produce their cars, are they hand built or have they got a decent production line? If they could find some way to improve the cost of manufacture perhaps they could drop the prices slightly, a tie up with a larger brand?

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I wonder what the factory does when sales are so low - just stops production? Surely we would have heard about that?

They were flying high with the Elise when that came out weren't they? I'll bet if Top Gear did a decent review of them that would revive sales! I don't recall an Evora review.

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Actually, if Autocar are to be believed, the end is far from nigh - in fact things are looking rather good.

"DRB-Hicom has signed off a three-year programme to revitalise the struggling firm....Lotus sold 70 cars up to the end of May — as opposed to 80 in all of 2012. Production is now said to be stepping up to 40 cars per month, with 85 per cent of them exported...It is this revival that is said to underpin business secretary Vince Cable’s willingness to sign off a £10 million investment as part of the Regional Growth Fund...the five-car, five-year plan developed under the stewardship of Dany Bahar has been officially killed off. However, speculation continues that the Esprit project was close to fruition when DRB took over and that it could be revived at relatively little cost."

It looks like good news to me. I've heard other positive snippets too. I know I'm like a stuck record on the subject but anyone considering a proper sportscar should really try a Lotus. I'll have a NA Evora 2+2 in BRG with a manual box please, or the new Exige S in mad orange, or an Elise CR in silver with the sole option of a pair of speakers and some way of connecting my iPod.

I'm going to invite Thorburn over here for his input. He has his finger on the pulse at Hethel. +++

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business secretary Vince Cable’s willingness to sign off a £10 million investment as part of the Regional Growth Fund...

Kiss of death :coffee:

I'd like one, very much. TDK's dream Evora would suit me, or I might go for the supercharged version so that I can break it more quickly and more thoroughly. But StooH's point is valid, I don't want to drop a large lump of cash in a car whose maker may go bust any day. That is, of course, a self-fulfilling logic, but there you have it.

Andrew - TG did do a review of the Evora, they loved it:

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I'm going to invite Thorburn over here for his input. He has his finger on the pulse at Hethel. +++

:secret:

Haven't read the article but the numbers don't sound right to me. There were more Evoras than that on the production line when I was at the factory in March and all were built for orders, not for stock. Evora Sports Racer has helped a bit and there are certainly more than just 11 of those worldwide! There were dozens of completed Evoras in the shipping area to China as they had Lotus NYO badges on the front. If that was 17 Elises and 11 Evoras in the UK market then I'd believe it however.

Speaking with dealers the main complaint seems to be they can't get stuff built quickly enough, Exige S sales seem very good and its set to be their best year in a while - not exactly a big boast but certainly progress. UK sales are up significantly on last year (70 cars January-June vs. 80 cars for the whole of 2013) and I'd imagine worldwide figures are the same. All seem positive on the future plans DRB-Hicom have shared with them for the next few years, but under NDA so I can't get any specific details.

If they were going to die then they'd of gone last year, 2012 was grim. Instead DRB-Hicom have paid their way through the worst of it and are investing a sustainable future for the company. If it was being wound up they wouldn't be doing that. My read on it was Metcalfe got rather friendly with Bahar before he was ousted and is less keen on the current management.

Edited by Thorburn
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It would be sad if they failed if not for the engineering talent alone, they do far more than just make cars after all.

As Patently mentioned its hard to put your money into a firm that you aren't sure will be there in 2 years time let along 12 months. I hope the cash injection will see them through to some genuinely new cars and away for just a derivative of an Elise however good it is. +++

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It would be sad if they failed if not for the engineering talent alone, they do far more than just make cars after all.

As Patently mentioned its hard to put your money into a firm that you aren't sure will be there in 2 years time let along 12 months. I hope the cash injection will see them through to some genuinely new cars and away for just a derivative of an Elise however good it is. +++

Rumour mill has been suggesting a new Elise platform in the works and its about time really as looking an Exige V6 you can trace big chunks of the architecture back to my 15 year old S1, even if it does drive very differently. It's a great car, but for some existing owners the similarities makes it hard to justify. DRB-Hicom have also said they're working on a new Evora with a different chassis and engine.

Wouldn't be surprised to see both built on variations of the VVA platform (as used in the current Evora), with the Elise around 2015 still a relatively compact car but with easier access and a bit less tight inside and a 4-cylinder, while the next Evora would use a more modern V6 and would also form the basis for a next generation Exige. Might be totally wrong, but just me joining up the dots from various mutterings I keep hearing.

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I still can't see how they can get to the end of 2013, let alone 2015!

It'll be great if they can - here's hoping someone is mad enough to continue sinking vast amounts of money into them that they'll never get back.

They already have invested £100m apparently and going by the new job postings and this they are hiring for new products internally and anticipating more external consultancy work: Lotus Embarks on Major Recruitment Drive | Lotus Cars

Worth remembering the car manufacturing isn't all they do, often when that has run at a loss the group has still been profitable overall. The Elise in many ways was just an advert and to validate the aluminium chassis construction, with Lotus Engineering later using similar techniques in the design of the Aston Martin Vanquish chassis, etc.

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