Yes.
Some of their track toys are simply wonderful and do exactly what they say on the tin. But road cars are a bit more difficult. Great cars but trapped in a very small niche.
Hence the move to bigger more GT like cars as that is exactly where the market is in regards to both sales numbers and margins.
As a casual aside, if Lotus sell 1,000 cars in a year and have a margin of £10k per unit is that kind of profit of much interest to anyone? Especially the risks of that margin coming under heavy pressure at any point.
It's an extremely tough business to be in.
Mass car producers have moved into this space with all their mod cons and looks and the ability to build very cheap. Not the same product to enthusiasts but pretty much for the general public they are.
Look at all the specialist track day firms eating in to that niche, a niche which Lotus really should have been the total ruler.
So multinationals are building small roadsters in bulk at low prices, myriad specialists building track cars, a whole host of companies selling weekend cars.
It's a b
d of a market place for them to be in and to try and sell to people with such limited common and business sense that they think Lotus should be cheaper than the volume builders.
But I do feel their market lies in a halo road model like the Esprit and then a selection of barely road useable track cars for beginners up to mentally unstable.
Build in small numbers, build well and ensure a strong enough brand to guarantee a healthy margin.
