RE: Lotus unveils Evora GTE 'By Swizz Beatz'

[Pistachio]

DaveR said:

Twincam16 said:

Down wit' da heaviness, A-to-tha-D-to-tha-D-to-tha Lightness. Fo Shizzle.

Quality!!

Now, can someone photoshop me up something that reflects an association with something I can understand?

Evora Eruption - Eddie Van Halen limited edition

3 minutes including looking for a pix

Edited by Pistachio on Tuesday 6th December 15:38

Edited by Pistachio on Tuesday 6th December 15:39

[wooooody]

zebedee said:

MX7 said:

Rightly so, in my opinion.

Latest figures from SMMT:

Lotus sales 2010: 526
Lotus sales 2011 up to November: 319

-39.35%

meaningless statistics in relation to whether the marketing is working.

1) we are in a different place economically this year to last year (albeit last year wasn't great, things are biting harder now)
2) those figures might be based on reg years which is typically august to august, so you might be comparing 12 months with 4 months (and therefore it represents an increase)
3) the new Lotuses that the hype is being generated for haven't even been released yet
4) are these the UK only sales figures? I hope so!

That and during 2011 they've had no exige, no elise SC and no elise R to sell due to the demise of the Toyota 2ZZ... 2012 should look different again. Not sure how the 1.6 elise has sold?

[Tuna]

Guvernator said:

I'm sorry but what a load of tosh. Lotus have never been about bling and rap videos and as far as I am concerned they never will be so this is completely the wrong direction for them marketing wise.

or, to rephrase, "Lotus, who have a vanishingly small core market, should stick to that vanishingly small market".

Guvernator said:

Why not take a leaf out of Porsches book and actually market your car on engineering, driving capability and a smidgeon of nostalgia, 3 areas which Lotus actually excel at.

I'm sorry, people, particularly people in the US, buy Porsches because they're a status symbol. Sure, there's some justification in there that they aren't made of cheese and sausages, but they don't sell on engineering. Lotus has engineering coming out of their ears and you know what? Most folks in the US don't give a ****.

In the US, Lotus v's Porsche is like Citizen v's Rolex. Citizen watches are accurate, well made and have some quite funky technology in there. Rolex sell for many times the price and are the watches people lust after. No amount of engineering and 'capability' makes you into a premium brand.

I guess this has passed you by, but these days products are marketed to many different groups with highly targeted media. The days of everyone sitting round the TV watching the same review show, or buying the same motoring magazine have long gone. Companies can (and do) approach each group differently. It's only when you have an aggregating site like this that you're aware that your favourite brand apparently has wildly different values in other territories and for other groups.

Try not to get your pants in a twist when you discover that Lotus sell to people other than 'your sort'.

[HDM]

Dodgey_Rog said:

Personally, i like this version, its certainly different. Not a fan of his music, not even heard one of his tracks. But food for thought, between SB and his wife, a certain Alicia Keys, they have something like the best part of 6m Twitter followers, i gather he's been Tweeting the f**k out of everything Lotus the past couple of months, slowly raising their profile within the markets that count.

I can see what they're trying to achieve with the marketing aspect, i'm just surprised by the amount cynical people there are out there.

I read through the list of people working there the other day, thinking i was missing a trick, there's some talented people there to drive this plan forward, and they aren't some bloke who worked at Ford thats lied on his CV, these are people that are very successful in their field of expertise. Do people really want Lotus to fail then?

Agree with Rog here, I think Lotus are thinking outside the box, and looking to bring the car to the attention of different markets and (dare I use the D word) demographics, I also think that the choice of SB to be the brand representative is well thought out, as far as I am aware SB has serious credibility as a musician and producer, and possible more importantly in the increasingly PC world, does not have a rap (no pun intended) sheet listing drug possession, illegal hand guns, dog fighting, stabbings, underage sex, etc etc that many other "brand" reps in the same Demographic have.

[Tuna]

Pistachio said:

Also I disagree that Lotus has no image in the states Jim Clark won the the Indy 500 on their first go in a rear engined car this is what they should play on in the US.

You really think that the wealthy thirty-something sports car buying market give a monkeys about a car that won a race nearly twenty years before they were born????

Try reading the US based Lotus forums. The most common comment Lotus drivers get is "What's that?", followed by "is Lotus some kind of kit car?".

[Twincam16]

Tuna said:

Try not to get your pants in a twist when you discover that Lotus sell to people other than 'your sort'.

That is a bit of an issue though. I know what Governator's getting at, and picking up on this point, I feel increasingly alienated and dissolutioned withe the world at least in part because I don't feel anything's aimed at me - marketing or otherwise - any more. And I'm only 28.

[Tuna]

Bebee said:

Escort Si-130 said:

Trouble is, that the type of Led Zeplin loving person is not likely to buy a new Lotus, they may buy second hand, the swizz beatz, jay-z listening music person would.

'Zeppelin'

I bought a new Lotus, and I would if funds allowed, get me an Evora GTE as a stable mate.
So there, na, na, na, na, na, where does that leave your comment, a? a? a?

So you're saying you can't afford a GTE, but they should market it to you so you feel included, whilst continuing not to buy it?

[MX7]

zebedee said:

1) we are in a different place economically this year to last year (albeit last year wasn't great, things are biting harder now)

A similar place. It's debatable which year is worse.

zebedee said:

2) those figures might be based on reg years which is typically august to august, so you might be comparing 12 months with 4 months (and therefore it represents an increase)

Well unfortunatly it wasn't my choice, it's the way the SMMT work, but in reality it makes sod all difference where your 12 month period starts and ends, as long as you do the same every year.

zebedee said:

3) the new Lotuses that the hype is being generated for haven't even been released yet

This was about an Evora, which has been out for a while, although not the GTE.

zebedee said:

4) are these the UK only sales figures? I hope so!

The SMMT is a UK organisation, so, yes.

[Yeloperil]

Having viewed the video 'moronic' is the first word which came to my mind.
What is going on inside the head of Mr Bahar?
I feel sad for the great name of Chapman and Lotus.

[Huggybearuk]

Beefmeister said:

Huggybearuk said:

So my question is... do we have a price for the GTE????

Not bothered wether its the shizzle version or not.... just a price tag...

Last news was that it was going to be a smidge under £100k.

Big money, but with 444bhp, light weight and amazing looks it should sell...

Wow... just checked the classifieds..... Asking price is 130K..... hitting the pipe again by the looks of it.....

[Bebee]

Tuna said:

Bebee said:

Escort Si-130 said:

Trouble is, that the type of Led Zeplin loving person is not likely to buy a new Lotus, they may buy second hand, the swizz beatz, jay-z listening music person would.

'Zeppelin'

I bought a new Lotus, and I would if funds allowed, get me an Evora GTE as a stable mate.
So there, na, na, na, na, na, where does that leave your comment, a? a? a?

So you're saying you can't afford a GTE, but they should market it to you so you feel included, whilst continuing not to buy it?

I do feel included! That vid wouldn't put me off buying it, no, I can't afford to buy both a GTE while running an Elise, be nice though, I love Lotus me! Like someone has said, twitter is full of that Lotus night from the stars who attended, that's got to be a good thing.

[Bebee]

Twincam16 said:

Moospeed said:

And on a lighter note... I actually love it, even with the stupid rear spoiler. It's another reason to wish I was rich, although I'd never ever mention down the pub "yaah I've got a swiss beats don't ya know..."

Lotus marketing strategy though... those guys are working their way through harder and harder drugs aren't they?

Lotus' marketing department, yesterday.

Well then they must be congratulated on their contrafibularities!
(I may have Googled it for spelling)

[E30M3SE]

MX7 said:

E30M3SE said:

UK sales, that will be the Emmerdale effect, as that is about the sum total of Lotus marketing activity, stick an Evora in Emmerdale and hope for the best, as I'm sure the target market love a early evening soap...........................

IS there a point you're trying to make somewhere?

The marketing strategy that they have been using hasn't worked, born out somewhat by your figures, maybe the new one will.

EDIT'd for spelling

Edited by E30M3SE on Tuesday 6th December 16:02

[Pistachio]

[roland82]

Unfortunately I feel I kind of understand the decision to chase the USAs hip hop crowd. I doubt Lotus is well known in the USA.A product's status and demand can be changed over time if enough effort is made. The problem can come from alienating your original market.

Also although I admit to being lazy and not reading every post, I get the feeling nobody here had ever heard of Swiss Beats before this Lotus nonsense. As somebody who used to enjoy rap, he was actually really good as a rap producer.

Still got no business designing cars though.

[soad]

Garlick said:

Might as well turn the video off at 3 minutes.

Done just that.

[Bahnstormer]

Moospeed said:

Bahnstormer said:

Goodbye Lotus.

And on a lighter note... I actually love it, even with the stupid rear spoiler. It's another reason to wish I was rich, although I'd never ever mention down the pub "yaah I've got a swiss beats don't ya know..."

Lotus marketing strategy though... those guys are working their way through harder and harder drugs aren't they?

Sorry, I am being a little cocky here. Hope it all goes well, but seems a little ODD marketing an older model when 5 designs are on the table.

Incidentally , what ever became of their 'new' Lotus Seven ?

[dtrump]

ooooooo a new lotus...........................................................

[MX7]

E30M3SE said:

The marketing strategy that they have been using hasn't worked, born out somewhat by your figures, maybe the new one will.

Possibly it will, I've already said that we'll have to wait a year or two to find out.

My concern is that their new marketing strategy seems to be along the lines of how a multinational would function, which isn't surprising given the heritage of many of it's top guys now, but I'm not convinced that's the right way.

To me, it's a bit like Heston Blumenthal getting the guys from McD's to run The Fat Duck.

[delays]

Guvernator said:

I'm sorry but what a load of tosh. Lotus have never been about bling and rap videos and as far as I am concerned they never will be so this is completely the wrong direction for them marketing wise. Why not take a leaf out of Porsches book and actually market your car on engineering, driving capability and a smidgeon of nostalgia, 3 areas which Lotus actually excel at. It's worked for Porsche for decades and has made them one of the most succeful car makers today so why not copy a proven success strategy instead of trying to take Lotus in a completely random direction?

I got shouted down in another Lotus thread several months ago for daring to suggest that IMO there was a slight chance that the new Lotus management team might not exactly know what they are doing and they come out with this blinder of an idea!

Where are all the Lotus fanboys now? Oh yes busily trying to think up new ways to explain away yet another f**k up by the new management. We are sorry Colin Chapman for what they have done to Lotus.

Thing is - very few people have been buying Lotuses. Their traditional market is unsustainably small to generate sufficient profits to invest in a new model - witness the churning out in the recent past of more and more Elise models (2-Eleven, Europa etc) and slipping deadlines of the Kimberley-era Esprit replacement. They still suffer from this, hence the interminable launch of special editions.

Porsche had the same issue, before screwing over their brand by launching the Cayenne.

If this works, we'll get our lovely new Loti, in the same way the Cayenne has largely paid for the RS models, the Spyders and the GT2s that we all know and love.