RE: New Lotus Evora GT launched in North America
Discussion
I can't be certain that Lotus should reduce its RRP in the US (for the Evora GT), but I do believe that there is a confluence of events that strongly favours Lotus promotion in the US just now.
The C8 Corvette has induced the publishing and sharing of an unusual amount of content on the merits of a mid-engined layout and on the physics of sports cars in general. These of course are topics which have long been the very foundation of Lotus.
A bit of branded content from Lotus, say, on YouTube and elsewhere in social media, would likely generate a very good return in terms of earned media (ie: what other brands and channels decide to say or republish about your content).
Additionally, the sort of irony that is associated with British humour would be ideal to get across the point that "some of us" in the motoring world aren't especially distracted by the mid-engined format... because "we've been doing it all along." In the execution of this message, no competitors are named. It's more about communicating authority and doing so in an ironic way that induces sharing and word-of-mouth publicity.
kbee540 said:
Love me some Lotus, but they’ve put themselves in a price bracket out of keeping with what is at its core a glued together rehash of the Elise platform with a mundane Toyota engine. At £50-£70k, you can just about make a case for it, but knocking up against and over £100k is always going to leave them floundering.
You can argue that the performance of the thing puts it up against pricier machines, but there’s more to a cars value than raw performance. It’s why an Ultima is a fraction of the cost of the Bugatti it can keep up with.
As much as I dislike the Vajayjay or whatever it’s called, maybe it’s the only option available to them. Try to vault themselves into the big leagues to find a selling point where they can survive on their low volumes.
Anyway, can’t see too many of our American cousins looking past a v8 mid-engined Corvette for a Toyota-toting Lotus that’s not all that much lighter and will cost a whole lot more. On a track...blah, blah, blah...but most of us don’t live on or commute via a racetrack.
How is the Evora chassis a rehash of the Elise chassis?You can argue that the performance of the thing puts it up against pricier machines, but there’s more to a cars value than raw performance. It’s why an Ultima is a fraction of the cost of the Bugatti it can keep up with.
As much as I dislike the Vajayjay or whatever it’s called, maybe it’s the only option available to them. Try to vault themselves into the big leagues to find a selling point where they can survive on their low volumes.
Anyway, can’t see too many of our American cousins looking past a v8 mid-engined Corvette for a Toyota-toting Lotus that’s not all that much lighter and will cost a whole lot more. On a track...blah, blah, blah...but most of us don’t live on or commute via a racetrack.
Other than the material it's made from, it's entirely different.
My experience of the Evoras in the USA is that most dealers needed to knock about 25% off the asking price to get people anywhere near them.
Lotus' almost complete absence of marketing in the USA hurt them badly, and examples of cars sitting unsold at dealerships for five years or more (no exaggeration) certainly doesn't help desirability.
The Evora has never sold in numbers it deserves, inflating the asking price to near ludicrous levels (the GT430 cost basically the same as an R8) never helped. When they were less than 911 Carrera money, you could make a good case for them and excuse a lot of its foibles - but at GT3 money it becomes a difficult sell.
Lotus' almost complete absence of marketing in the USA hurt them badly, and examples of cars sitting unsold at dealerships for five years or more (no exaggeration) certainly doesn't help desirability.
The Evora has never sold in numbers it deserves, inflating the asking price to near ludicrous levels (the GT430 cost basically the same as an R8) never helped. When they were less than 911 Carrera money, you could make a good case for them and excuse a lot of its foibles - but at GT3 money it becomes a difficult sell.
The horsepower wars are out of control.
You can almost buy a Camry with as much HP as the Evora.
Average speed, and I mean average speed is 90-MPH on my
drive home from the office, assuming someone hasn't created
a multi-car crash. I don't mind going fast, but if the average
speed is going to be 90MPH, post it as the speed limit, not 55MPH.
It's dangerous to have the disparity for those that are trying to obey
posted limits.
You can almost buy a Camry with as much HP as the Evora.
Average speed, and I mean average speed is 90-MPH on my
drive home from the office, assuming someone hasn't created
a multi-car crash. I don't mind going fast, but if the average
speed is going to be 90MPH, post it as the speed limit, not 55MPH.
It's dangerous to have the disparity for those that are trying to obey
posted limits.
jayemm89 said:
At the time I purchased mine, a no-options Carrera was 75k.
I didn't think the non-S 992 has been introduced yet?
Sorry, was a bit sharp there and making assumptions of my own. I meant that prices for 911’s have leapt as much as the Evora has, and no current Evora is priced like a GT3.I didn't think the non-S 992 has been introduced yet?
The 430 was expensive, but they’ve all been sold so Lotus were right to price them where they did.
Helicopter123 said:
In the states though the MSRP on the 911 starts from $91,100 or around £73,000.
Evora GT is $97k = £79kSo the comparison stands, in the US leather seats, metallic paint and some nicer wheels push the 911 over $100k, and that’s before and other extras needed for a future resale.
To be fair my point is worthless. Lotus isn’t trying to compete on volume with the ageing Evora. It just needs to keep shifting a handful of units to bridge to the new products in 12 months time. A few people who want to be different or prioritise “feel” over modernity will buy enough.
jayemm89 said:
giveitfish said:
Whoa - you need a quick refresher on the Porsche website! Basic Carrera with minimal options is a £100k car now.
At the time I purchased mine, a no-options Carrera was 75k.I didn't think the non-S 992 has been introduced yet?
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-germancars/por...
giveitfish said:
The 430 was expensive, but they’ve all been sold so Lotus were right to price them where they did.
Yes and no. You can still find delivery mileage GT430s at a couple dealers, they all sold to dealers, but not all of them found buyers. Personally I think the dealers messed up buying up the allocation, I'd have seriously considered one but they'd all been specced and were in build when I tried and none were available in the spec I wanted - I didn't want to spend £112k on a new car for someone else to choose the colour, spec, etc.
Very pleased with my 400 though.
The GT430/430 Sport delivery was a total mess. Originally I think the UK was only supposed to get like six of them, and wound up getting over twenty?
There are a couple sat at dealers, unsold - and at least two have been resold for about £20-30k less than their new price, which is hideous depreciation (and Lotus are usually excellent on that front).
I don't know many people, if any, who bought the "sport" - and FWIW £112-120K WAS 911 GT3 money.
There are a couple sat at dealers, unsold - and at least two have been resold for about £20-30k less than their new price, which is hideous depreciation (and Lotus are usually excellent on that front).
I don't know many people, if any, who bought the "sport" - and FWIW £112-120K WAS 911 GT3 money.
RudeDog said:
jayemm89 said:
giveitfish said:
Whoa - you need a quick refresher on the Porsche website! Basic Carrera with minimal options is a £100k car now.
At the time I purchased mine, a no-options Carrera was 75k.I didn't think the non-S 992 has been introduced yet?
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-germancars/por...
Making a new base 911 a similar spec seems to result in a price of around £92,000, so a not inconsiderable price difference. To get to that and in order to match the specs as best possible, I added 'Special Colour' paint, 20/21" wheels painted 'satin aurum', black/mojave leather interior/leather seats, lightweight carbon roof, sports exhaust, park assist with camera and the Bose sound system.
The pros I see of the Porsche are:
A nicer place to sit. I'm not going to say higher quality, although it might be, I just find Porsche interiors quite smart places to be.
Better gearbox. I'll admit I haven't driven either, but I would struggle to believe that the IPS box in the Evora does a better job than the PDK.
Cheaper.
More recognisable if you're into that. That said, the Lotus has a counterpoint to this I believe.
More stuff if you want it. The options list is long, a hell of a lot longer than Lotus offers. I very much see the appeal of this, I can well imagine that the Porsche would, in the end, just be a little more convenient.
The pros of the Lotus, in my eyes, are:
Lighter. By some 200kg or so, depending on spec of the Porsche.
Faster. 4.2 to 60 for the Porsche, 3.9 for the Lotus.
Hydraulic steering. For those that care. I hear the Porsche electric system is very good these days though.
Rarity and looks. Not so often you see another one, and while the looks might not be as good as the Porsche to many, it will certainly get a hell of a lot more attention. I see this as the counterpoint to the Porsche being instantly recognisable.
Residuals. I don't know this for sure yet, but I expect the residuals of the Lotus to be better, as this seems to be the case for previous Evoras.
The Lotus is also a touch narrower and shorter than the Porsche, and although there isn't much in it, every little helps.
I bought the Lotus because I wanted one, I tend to like the rarer option and I like that. I don't really believe that they compete all that much, they appear to in size, weight, cost and performance but I think the buyers of the Lotus will be looking for an experience that's quite different to those that buy the Porsche.
I've generally said that seeing the Lotus as a cheap McLaren makes more sense than trying to compare it with a Porsche, but unfortunately the Porsche comparisons are hard to avoid.
I paid £68,000 for my fully optioned Evora 400 - the list price of it was about £78k. The idea of a GT410 being over £100k just makes no sense to me. There simple isn't that much more there for the money, in many ways there's actually a lot worse about it - but the Evora is going to be replaced soon and I hope the new car undoes much of what the previous management did to cheapen the models.
I paid £68,000 for my fully optioned Evora 400 - the list price of it was about £78k. The idea of a GT410 being over £100k just makes no sense to me. There simple isn't that much more there for the money, in many ways there's actually a lot worse about it - but the Evora is going to be replaced soon and I hope the new car undoes much of what the previous management did to cheapen the models.
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