Wednesday 29th May 2024

Lotus sells more cars, records £200m loss

Compared with this time last year, Lotus is crushing it. Overall, not so much

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There’s never a simple story when it comes to Lotus. Whether it’s the minutiae of a special edition spec or the availability of certain models, things are never quite as they seem. Or as we’d all like them to be. The same is true for its financial results: compared to the first quarter for 2023, revenues and profits are up massively, the adjusted EBITDA has increased - yet in the same period both operating and net losses have climbed as well. Economists of PH, now’s your time to shine. 

It’s good to see Lotus making and selling a great many more cars, that’s for sure. The 2023 results made for pretty grim reading, with just 28 (!) Emiras delivered in the first quarter of last year and 236 Eletres. Now, with the SUV in more markets, the Emeya saloon already on sale in China and the Emira finally available in the States, the numbers look healthier - even if it has failed by some margin to surpass the 3,749 units it reported selling in the fourth quarter. 

In its unaudited financial results (which you can peruse at your leisure here) Lotus says 1,047 ‘lifestyle vehicles’ - so Emeya and Eletre - found homes in January, February and March, alongside 1,147 Emiras. That’s 2,194 in total, or a 731 per cent improvement on Q1 2023. "Through our unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence, we are making steady progress on delivering Lotus Tech’s Vision80 plan," reckons Lotus Tech CEO, Qingfeng Feng. 

It's true that revenues and profit have grown significantly. The former was just $19m for the first three months in 2023, and is now $173m; the latter climbed from $200,000 to $30m. But making more cars, especially ones where costs will still need to be recouped, requires more money, and so the cost of revenues has climbed. What was $19m for Q1 2023 was $143m 12 months later. Revenue (at 811 per cent more) soared higher than the cost of revenues did (653 per cent), but selling seven times as many cars isn’t always a straightforward home run. 

Lotus’s operating loss was $233m for the first quarter of 2024, and its net loss was $258m. Or more than a quarter of a billion dollars. It might be said they represent fairly modest (by the standards of these results) gains over 2023; indeed the net loss for the last financial year was $750m, so it’s hardly like the company is unfamiliar with this territory. But there is always a time limit for this kind of performance, even when it’s forecasted. Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Depreciation and Amortisation were $204m, against $154m for Q1 2023. 

Not that Lotus is looking back if it can avoid it, of course, because there’s plenty in the pipeline. A European launch for the Emeya is imminent, with deliveries soon after, the Chapman Bespoke division has launched with commissions to come and, if the UK configurator is anything to go by, the 2.0-litre Emira is now available to order again. Qingfeng Feng added: “Our global strategy continues to drive growth and success as we expand our presence and sales across key luxury markets worldwide. We are encouraged by the positive feedback received in these new markets and look forward to rolling out new models to new geographies throughout the year." 

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• New Lotus Evija X sets third fastest ‘ring time ever
• New Lotus Emeya ‘hper GT’ officially unveiled

[HocusPocus]

Lotus challenging Aston Martin as small car maker man maths champions.

[Terminator X]

Can no one see through this, Chinese car with British badge. I'm amazed anyone outside of China buys a Chinese car.

TX.

[scenario8]

Just checking, only the Emira is built here, right?

[Motormouth88]

Lotus smashing it, well done guys

[Nickp82]

Will the Ebitda come with an ICE option?

[Lefty]

It’s almost as if they should have stuck to small, simple, cheap sports cars.

[markcoopers]

I’m glad they are selling more cars and in more places, but used Emera UK prices still seem in free fall……perhaps a used bargain now.

[Lefty]

Nickp82 said:

Will the Ebitda come with an ICE option?

[Robertb]

Lefty said:

Nickp82 said:

Will the Ebitda come with an ICE option?

Have another

[ChrisCh86]

Did they ever make customer Evijas?

[samoht]

ChrisCh86 said:

Did they ever make customer Evijas?

They'd need a customer first, surely?

[Lotusgav]

Jenson Button has an Evija doesn’t he?

[ntiz]

ChrisCh86 said:

Did they ever make customer Evijas?

From what I have heard they are being delivered, however they aren’t all sold. Anyone with the money can still get one.

It would be interesting to know how many are still available though.

[GTRene]

and that while Toyota seems to go into more sport cars, look at this lovely concept... sadly its a EV but seems 'light' for a EV... but what could have been... they also seem to remake a Honda S800 sort.

here that lovely Toyota FT-Se concept, just wow.





and look at that as, its ala de Tomaso Pantera-ish, love it.







Please Toyota, make it with a great V6 in the middle rear.

[dunnoreally]

So, there's an old New Wave of British Heavy Metal Band I liked called Grim Reaper. They were never one of the biggest players in a movement which basically produced about 2 and a half bands that made any real money, so they were never going to have the biggest audience. Nonetheless, I happened to rather like what they did and they seemed to making a decent go of it in their way. Not a commercial behemoth, didn't really seem to want to be. Sadly, their front man Steve Grimmett died a couple of years back, and so the rest of the band, whose lineup had changed a lot over the years, decided to pack it in. That's fair enough, nothing lasts forever.

Now imagine if rather than band quietly bowing out when the time came, the rights to the band's name and branding, such as it was, was bought and used by an unrelated eurodisco duo. Maybe they make quite good eurodisco, I'm not in a position to judge because it's not my thing. I wish them the best in their eurodisco endeavours I guess, although they aren't relevant to me, although I do kinda wish they'd come up with their own name. However if my friends then started asking me "hey isn't it brilliant how Grim Reaper are still going after Steve's death? And isn't it great how after the genre change they're more successful than they ever have been?" I'd consider the questions ignorant at best and pretty disrespectful at worst.

And that's pretty much how I feel about what the Lotus name is now attached to.

Edited by dunnoreally on Wednesday 29th May 23:57

[otolith]

Lefty said:

It’s almost as if they should have stuck to small, simple, cheap sports cars.

Because that was going so well for them?

[OnDaysLikeThese]

GTRene said:

and that while Toyota seems to go into more sport cars, look at this lovely concept... sadly its a EV but seems 'light' for a EV... but what could have been... they also seem to remake a Honda S800 sort.

here that lovely Toyota FT-Se concept, just wow.



Please Toyota, make it with a great V6 in the middle rear.

The Japanese must be in close contest with the French for exciting sports car concepts that never get built.

In any case, if it’s electric and built in the next few years, and has decent range then it’s not going to be particularly light.

I’d love to be proven wrong but…

[Jag_NE]

Absolute snake oil tat driven by nerds without sex lives.

Buy an M4.

[mooseracer]

markcoopers said:

I’m glad they are selling more cars and in more places, but used Emera UK prices still seem in free fall……perhaps a used bargain now.

What are they selling for, do you know?
I fear they haven't fallen enough for me to afford just yet

[Lefty]

otolith said:

Lefty said:

It’s almost as if they should have stuck to small, simple, cheap sports cars.

Because that was going so well for them?

Well they made 12,000 S1 Elises and saved the company in the late 90’s. As their cars got bigger, faster, more expensive after the s2) is when sales started falling. Something like 35,000 in total plus 10,000 exige and 7000 VX.