Lotus has cut the cost of ownership of its sports cars by slashing servicing prices and simplifying the schedules for the Elise, Exige and Evora. Every one of the Norfolk brand's 27 UK retailers is rolling out the discounts, with Lotus's best seller, the Elise Sport 220, getting the most enticing: a reduction of first year servicing from £554 to just £270. The first service price has been reduced by 37 per cent on average, which ought to give Lotus models quite the boost in desirability compared to pricier rivals such as Porsche - and help the brand in its fight against Alpine's newcomer A110.
It all seems rather in-keeping with the simplified tradition that was first laid out by Colin Chapman. Indeed, he'd probably be rather pleased to see that 50 regular servicing components in Lotus's parts brochure have been given lowered prices, including regularly used consumables such as filters, plugs, drive belts and fluids. Combined, it lowers scheduled and unforeseen maintenance costs of ownership - and will also probably encourage more customers to stick with Lotus-supplied parts rather than going to normally cheaper external suppliers.
Such improvements to the ownership proposition of cars usually bolster residual values, too, and no doubt this is a key focus of the decision behind the changes at Lotus. According to CAP figures, Lotus's models have seen their residuals increasing in recent years, good news for existing owners, no doubt, although it does mean the chances of finding a second-hand bargain will soon get slimmer.
That's exactly what Lotus wants for the future, though, with such a development indicative of increasing brand value - one of the marque's ambitions for growth laid out by parent company Geely. These plans include the development of the 2,000hp Evija hypercar, something that signals with real clarity Lotus's intention to move itself further up market. But if today's announcement is anything to go by, that change needn't result in raised prices for those of us who prefer Lotus's more traditional sports car models. Models that should, we expect, begin receiving successors in the very near future.
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