[Patricko]

That is the current "discount" from the price of $38,500 that was projected one year ago.

on September 2nd 2003
$38,500 was 24,679 UKP at 1.56 dollar rate

On September 2nd 2004
24,679 UKP is $44,299 at 1.795 dollar rate

MSRP is $40,930 for a "savings" of $3,369:clap:

Don't you feel better now

I think that some people in Lotus USA were hoping that the dollar would come back and battled to hold the price at just under $40K and that is why they need this very small adjustment now.

This is just a guess as I don't have any friends on the inside:wave:

 

[MikeAR303]

I don't have any friends on the inside

Could have fooled me.

 

[Patricko]

Re: Re: $3,369 discount on Fed Elise

Could have fooled me.

Sorry to have burst your bubble

BTW International finance is a pain in the A$$...blame G.W. for the weak dollar and your "expensive" Lotus

 

[MikeAR303]

Re: Re: Re: $3,369 discount on Fed Elise

your "expensive" Lotus

I think I've already made it clear that the amount I'm paying isn't the problem... it's the way they extracted that extra $945 from me that pisses me off.

I'd have happily paid the $40,930 MSRP had they had the decency to tell me about it before my car was built.

 

[Patricko]

Re: Re: Re: Re: $3,369 discount on Fed Elise

I think I've already made it clear that the amount I'm paying isn't the problem... it's the way they extracted that extra $945 from me that pisses me off.

I'd have happily paid the $40,930 MSRP had they had the decency to tell me about it before my car was built.

That is not what this thread is about...

Would you have happily paid $44,299? That is what Lotus needs to charge to make the same profit as they would have one year ago at $38,500...

 

[NMRJock]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: $3,369 discount on Fed Elise

That is not what this thread is about...

Would you have happily paid $44,299? That is what Lotus needs to charge to make the same profit as they would have one year ago at $38,500...

I will not pay a base MSRP of $44k.

 

[MikeAR303]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: $3,369 discount on Fed Elise

That is not what this thread is about...

Would you have happily paid $44,299? That is what Lotus needs to charge to make the same profit as they would have one year ago at $38,500...

Oh, so this thread wasn't put here to once again attempt to justify the fact that Lotus has trapped a large number of people into either not taking delivery of their cars (and potentially losing their deposits), or paying an extra $945?

Once again - could've fooled me.

It wouldn't have mattered if they raised the MSRP $10 or $10,000 - it still would have pissed me off if they did it after my car was built or ordered and unable to be changed. What I or anyone else would or wouldn't have paid for the car is irrelevant.

 

[Ruediger]

Re: Re: Re: $3,369 discount on Fed Elise

BTW International finance is a pain in the A$$...blame G.W. for the weak dollar and your "expensive" Lotus

No protests ?

 

[Randy Chase]

I ignore all political crap in threads.

 

[Dan]

That is the current "discount" from the price of $38,500 that was projected one year ago.

on September 2nd 2003
$38,500 was 24,679 UKP at 1.56 dollar rate

On September 2nd 2004
24,679 UKP is $44,299 at 1.795 dollar rate

MSRP is $40,930 for a "savings" of $3,369:clap:

Don't you feel better now

If you want to get technical, the first official MSRP was announced on December 30th, at $39,985, just days before Lotus started accepting orders from dealers, including my order.

on December 30th 2003
$39,985 was 22,539 GBP at 1.774 dollar rate

On September 2nd 2004
22,539 GBP is $40,408 at 1.7928 dollar rate

MSRP is $40,930 for an "increase" of $522:clap:

Don't you feel better now


rate src: oanda.com

 

[Patricko]

I ignore all political crap in threads.

That was a joke

 

[Patricko]

Re: Re: $3,369 discount on Fed Elise

If you want to get technical, the first official MSRP was announced on December 30th, at $39,985, just days before Lotus started accepting orders from dealers, including my order.

[/I]

I have seen numerous posts lamenting that "the projected price was $38,500 when they placed their deposit" and the $39,985 was price increase number one and now they have had another...

The bottom line is that Lotus USA did "unofficially" set the price at $38,500 at some point and the dollar has dropped like a rock ever since

 

[Dan]

Re: Re: Re: $3,369 discount on Fed Elise

I have seen numerous posts lamenting that "the projected price was $38,500 when they placed their deposit" and the $39,985 was price increase number one and now they have had another...

The bottom line is that Lotus USA did "unofficially" set the price at $38,500 at some point and the dollar has dropped like a rock ever since

Yes, the $38,500 price was never official, it was projected just as you state above. Dealers took deposits independent of Lotus. $39,985 was the price when Lotus started accepting orders.

 

[OneFastLotus]

How's this for the ultimate diss....

Someone on our local board purchased a new KIA recently. The week after they purchased their KIA, KIA offered a new incentive BUY ONE KIA GET ONE FREE....but they didnt get their free one because they purchased one a week too soon. No Im NOT kidding.

 

[Miguel]

Dan is right,

Dec Magazine and lotus web had the official price at $39,985.00 and he is right about the dollar/pound amount.

The under $40k magic number drew a lot of free press for LCU, I wonder if someone got in trouble for trying to keep the car under $40k?

the other figure was just a rumor and probably didn't account for warehousing, transport etc, the transport fee most likelly only includes the transport from LCU to the dealer, no more than that.

But you know, it's a small company, they don't know how to do financial planing for the economic forecast :shrug:

 

[Randy Chase]

The $38,500 was more than a rumor, I have it in print. But it was not official either I never expected it to be cast in stone.

Regardless... the issue is not the specific date of the official release or announcement or whatever. The real point is that all the financial plans and whatnot were happening before the start of this year and before one year ago today. Those plans were based on a 1.5/1 dollar/pound ratio. Lotus was/is not large enough, or has enough cash, to purchase insurance for this possibility.

There was a lot of pressure to raise the MSRP. There was equally stiff pressure from Arnie to keep it below $40k, something as I have read, he felt strongly needed to be the right price for a success in USA. Arnie is now gone.

 

[bboersma]

Nissan is also doing this, if you buy a high end (relative) Nissan you get a free Nissan Sentra. How about if Lotus gave us a free Sentra for poor weather days with our purchase!

 

[Balance]

We're basically in Elise futures.

 

[SillyPuppy]

Pardon what will likely be interpreted as rudeness, but I couldn't care less about how the dollar has fared against the pound, Euro, or Ruble.

My wallet only contains U.S. Dollars, and not as many of them as I'd like. Regardless of fluctuations in the currency markets, my visibility can only be limited to that of the dollar. Prices of crumpets or tea biscuits don't change go up or down based on the currency markets, and even if they did, the one fact that remains is that item X used to cost $A and now costs $B, and B is greater than A.

Since my salary, likewise, doesn't go up or down based on the dollar's strength, the only measure I have of an item's "value" is what kind of dent it makes in my paycheck. If that value goes up, be it 1%, 10%, or 150%, and my salary doesn't jump to meet it, that means I'm getting less for the work I put in for the paycheck, right?

I understand that Lotus is British, and their unit of currency is different; but if I should ever take the plunge, and start making payments on a car, it's gonna be in dollars...

 

[agent.5]

Pardon what will likely be interpreted as rudeness, but I couldn't care less about how the dollar has fared against the pound, Euro, or Ruble.


I understand that Lotus is British, and their unit of currency is different; but if I should ever take the plunge, and start making payments on a car, it's gonna be in dollars...

I think conceptually you are correct, but I do suggest that you care about how the rest of the World reacts to the stock of the United States, its currency. Without dipping into another political discussion, I will just say "every action has a reaction."