Have we figured out which dealer are small medium or large yet?

Joecooool said:

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Even if Matheny is considered a small dealer, I
can't see you waiting longer than November to get your car. Let's assume your dealership is only getting 30 cars for the first 12 months (per O'shaughessy's
statement that all 'forwarded to Lotus'
orders will be filled by '1st Qtr - 05'). He
(the dealer) should receive no less than 6 customer cars by September, covering the 6 mths of April to Sept.. With 24 more cars to come by 'no later than' March 05,
he should be getting 4 per month (on average) for Oct. 04 - March 05)..

I haven't. I also have seen no evidence that it matters. The theory
of large and small allocations is still just that. Most dealers of any size have been asked for and submitted orders 1-30. AFAIK
there have been no other orders asked for. If dealer A is getting 12 cars a month and dealer b is getting 3 cars a month that order situation would need to change. So far it hasn't.

Steve

Criswell must have sold 5 Esprits in the last 10 years because I'm #2 on their list and I still don't have a car. I'd like to see some of these other dealerships- they must be HUGE!

m100 Sean said:

Criswell must have sold 5 Esprits in the last 10 years because I'm #2 on their list and I still don't have a car. I'd like to see some of these other dealerships- they must be HUGE!

Click to expand...

Remember, dealers are selling cars at markup to other dealers, or rich people. Criswell has probably had several cars. Just not for list people.

Sownman said:

I haven't. I also have seen no evidence that it matters. The theory
of large and small allocations is still just that. Most dealers of any size have been asked for and submitted orders 1-30. AFAIK
there have been no other orders asked for. If dealer A is getting 12 cars a month and dealer b is getting 3 cars a month that order situation would need to change. So far it hasn't.

Steve

Click to expand...

If all 39 dealers have sent in 30 orders to Hethel, that only accounts for a yearly 12 mth production of 1,070 cars. Since the amount is closer to 2,200, then those additional (1,030) cars must be earmarked for additional customers that are considered larger than a small dealership and these dealers must have been allowed to send in additional orders. Let's take Fox Valley
in Chicago. They have 'booked' over 200 orders and would fit the criterior of a large dealership. Are they locked in to only 30 cars for the first 12 mths of production?

Ridgemanron said:

If all 39 dealers have sent in 30 orders to Hethel, that only accounts for a yearly 12 mth production of 1,070 cars. Since the amount is closer to 2,200, then those additional (1,030) cars must be earmarked for additional customers that are considered larger than a small dealership and these dealers must have been allowed to send in additional orders. Let's take Fox Valley
in Chicago. They have 'booked' over 200 orders and would fit the criterior of a large dealership. Are they locked in to only 30 cars for the first 12 mths of production?

Click to expand...

I've asked here a couple times if anyone beyond slot 30 has ordered. Nobody has responded, so I assume no dealer has
contacted or ordered for anyone higher than 30 on their list. I don't imply that ANY dealer is limited to 30 cars, although they may be. My point is that if Fred's Lotus who only sold 2 Esprits total is going to get 3 cars per month has ordered 30 and Trump Lotus who sold 150 Esprits is going to get 12 cars per month then Trump should start asking for oders beyond#30 and fairly soon. Fred's Lotus has already speced a 10 month supply at 3 per month and Trump only a 2 1/2 month supply at 12 per month.

If Trump is not turning in new orders then perhaps the concept
of big and little dealers and allocations is wrong. Everyone
is really going to get the same.


Steve

I agree with your logic regarding orders and allocations, Steve.

Based on what I've seen, it certainly looks like Lotus USA is doing all it can to get cars to the dealers -- once they arrive in the USA. Frankly, I imagine a bunch of folks trying very hard to distribute cars that have yet to arrive.

It would make sense if a "large" dealer would get three cars for every one that a "small" dealer receives. I think the reality is, though, that due to the LSS situation (as well as other factors) it's gonna be hard to track this stuff with any accuracy.

The only problem here is this. 39 x 30 cars = 1,070. There's another 1,030 cars that are projected to be in by 'end of 1st qtr-'05''. If everyone is getting 56-57 cars then that would account for the whole total but the guys with monstrous orders booked are going to have to start telling people .......forget it in this lifetime!

Ridgemanron said:

The only problem here is this. 39 x 30 cars = 1,070. There's another 1,030 cars that are projected to be in by 'end of 1st qtr-'05''. If everyone is getting 56-57 cars then that would account for the whole total but the guys with monstrous orders booked are going to have to start telling people .......forget it in this lifetime!

Click to expand...

Hey Rain..er..Ridgeman.. I think there is a flaw here. You are assuming that the quote about filling all orders by the end of Q1 2005 applies to the annual sales figures or all deposits.

I don't think so. It means that Lotus will fill all the orders they have, which is indeed 39 x 30 at most. That additional 1030 cars is projected to be delivered after that point and within a calendar 12 month period from right now, which is the release of the car.