what are thses chinese cars? did they order a bunch so they could dismantle them, document them and then ship them back so they could just do knock off's?
In 2011 Lotus packaged 26 North American Evoras for shipment and sale in China. These were NA units with pretty much all options. Due to a trademark issue with the name "Lotus", they were "Lotus" de-badged and we to be sold as "Evoras" only.
Once the cars were in Hong Kong and/or Beijing, the deal went sour and the cars sat in their storage containers for most of 2012 and 2013 while Lotus attempted to save the deal.
Eventually they shipped the cars back, had them fully serviced (oil change, hose replacements, ECU updates, recalls, etc.) and planned to sell them off as new. But for some unspecified reason (someone suspected changes in airbag rules) they could no longer be sold new, so Lotus titled them to Lotus USA and sold them as used with 2y/24k warranty.
Average price for these is $55k-$60k depending on options.
Most dealers picked up a couple and slowly they have been selling out. Only a handful left across the nation.
For example, my "Chinese" one came with only 15 miles on the odometer. Other than a reverse light that needed plugging in and a noisy door lock that needed replacement, it is perfect and driving strong.