Here's my personal opinion about the allocation rumors:
In the early days, Lotus claims even allocation across the board. This is mostly so that the dealers stay excited about being Lotus dealers (in light of the disappearance of the Espirit). The secondary reason is so that dealers can take orders, and create some buzz around the car. Remember, Lotus never promised any dealer anything. Some had preliminary knowledge about allocation, but the "offcial" word (which was still seemingly through the rumor mill) was that allocation was going to be split evenly between everyone. That was always in direct contradiction with the preliminary numbers that many dealers were given.
But then, after orders are taken, we come to find out that the story is much different.
Some small dealers are saying things like "the 1st 10 in August, then no more until spring" But frankly, we haven't heard anything about allocation from the big dealers. I think the best way to find out is to call your dealer, and ask them when they expect to get your car. Nothing else matters other than what your dealer can tell you. They might be lying scum sometimes, but they're the only people you can really trust.
Some people have extrapolated a tiny amount of information out to production delays and other armageddon theories. I don't think this is true. Lotus has to produce their ~2000 cars this year. They run a business, and selling cars makes them money. If they don't sell, they won't break even on this venture, which has already cost them millions. Remember that the Elise has a fixed endpoint of 2006, because of the exemptions. They wouldn't have even started coming to the U.S. if they didn't think that they could make money in that time period. Going from 2000 to 500 in the first year cuts into those profits too deeply to make any sense at all. Thats not how to build a presence in the U.S., and I see no reason why they would be having delays, based on the 111R sales and deliveries.
I think that the reasoning behind allocation differences is purely in marketing: They want cars on the road not in garages. This is their marketing. They aren't going to be running any other advertisements, so the cars have to "sell themselves." If they were to deliver cars in December, January, and February into places like Minnesota, then you can be assured that those cars won't hit the road until spring, many months later.
So, warm weather dealers get cars through the winter, and everybody else suffers. None of the big dealers (which are in warm climets) have yet to speak up on allocation, and I suspect that we won't know until the cars start arriving (or don't arrive). We'll just have to sit tight. I still think we'll see ~2000 cars the first year, which I'll call May '04 - May '05.
Steve
In the early days, Lotus claims even allocation across the board. This is mostly so that the dealers stay excited about being Lotus dealers (in light of the disappearance of the Espirit). The secondary reason is so that dealers can take orders, and create some buzz around the car. Remember, Lotus never promised any dealer anything. Some had preliminary knowledge about allocation, but the "offcial" word (which was still seemingly through the rumor mill) was that allocation was going to be split evenly between everyone. That was always in direct contradiction with the preliminary numbers that many dealers were given.
But then, after orders are taken, we come to find out that the story is much different.
Some small dealers are saying things like "the 1st 10 in August, then no more until spring" But frankly, we haven't heard anything about allocation from the big dealers. I think the best way to find out is to call your dealer, and ask them when they expect to get your car. Nothing else matters other than what your dealer can tell you. They might be lying scum sometimes, but they're the only people you can really trust.
Some people have extrapolated a tiny amount of information out to production delays and other armageddon theories. I don't think this is true. Lotus has to produce their ~2000 cars this year. They run a business, and selling cars makes them money. If they don't sell, they won't break even on this venture, which has already cost them millions. Remember that the Elise has a fixed endpoint of 2006, because of the exemptions. They wouldn't have even started coming to the U.S. if they didn't think that they could make money in that time period. Going from 2000 to 500 in the first year cuts into those profits too deeply to make any sense at all. Thats not how to build a presence in the U.S., and I see no reason why they would be having delays, based on the 111R sales and deliveries.
I think that the reasoning behind allocation differences is purely in marketing: They want cars on the road not in garages. This is their marketing. They aren't going to be running any other advertisements, so the cars have to "sell themselves." If they were to deliver cars in December, January, and February into places like Minnesota, then you can be assured that those cars won't hit the road until spring, many months later.
So, warm weather dealers get cars through the winter, and everybody else suffers. None of the big dealers (which are in warm climets) have yet to speak up on allocation, and I suspect that we won't know until the cars start arriving (or don't arrive). We'll just have to sit tight. I still think we'll see ~2000 cars the first year, which I'll call May '04 - May '05.
Steve
