Overall, I have to say I'm actually impressed with the speed that Lotus was able to muster in designing the Fed car, dropping in the new motor/ECU, getting through the US/DOT/Import red tape (which must be a nightmare to navigate), securing waivers, doing crash tests, adding the required Fed-only gear, and so on.
That's one place a really large car company would have an advantage, with large staff and several models of experience, contacts in the right US departments, etc.
So from that perspective, I see Lotus as quick and effective.
I think most of the frustration stems from optimism.. Inverse Sandbagging -- Lotus says "possibly next summer", agents hear "early summer", dealers hear "spring!", and tell customers "Early next year", and come January it's "Where's my car?!"
Nothing unusual about that, but now that we're down to the wire, hopefully we can get some accurate information on rollout. I'm really hoping that once the influx gets up to a good clip (September?) there will be a recognized system and pattern.
In the meantime, "Where's My Car?"
