[OneFastLotus]

Dont get me wrong, I want Lotus to do well in the US......however,


I really really hope that this car doesnt end up like the S2000 or 350z where I see one or two every 2 blocks. At the price point, and looks and performance I think this car could potentially turn into flavor of the month like the S2k and 350z.


The only thing I see keeping this from happening are A, number imported B, its not a comfortable cushy car even with its "american mods" its still not going to be what someone would call cushy C, Im hoping the resale value holds high so you dont see them selling the next year for 25 or 27K like you do the S2k and 350z


Any ideas on this?

 

[mikester]

I don't think that you'll ever see them "all over the place". They're only coming in in very small numbers, and the Elise is not nearly as practical as a 350Z or even an S2000. So IMO the car will be primarily for true enthusiasts willing to live with and even enjoy the car's real or perceived limitations. For these reasons it'll generally be a rare sighting, at all but a Lotus club gathering.

 

[Buck Dharma]

How many s2000's and 350z's are produced yearly? I see s2000's all the time and 350's to a lesser extent but I attribute that to the s2000 being in production longer. (I have yet to see a RX-8 in person.)

 

[OneFastLotus]

Here in Louisville I see S2000's Boxsters and 350z's ALL the time..... In fact I see less miatas than I see of those cars.

Ive seen about 6 RX8's so far, red, yellow and silver...but scattered about.

 

[mikester]

I've seen a couple of RX-8's but only at car-related events (in the parking areas) and near dealer showrooms (test drives), so not a true "natural" sighting ! I just saw my first Crossfire out on the streets, looked very nice. A metallic, charcoal (darker grey than gunmetal) color. Interesting-looking car, I'm really glad to see more cool, small coupes coming out rather than just boring trucks and SUV's !

 

[scot]

Physically can't happen. You are talking about a company that can only push out a few thousand cars per year worldwide vs companies that could make 20-40k of one model car.

Porsche even has a production line dedicated to the boxster.

We probably have ~10k 350zs here already, 4k rx8s, 30-40k s2ks, and 50k boxsters.

vs 3k per year in terms of elises.

And all of these cars can easily be daily drivers. (I know, I drive my boxster every day)

Scot

 

[meat]

There have been 9000 S2000 imported for 4 years = 36000 cars
I think scheduled 350Z imports = 30000 cars annually.

Scheduled Fed Elise production = 2500 units.

 

[Allan Gibbs]

I really don't think the Elise will be a dime a dozen car. EVEN if Lotus TRIPLED the first year's production, then there would only be 7,500-9,000 cars a year. Incidentally, I think Vipers are produced at around 10,000 per year?

As for Porsche, funny thing is, Porsche produces about 50,000 Boxsters a year. And even though they're pretty common in some areas (like L.A.), 50,000 units a year is relatively small compared to the number of Vette, Mustangs, etc. I guess Porsche sell 40,000 Boxsters a year in California!

So, don't worry. At 3,000 to 4,000 units a year, there Elises won't be to common and will probably hold their value.

Maybe in five years, the fed S2 models will be more common (about 15-20K units), but by then a S3 (or newer model) will probably be out.

Lastly, buy the car for enjoyment and not for investment (unless you plan to sell it during the initial feeding frenzy )

 

[mikester]

Yes, and I will be very interested to see how Lotus can crank out that many. IIRC, they produced around 2000 units last year, for the UK, Euro and Asian markets combined. I know that Lotus currently builds the VX-220 for Vauxhall on a parallel assembly line next to the Elise's. If they discontinued that line and converted it to the new Elise, this could be done, but otherwise, it would seem like a fairly massive increase in production to meet the goal of 2500 units for the U.S. and then whatever the demand is for the rest of the world. I just hope that quality does not suffer (though I don't think that it will, all indications are that Lotus understands the importance of making sure the U.S. Elise is a top-quality product right out of the starting gates).

 

[mikester]

One more thing, speaking of common - in my area (orange county, so. cal.), I'll see one Mustang after another, sometimes nose to tail, at a stop light. Man, if I had one I would hate that (I guess explaining why I don't own one )

And, don't even get me started on SUV's (as far as the eye can see).

 

[LarryB]

The VX is going out of production this year. From what I've heard Lotus will have a separate line for the Fed Elise. My understanding is that in the last year or so sales have soften for the Elise, so production most likely wasn't at max. With all that said, most likely they wouldn't be doing more then 2500/yr of the US Elise's.

 

[scot]

As long as there is one with my name on it aug 05, I will be happy.

(Boxster gets turned back in at that point...)

 

[OneFastLotus]

Im not buying the car for an investment. Ive never purchased a car as an investment, but I do lean toward cars that arent a dime a dozen. I know I sound goofy saying that when I own miatas but the three I have are very different than most, even the turbo'd ones.

I dont see many vipers here....the ones that are here are all members of my local message board so often I'll see 5 or 6 vipers every Friday so I guess it seems like more.

Boxters, I swear I see zillions of them. Same with S200's and 350z's. I have nothing against these cars, Im just saying I see a lot of them.

 

[MikeAR303]

It should also be noted that your typical american buyer will not buy a car unless they can get an automatic transmission (read: lazy)... that alone is enough to chase a large number of people away from the Elise, not to mention the lack of creature comforts, traction control, and all that other garbage.

 

[zvezdah1]

I hope they sell lots and lots of them to enable Lotus to offer us other interesting vehicles down the road!!!
Chris

 

[Modern Wedgie]

I drove my X1/9 everyday for 6 years...and in that time I only twice saw another X1/9 when I was in my car. There were roughly 100K X1/9's imported to the US over a 12 year period. This was a car hailed the "Baby Ferrari," a mini sports car w/ all wheel discs, mid-engine, bertone state-of-the-art styling (cars copied it for years), and well priced. Of course, americans preferred the Spider convertible with all the luxeries.

To this day...anyone who has owned an X1/9 has said that it was their favorite, best-handling, little car. It's not too practical though, and people got lazy with upkeep over time. However, those people who still own them will tell you it's the best car...there is still a loyal following (including myself...I'm in the middle of a complete restore as we speak).

The point of all this is...the elise (like the X1/9) is not a car for everyone...which is great for us. We will be the loyal fans of this incredible car, and those lame people who buy them for alternative reasons will sell quickly, and we will have more to collect for ourselves

 

[jml1952]

Re: Vipers. I read that 14,000 had been produced through the end of 2002. Current production @ 2000 per year. You see them around LA, but they aren't exactly common.

Boxsters are quite common, while S2000s seem less so. Although the Honda is a little cheaper, I suspect that a lot of folks are willing to fork out a little more for the Porsche name.

So, I would say that the Elise will be rare enough to make us feel special and certainly will turn heads.

 

[Eyelise]

Have you driven one yet? No way this will become as popular as a Boxster or the like. I'm not sure half the people could get it in and out once let alone a couple of times a day.

 

[zvezdah1]

I personally don't find entry and egress a big deal on the S2 and later cars (sills lowered about 1.5" from the S1s).

Just one of those things you have to get used to. Although an obese person would probably encounter problems getting into the driver's seat.

One easy thing to make it a bit easier is to mount a quick release for the steering wheel, which you can buy from race suppliers. The exige and sport 190 were fitted with these.

Chris

 

[zvezdah1]

Also, I can't see the AVERAGE Boxster buyer would even giving second look to the Elise, it's a totally different kind of car. Probably for the same reason I wouldn't even give the Boxster (or S2000 or..........) a second look compared to an Elise.
Chris