Lotus UK sales figures 2018

[integrale_evo]

That doesn't actually seem quite right to me. I would only have been 16 in 1996 but can remember Elise's seeming pretty affordable, but now as a grown up 37k seems expensive.

Maybe it was just compared to what else was around at the time. Pretty sure the list price for my 1994 metro GTi was about £13k

[Simon]

I'm pretty sure that 'about £20k' figure is right (although am struggling to clarify it), and then used the Bank of England's inflation calculator to translate to £37k in today's money..

[Simon]

I'm pretty sure that 'about £20k' figure is right (although am struggling to clarify it), and then used the Bank of England's inflation calculator to translate to £37k in today's money..

OK, so Seloc has it as £18,950, which according to the BoE is about £35k now.

[Rich B]

Cars have increased massively in price in the last 20 years though, I think largely down to the way they are sold - no one cares about the price, it’s all about the monthly cost these days so they’ve crept the prices up.

I’m 2005 I bought a brand new CTR for £16/17k - the equivalent hot hatches are more than double that these days.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Cars have increased massively in price in the last 20 years though, I think largely down to the way they are sold - no one cares about the price, it’s all about the monthly cost these days so they’ve crept the prices up.

I’m 2005 I bought a brand new CTR for £16/17k - the equivalent hot hatches are more than double that these days.

Yep. I think it was after the 2008 crash. I paid £14k for my 197 in early 2008 and my mate got his R26 new for about 17k. The facelifted 200 wasn't going for less than 17k only a year or so later. Then the mk4 Clio RS was over 20k iirc

[Jobbo]

Cars have increased massively in price in the last 20 years though, I think largely down to the way they are sold - no one cares about the price, it’s all about the monthly cost these days so they’ve crept the prices up.

I’m 2005 I bought a brand new CTR for £16/17k - the equivalent hot hatches are more than double that these days.

In 2002 I bought a brand new CTR - it was £15,995 but I paid £900 extra for the optional air-con; I think that was standard by 2005, or at least fitted to yours? So there was no real inflation in prices over 3 years, despite interest rates being a few points higher than now.

[Rich B]

Cars have increased massively in price in the last 20 years though, I think largely down to the way they are sold - no one cares about the price, it’s all about the monthly cost these days so they’ve crept the prices up.

I’m 2005 I bought a brand new CTR for £16/17k - the equivalent hot hatches are more than double that these days.

In 2002 I bought a brand new CTR - it was £15,995 but I paid £900 extra for the optional air-con; I think that was standard by 2005, or at least fitted to yours? So there was no real inflation in prices over 3 years, despite interest rates being a few points higher than now.

thinking back, I think the list on my “premier” one with the added Recaro seats and ac was just over £18k. But yeah, no big increase.

[PaulJ]

I'm pretty sure that 'about £20k' figure is right (although am struggling to clarify it), and then used the Bank of England's inflation calculator to translate to £37k in today's money..

As someone who was on the waiting list for one of the first Elises for 10 months (delivered in 1997), I seem to remember the advertised price as being 'from' £19995. My local dealer said that was not achievable as they had been advised by Lotus that the first cars on the road need to be fully specced to give a good impression. The on the road price for mine was just under £25k back then.

The cheekiest (extra) item was the luggage net behind the seats, which was only a few pounds, but took the car over the psychological £20k barrier. My dealer told me it was not actually possible to order a car without it as Lotus termed is as being a 'compulsory option'!

The other amusing detail was that the radio kit option didn't include a radio - just the wiring to fit one and speakers. The reason for that was that Lotus considered it's customers were individuals, so they were letting us choose our own head units. Happy days...

[Jobbo]

I vaguely remember Lotus promising a price of £15,995 for the Elise when they let the magazines drive prototypes. Looking back at early road tests of production cars from 1996, the list price stated was £18,950 (e.g. http://www.hazelnet.org/brochures/roadt ... car100.pdf ) but I wasn't in the market for one back then.

In 2001 when I bought an S2 the list price was about £22k for the basic car, but they made almost none of those and I had to choose between a Sport Tourer and Race Tech which were, IIRC, £27,500 and £27k respectively. There wasn't much other than the radio kit, driving lights and some leather/alcantara trim for the extra £5k. I'm sure MarkQ back on Evo (RugeleyElise) managed to order and buy a standard car with a few options, so they definitely existed. How much more than the basic list price do you actually have to pay in 2019 though?

[Foz]

The CTR was a spectacular bargain wasn’t it!?

I always thought cars were pretty good value these days, and the inflation adjustment showed them in a favourable light!? Certainly seem to think that was the case with the German stuff, although BMW has gone from premium to about as mass market as is possible.

When did lotus drop the 1.6 entry level model, was it not pretty cheap?

[RobYob]

I hope that those lows sales indicate a year of Geely helping rebuild the place and completely single-source from the many and varied parts bins where everything comes from.

My fear is that the Chinese will prove no more successful in sorting Lotus out than the Malaysians, Italians, Americans or English!