It’s Lotus’ turn to catch the production and pricing virus, an ailment that has caused almost every automaker to fall behind on delivery schedules while raising prices for reservation holders. Last October, Lotus Emiras intended for the UK home market were already six months behind schedule. As early as last year, Lotus expected to tag the Emiras with US plates as early as fall 2022. Now, CarBuzz reports that the US The Emira V6 First Edition units are slated to hit our soil this summer but won’t be released to customers until then. Between mid-October and mid-December. According to a letter sent by Lotus of Orlando to reservation holders, the holdup is US certification. On top of the delay, prices are rising for all US and Canadian reservation holders except those who have completed the paperwork for the initial North American V6 First Edition allocation. Lotus said that various pitfalls and litters around the world have increased the Emira’s unit price by about $14,400. Folding that into MSRP brings the price to $108,300 before destination. We say “preliminary” about that allotment because Lotus increased the North American allotment by 600 units, making the total to 1,300 to come to NA, a slightly smaller US-spec number. When the second phase opens for reservations, it will be priced at $105,400 in the US, which is already on the US retail site Configurator. Anyone who has reserved an AMG-powered four-cylinder Emira I4 First Edition will see their price increase from the previously announced $85,900. The new MSRP price will be announced later this year, with deliveries not scheduled to begin until Q2 of 2024. Of course, we should expect the price of the regular series production car to go up as well. Conditions vary by market, so anyone listing Lotus should check with their Lotus dealer. A live thread on the Emira forum that started in February has grown to 26 pages as global Emira buyers try to figure out who needs to deal with which extras. Part of the outrage comes from Lotus promising that reservation holders will not be put through any pricing challenges, saying “the price you are being told is the price you will pay for your Emira.” Ready for the good news? There will be more options to spend your money. We’re told the color palette for the second series of V6 First Edition cars will expand by seven colors, and Lotus Advanced Performance is creating a menu of “around 30 different vehicle accessories” as well as custom options.
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