I am currently studying an MBA at the University of Pittsburgh and have decided to undertake a study of the Lotus brand, and wonder if you can help me. I am particularly interested in non-Lotus owners honest opinion of the brand, hence my reaching out to you.

At this stage all I am asking is that you email me, mbalotusS2K@gmail.com , your responses to the following questions:

What 5 things do you instantly think of when somebody asks you what the Lotus brand stands for?
Do you currently own a Lotus car?
If not what sports car do you own?
If you either work for Lotus Cars, or dealerships selling Lotus cars, please can you indicate so.
What state / country do you reside in?

I would appreciate if you did not post your thoughts on this site as I do not want to bias any responses I receive.

I have no financial interest in this project, just an interest in the Lotus brand and what different groups, including dealers, perceive of it. Essentially I am trying to understand whether the general public has a different opinion of the Lotus brand to that of either Lotus Cars or its dealership network.

If you have any questions relating to this project, please U2U me and I will respond with a more detailed explanation of my objectives.

All responses will be treated in the strictest confidence, and any reports produced wil only show amalgamated responses.

Best Regards and Happy Thanksgiving

Andrew Parker

 

The 5 things I think of are:
1) Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
2) Esprit
3) Elise
4) Super 7
5) Colin Chapman

 

1. Lightweight
2. European (not sure why i think of this as my number 2 response)
3. Esprit
4. Track-worthy

thats all i can think of

 

When I think of Lotus, I think
1. Performance
2. Esprit
3. Elise
4. Exotic
5. Rare

My feelings towards lotus are pretty neutral. I think they make nice machines, that are appealing in many ways. I do not own a lotus yet, but I would definitely consider one in the future. Things I find negative about lotus are:

1. Value for the $
2. Service/Dealership/Support availability.
3. Reliability.

I believe The Esprit was a great vehicle, would definitely consider buying one. The Elise is a great machine, but not very original in my opinion. I like a car that has it's own heritage, R & D... It really turns me off knowing that the the heart of the car is a toyota engine.

 

My thoughts:

1)Overpriced
2)Handling finesse
3)Colin Chapman
4)Questionable reliability
5)Lacking in emotion for what is supposed to be an exotic brand

Not my cup of tea. I still wonder how they could make their cars so dull in recent years. Yes, handling + steering feel is very nice, but I certainly didn't walk away trembling with excitement like a 5 year old who's had too much sugar after my testdrive. Maybe exiges are a bit different?

 

1) performance
2) stylish
3) expensive
4) fast
5) high maintenance

 

1. "Add lightness"
2. F1 racing pioneer
3. Consulting firm
4. Elise- the model that revigorated the brand
5. Espirit- the hallmark Lotus

 

see above.

 

Amusing that no one, so far, has named the 2nd or 3rd thing I thought of: James Bond. I thought, "Lightness, Handling...Bond."


Try it with Aston Martin, I bet 007 is the FIRST thing that comes to mind.

 

Handling
Exclusivity
Enthusiast (no one buys a Lotus because "the" car to have... you buy ferrari/lambo/porsche)
$/performance is/was a bargain (more in the past when Lotus was more of a competitior to Ferrari)
Not well managed (sold frequently, did not hedge against the dollar depreciating, Elise should have sold for ~39k not 49k)