The Lotus B2C direct consumer model!

February 19, 2024 ?John Kirwan Motor Trader, SK Automotive Retail Inside

Lotus London serves as a showcase and launch venue for the latest vehicles and products, including the next-generation vehicle line-up; the Eletre hyper-SUV, Emira sports car and Evija hypercar.

This is the brand’s first digitally driven flagship showroom in Europe. In 2018 Lotus revealed Vision80 and its plans to transform the brand from a heritage automotive company to an all-electric, intelligent, luxury mobility provider by 2028, when the business turns 80.

Lotus plans to launch further stores worldwide in key markets including Europe, Asia and the US. Ahead of that, Motor Trader spoke to Niels de Gruijter, executive director Lotus Cars Europe B.V. at Group Lotus about the UK brands plans, its move to an agency model and taking its customers on the EV journey.

?The OEM has expanded its customer experience with the “digital driven” brand centres, giving visitor access to all models and customisations. On this, Gruijter said: “We are moving to a full digital model as Lotus, and that means a B2C direct consumer model. But we are Lotus; a brand you need to experience. Customers want to see the car, smell the car, and that’s why we have launched an experience centre in Mayfair and we will launch a couple more throughout Europe. All our experience centres are fully digital, which means they provide a beautiful experience when it comes to configuring and experiencing the car.”

?A digital showroom approach also helps Lotus set up at a city location without needing to house lots of cars. “That is also one of the one of the reasons for boosting digital,” said Gruijter. “It’s an amazing location where you can add and view all the customisation options. You need to have digital formats to communicate all the different options and variants that we have.

?“We have one UK experience centre, and throughout the country we will have some agents that are heritage agents as well as some new ones. They will have aftersales capabilities with a proper workshop and charging and all those kinds of things; a bigger setup than in Mayfair.

?“The direct-to-consumer model works with the luxury brand if you have centres to experience the cars. You need to be able to test and experience the cars; see them, feel the fabrics, see the build quality. It is not a volume car you’re ordering online. So, the agency model works very well if there are agents in place to let customers experience the products.”

?Growing the brand

Lotus has a rich history as a performance brand, forming in 1948. As it approaches its 80th year in 2028, it has laid out a plan to increase sales globally as it turns to a mix of ICE and EV models. On this, Gruijter said: “We have been stable in our sales over the last couple of years. Our Vision80 plan tells us that in 2028, we will sell 150,000 units globally. One year ago, we were selling 1,600 globally. So, it’s quite a steep growth curve. And that means that our agents that want to join us on this journey towards the future need to join us in this new world or they cannot be part of the journey, and everybody knows that. They’re happy to be on this journey because that is exactly what the brand needs.

?“We are of course a global company. In Europe, we have opened an experience centre in Oslo, early September we’re opening in Munich and we have already opened another site in the Netherlands. Those are all similar locations to Mayfair. We also have experience centres in China, and we will be opening new experience centres in the US in the future. There will be a complete global footprint, which we also need to reach 150,000 sales in 2028.

But for the UK, Mayfair is our only experience centre.”

And do the city dealerships reflect Lotus’ move to electric? Gruijter said that it helps, but it’s not the focus. He added: “It helps that the focus of the city is on EVs and reducing combustion engine to launch an experience centre that is mostly focused on EV. But we also have the Emira, which is a combustion engine sportscar, and a very important model for Lotus. But, you know, the sentiment around EV helps.”

With such a loyal customer base, a change in the direction of the manufacturer could prove an issue. But Gruijter is confident that although the powertrains will be different, the performance and feel will not. He said: “The EV models have gone down very well. We have loyal customers, and we still have the perfect car for them if they don’t want the full switch to EV, the Emira. But the whole industry is moving now, updating itself and morphing and they understand that we need to do the same. We need to do that to have relevance in the future.

?“Our customers understand that we are a sports car brand, and we will stay a sports car brand. They will have different powertrains but they will always be sports car, so they will drive feel and have the experience of a true Lotus. So, we have complete trust that our customers will stay loyal to the brand.”

?Looking at the rest of the year, Lotus still has plans on the way with a variety of launches and new openings. Concluding, Gruijter said: “2023 is highlight of a year. Emira production is ramping up and the cars are finding their way to the customers. We have more releases coming up and then we open a couple of new experience centres throughout Europe. We will have a record-breaking sales number this year, which is already the case so it will be even a bigger record by the end of the year. 2023 is an extremely good year for Lotus.

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