The first delivery of Lotus Emira sports cars has landed in Australia ahead of customer deliveries starting next January.
Richard Gibbs, managing director of local distributor Lotus Simply Sports Cars, told CarExpert that the first delivery consists of 20 Emira V6 First Edition manual models.
He added that these first models will go to every state in Australia and all six exterior colors will be represented.
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The first examples of the Lotus Emira V6 First Edition were originally supposed to arrive locally in the middle of this year, but were delayed by six months due to a global shortage of spare parts.
Following these first manual-equipped Emira V6 First Edition models, Mr Gibbs said automatic V6 First Edition models destined for Australia will go into production in the first quarter of 2023 ahead of deliveries in the second quarter.
Australian-spec four-cylinder First Edition models will then go into production in the second quarter of 2023 ahead of deliveries in the third quarter.
Finally, production of the Base Edition models will begin in the first quarter of 2024, with deliveries beginning in the second quarter.
Mr Gibbs said Lotus had taken “just under 300” orders for the Emira in Australia so far, a “big increase” on the number of orders the company received annually for previous models.
All Australian versions of the Emira V6 First Edition are sold out, according to Mr Gibbs, with only a few slots left for the four-cylinder First Edition.
Mr Gibbs added that Lotus Australia had received around 20 deposits for the Emira Base Edition models, despite the configurator not yet being live on the website.
The company is also taking a “significant” amount of deposits for the Eletre electric SUV, which is currently scheduled to arrive in Australia in 2024.
Pricing for the Lotus Emira starts at $155,990 before on-road costs for the four-cylinder DCT Emira, jumping to $169,990 before on-road costs for the base V6 manual and $173,990 before on-road costs for the V6 automatic.
The four-cylinder First Edition is priced at $177,990 on-the-road and the sold-out Emira V6 First Edition starts at $184,990 on-the-road.
On paper, the base four-cylinder goes head-to-head with the Porsche 718 Cayman S ($154,580 on-road), while the higher-spec V6 is more closely matched with the 718 Cayman GTS 4.0 ($191,590 on-road). .
Toyota’s standard 3.5-litre turbocharged V6 engine delivers 298kW of power and 420Nm of torque with a six-speed manual gearbox or 430Nm with the optional six-speed automatic.
The four-cylinder variants use a 268kW version of the Mercedes-AMG M139 2.0-litre petrol turbocharged four-cylinder engine.
It is shared with the Mercedes-AMG A45 and is exclusively mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission sending power to the rear wheels.
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