U.S. Caterham site up

[xcarguy]

.....and Birkin and Brunton (Storker) and....

 

Correction made. :jester:

 

. . . . . . :cheers:

[athens7]

So, a 180 hp SV with a 5 speed and no options will cost almost $80,000 as a roller with the drivetrain sitting beside it?! Assembled and with a couple of options, that's C7 Z06 territory :willy_nilly:. It was hard to imagine that Caterham USA was a viable business model for the mothership based on the 35 - 50 cars sold per year when Ali and his group had it. How viable can it be selling 15 - 20 per year at these prices? There are also a lot of performance options available today that didn't exist 8 - 10 years ago, both for street and track use. Hell, I can buy a used Formula Enterprises car for a lot less than a new midrange 7. This is sad to see, IMO.

[randychase]

My understanding was the last few years was more like 12-15 cars per year. And this was the main reason that Caterham wanted to change distribution channel to increase sales.

[Red Duck]

Um..so you cannot buy a CSR?

[athens7]

My understanding was the last few years was more like 12-15 cars per year. And this was the main reason that Caterham wanted to change distribution channel to increase sales.

 

My number was based on conversations with Jon from before the recession; I'm sure your numbers are a more accurate reflection of recent history.

 

In my experience, the best way to amp sales of a niche product is to significantly raise the price :ack:. While at it, offloading the existing expert product sellers in favor of a new group that lacks the expertise and connection with the body of current users is bound to help...

[BruceBe]

Um..so you cannot buy a CSR?

 

The CSR chassis is not currently offered. Based on my last briefing, it will return in the near future.

 

-Bruce

[MichaelD]

The silver lining is that used pricing just went up.

[slomove]

How do you find out what you will need to spend on the drive train?

 

Not sure but I see that they charge $250 for a 12V power socket. Good deal.

[lucky dawg]

So, a 180 hp SV with a 5 speed and no options will cost almost $80,000 as a roller with the drivetrain sitting beside it?! ... It was hard to imagine that Caterham USA was a viable business model for the mothership based on the 35 - 50 cars sold per year when Ali and his group had it. How viable can it be selling 15 - 20 per year at these prices?

 

They will now have a much higher profit margin on every car they don't sell.

[DavidL]

interestingly, Rich Kampena (California) seems to be back on the dealer list. I thought he had gone off the dealer list. Bu then why isn't the Superformance shop in Redwood City (just south of San Francisco) listed?! The website isn't very enlightening.

 

Agree that the current prices are not going to help sales....

[TurboWood]

I guess Caterham is hoping the marketing was the main reason for poor sales. There certainly are a lot of rich people out there, but the pricing did get crazy.

[rnr]

Kampena became an official dealer last year and was building a new CSR for a customer ~6 months ago.

[xcarguy]

Just seemed befitting to put this here for sake o' discussion:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lotus-Super-Seven-Caterham-Seven-480-Caterham-Seven-480-SV-Chassis-2-0-Duratec-6-Speed-Manual-15-/291142055976?forcerrptr=true&hash=item43c96b3828&item=291142055976&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

[TurboWood]

Yikes, $75k for a 480 is supposed to be a discounted price?

[toedrag]

Wow. Seems they are trying to reach a different buyer pool. Someone will buy it.

 

Where is the branding campaign that justifies the gouging...err...totally reasonable higher price? How is this Duratec nearly as much coin as a GM LS7 v8 that has 2x+ the power? It boggles my brain.

 

At least when Lotus Cars tried this in the recent past, they had both ludicrous pricing and a ludicrous story, but you see where that plan ended up.

[randychase]

Yikes, $75k for a 480 is supposed to be a discounted price?

 

Looks like normal pricing would be $87,075.

 

I just sold mine for under $40K. Damn....

[lucky dawg]

If no one is buying the cars, is there really a "normal" pricing?

[Croc]

Its all very well to ask for a certain price but will buyers pay it? I will be very interested to see the success or failure of this new business model.

[bigdog]

It seems to me that Caterham has said in a meeting. Hey we are a car company and the heads of car companies get millions in compensation. So we will price the cars in an effort to achieve this compensation level.

 

As opposed to competitively pricing their product to increase not only volume but demand. Then when one has more customers than product that's when you can seek to raise prices to the current silly levels.

 

Caterham seems to want to rely on the Simon Cowell "rich boy buyers" crowd whom are far more fickle and unforgiving of the lack of completely new models every year or two like Ferrari. Because the rich boy buyers that Caterham seems to be courting, Will "generally" only buy to impress others with the purchase price and the specs in the brochure. 620R perhaps? But the empty nest I have a few bucks stashed away folks are just happy to finally have a cool toy. Which does not require Caterham to re-engineer their cars to ever more expensive levels to keep the show offs happy.

 

Of course this is just an opinion.

[bsimon]

It's really hard to picture a "rich boy buyer" combing the gravel out of his hair and wiping standoff from his mug after a blat in a seven. I think creature comforts would come a bit higher on the requirement list for that particular demographic.