250,000 Units Per Year ?

[Rickb]

It is nice to have a choice rather than feeling the need to buy used unreliable expensive to opererate or a new economy classed vehicles, but the Elio is in a class of it's own as people from all demographics seem to actually like it's style.

My first vehicle a '59 VW Beetle/Beetlemania.............my next vehicle a '15-16 Elio/Eliomania. I like the style of the Elio much better........and by the way VW is still building Beetles in the $19-32k price range.

The reason Elio is called a virginity shield is because of it's narrow cabin seating configuration, not it's general appearance. Attention future Elio virgins! you will now be able to afford a room. The good news: the overwhelming majority of future Elio owners are not virgins.

I don't understand the tough questions threads. The simple answer to this one is likely yes, but EM can only estimate future sales and worldwide market demand to maximimum production.

 

[fingers]

If they don't hit 250 per year, they will definitely need to increase the price to make enough profit to sustain life. The introductory price is certainly an attention getter but they cannot continue very long with this price unless the option packages substantially increase profits. I expect to see a 4 to 5 hundred dollar increase after the reservations are fulfilled. Even then the Elio is still a bargain. I feel fortunate to have an all-in reservation for this unique vehicle and can't wait to take delivery. Even if the trolls don't admit it, they want one too. But they will likely pay a higher price because of their little faith.

 

[Rickb]

If they don't hit 250 per year, they will definitely need to increase the price to make enough profit to sustain life. The introductory price is certainly an attention getter but they cannot continue very long with this price unless the option packages substantially increase profits. I expect to see a 4 to 5 hundred dollar increase after the reservations are fulfilled. Even then the Elio is still a bargain. I feel fortunate to have an all-in reservation for this unique vehicle and can't wait to take delivery. Even if the trolls don't admit it, they want one too. But they will likely pay a higher price because of their little faith.

Rumor has it that Elio Motors keeps a trolls list and will not sell them an Elio at any pricepoint.

 

[goofyone]

If they don't hit 250 per year, they will definitely need to increase the price to make enough profit to sustain life. The introductory price is certainly an attention getter but they cannot continue very long with this price unless the option packages substantially increase profits. I expect to see a 4 to 5 hundred dollar increase after the reservations are fulfilled. Even then the Elio is still a bargain. I feel fortunate to have an all-in reservation for this unique vehicle and can't wait to take delivery. Even if the trolls don't admit it, they want one too. But they will likely pay a higher price because of their little faith.

I agree that it will not really matter in terms of sales if the retail price is a bit higher. Even if this vehicle ends up in the retails stores at $8000 and achieves 'only' 80 MPG EM will not have issues selling them.

 

[skygazer6033]

My14 y.o. son wants a Mustang when he gets his DL because the girls love Mustangs. I told him he should get an Elio because girls actually love whatever leaves him with money to spend on them.

 

[JEBar]

It is not a requirement and it is my understanding that they don't even really expect to get to that number until at least year three however the plant should be capable of reaching that number and even more as EM's plans do not include any weekend shifts. The latest news on production, which we were told by Jerome in Charlotte, is that production should start at about 150 vehicles a day and ramp up to about 350 per day in the first 2-3 months or so with just a single shift. Ultimately the goal is to produce 500 vehicles per shift and run two shifts per day five days a week. This is about 250 working days when you calculate in holidays and is how they reach 250,000 Elio's per year.

If they don't hit 250 per year, they will definitely need to increase the price to make enough profit to sustain life. The introductory price is certainly an attention getter but they cannot continue very long with this price unless the option packages substantially increase profits. I expect to see a 4 to 5 hundred dollar increase after the reservations are fulfilled. Even then the Elio is still a bargain. I feel fortunate to have an all-in reservation for this unique vehicle and can't wait to take delivery. Even if the trolls don't admit it, they want one too. But they will likely pay a higher price because of their little faith.

I'm a bit confused (nothing new about that ) .... as noted above, producing 250,000 a year is a stated goal but I don't believe that if they don't do so the first year, all is lost .... if all they can manufacture is 250 during the first production year, that's a very different scenario .... I do believe that it is inevitable the base price will go up but having any idea about how soon and by how much is way above my pay grade .... I also believe that EM will do the best they can to keep the base price as is practical and possible, its one of their major marketing points

Jim

 

[Rickb]

My14 y.o. son wants a Mustang when he gets his DL because the girls love Mustangs. I told him he should get an Elio because girls actually love whatever leaves him with money to spend on them.

That is good fatherly advice.............and if he's lucky the girl of his dreams will own a Mustang.

 

[Jay3wheel]

I have seen 250,000 as a production target, I have never seen it listed as the minimum needed to turn a profit.

 

[Jim H]

My thought, before reading anyone else's reply... 100 percent of the people I have told about the Elio in the past year have never heard of it. West Virginia is not one of the marketing/visitation areas so that makes sense. Neither are the plains states where most of my out of state FB friends live. I also know that most of those people thought the whole idea is crazy, which makes me sure they never bothered to follow up on the subject and thus didn't get a reservation.
If most of us 37k people have had the same experience - at least the part where they think we are crazy for following this car around - then I would say that just because there aren't 200k people willing to put $100 or more down on a "vision" doesn't mean they aren't interested and willing to buy. It just means they might be a bit more sane than the rest of us.
Bottom line: The Elio will sell. I believe.

Isn't Elio insanity wonderful........LOL

 

[satx]

250K/year, for Elio company sustainability, doesn't sound outrageous.

The price of gas is down 40% in the last year, and could go lower, so the "save gas money" argument for the Elio is taking a big hit (for me personally, long distance commuter). However, remember the HUGE spike in producing/buying small cars in the early 70s after OPEC increased oil for $3 to $30+ per barrel. So Elio will benefit when pause in high gas prices ends.

So I'd say that gas going up, esp abruptly, in the next couple years will be a big push for the Elio as gas-money-saver.

So the dominant remaining argument for an Elio is the $6800 purchase price (if that doesn't become a bait-and-switch myth),

Some perspective on US car prices:

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/03/12/who-can-afford-the-average-car-price-only-folks-in-washington/

$6800 is $10Ks cheaper than many motorcycles, and 1/4 or 1/5 the avg price of a new car.

Size of the US motorcycle market: http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-news/statistics/motorcycle-sales-statistics.htm. I think a good number of motorcycle owners, prospective motorcycle buyers, who buy motorcycles for transport rather than recreation, could buy Elio instead.

I could see 100Ks of the 10Ms of fixed income, living-alone seniors buying an Elio to stretch their limited, life-constraining income.

Will BigAuto agitate to "Tucker" the Elio? I don't think so. The Tucker was "just another car". The Elio isn't, so isn't in direct competition with BigAuto's 15M/year car/light-truck sales.