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Are There Documented Empirical Marketing Studies For Elio Motors?

slinches

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On preliminary review EM met the technical qualifications for the ATVM loan (completed step 1 of 3) and moved on to the due diligence phase. I don't have the actual statement at hand, but the idea is that barring a complete miss of economy targets or market changes that undermine the business plan, they should qualify and and be able to secure the loan.
 

Sethodine

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I'm not as optimistic about Elio's abilty to secure government funding...

Is there a DOE press release that substantiates this statement?
There is no DOE press release, because the DOE does not release public statements on the financial situations of applicants prior to any loan being approved.

From Elio Motor's SEC filing for Reg. A+
As of January 15, 2015, we have received information from the Department of Energy that we have achieved the technical criteria for the loan and that remaining due diligence is pending upon confirmation of our financial backing, which includes this offering.
 

AriLea

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no press release
, but I agree that the current climate within government will make it impossible to move the paperwork through

There is another thing to consider, the state of the economy. The low gas prices have the effect of easing economic pressures.
They are building like crazy around here, so the high value developers around here know something others may not.
In theory investors at that level are optimistic, and that expands their willingness to take risk.

Anyway, we'll only know at the outcome end of all this.
 

Muzhik

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As for target market, it seems people here keep underestimating the "student" market, i.e., people between 15 and 22 yo. High-school students may be able to scrape together the $6800, and will have the choice between buying a used beater or a new Elio. A quick check of the local market in eastern Iowa showed used vehicles coming in at or under that price point were at least 9 years old (there was one that was only 6 years old, but was high milage) and had rated MPG ranges of around 25 city/30 highway. 80% of the ones I found were either vans or SUVs, so will cost a pretty penny to feed, care for, and insure.

Way back when, the colleges and universities I looked at didn't allow freshmen to have cars on campus. Now it appears that they allow cars and try to control things by having VERY high rates for parking permits. Permits for motorcycles (which include mopeds and scooters) cost much less. However, it looks like these places may have to come up with new pricing schedules for autocycles -- the prices are based on the fact you can fit more motorcycles into a given space than you can cars; and if the wheelbase of the Elio is about as wide as a 4-wheeled vehicle then you can't park it in a motorcycle space.

College and university students may not need a smaller car (i.e., you can't use the Elio to move from home to the dorm in the fall and back again in the spring), but community college students will definitely need reliable personal transportation. By and large, these will not be "and" vehicles. After graduation, these students may purchase new(er) vehicles, but after getting married, may migrate back to getting an "and" Elio.

As for the lack of speed of people reserving Elios, I had never even HEARD of an Elio until about 5 months ago, when a web ad appeared on a site I was viewing. In talking to the people around me at the Iowa Caucuses, none of them had ever heard of Elio and all were VERY interested in a car that provided jobs for Americans, was very fuel efficient, and was very inexpensive. (Note that many, many of the cars in my city, which has a lot of blue-collar jobs, are very old and rusted, so these people would welcome the chance to buy something new and shiney.)
 

Kuda

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