[flapajack]

So what's happening with this supposedly affordable cute little car? Given it's reasonable l repeated delays and stoopid pricing, is it still coming to the UK?

I put my name down as an interested potential customer but since the announcement of the pricing, especially after all the delays since the beginning of the year, have happily taken my name off the list.

Does anyone else think there's a chance this car could still make a success in the UK?



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[CHERYLWARD]

I too was following this closely.
Pricing was/is a joke.
Not had anything from them since, so God only knows what their plans are.

 

[Jimlad]

DOA

 

[Phil Himsworth]

I was surprised to see one on trade plates last week in the EV backwater of Telford, so presumably there must be others about?

 

[A G C]

I was also hoping BYD would be the disrupter we need to give the established car makers the kick up the arse they need to start producing smaller cheaper city cars but it does look like they are able to sell all their cats in China Malaysia & Thailand so are able to jack up the prices for UK & Europe

 

[Crypto_Kid]

I was also hoping BYD would be the disrupter we need to give the established car makers the kick up the arse they need to start producing smaller cheaper city cars but it does look like they are able to sell all their cats in China Malaysia & Thailand so are able to jack up the prices for UK & Europe

While Any automaker of EV's is "supply constrained" , why give any good deals at all? It just makes things worse. Prices will drop when demand slows down and supply chains can feed more than is required. Maybe 2032. Put it this was, my Tesla model 3 LR, ordered September 2021, £100 down, delivered December 2021, 12 weeks door to door, 12 month free premium connectivity, 1000 free supercharger miles via referal , £52k.

Order today, £200 down, 3 months free premium connectivity, no referalls for free SC, 9 month wait and £61k. Same spec car, just slightly bigger battery.

 

[CasperStorm]

MG ZS LR Trophy, £26,650 (broker) ordered Nov 21 - being delivered in just over a week.

Order today (same broker) - £32k (£2.5k discount) - due in 3 mths (ho ho ho)

Pretty much the same across the board and not just for EVs - 12mth lead time for factory orders for many brands just now.

 

[modo]

If anything happens with Taiwan lead times could end up a lot worse than 12 months! But the world may have more serious issues that vehicle lead times in that event.

 

[A G C]

If anything happens with Taiwan lead times could end up a lot worse than 12 months! But the world may have more serious issues that vehicle lead times in that event.

Hmm I wonder how EVs work after a mahoosive EMP?

 

[Peirpoint]

People drive fugly cars because they are cheap and unstealable.
When a manufacturer then wants 33% more than the thing should sell for and closer to 50% more than it should be selling for then they shoot themselves in the foot and people get a little disappointed.
I'd even considered the thing myself but there's much better for not much more which is precisely where 99% of their potential customers started looking as soon as they tried it on with a ludicrous price hike.

Thank all the gods, imagine if they had dropped the price by a similar amount, the streets would have been littered with the fugly little buggers and the air polluted by anyone who could work out how, rolling coal all over them.

Bullet dodged.

Gaz

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

Hmm I wonder how EVs work after a mahoosive EMP?

About as well as any modern ICE car with computerised engine management

 

[Scrooge]

People drive fugly cars because they are cheap and unstealable.
When a manufacturer then wants 33% more than the thing should sell for and closer to 50% more than it should be selling for then they shoot themselves in the foot and people get a little disappointed.
I'd even considered the thing myself but there's much better for not much more which is precisely where 99% of their potential customers started looking as soon as they tried it on with a ludicrous price hike.

Thank all the gods, imagine if they had dropped the price by a similar amount, the streets would have been littered with the fugly little buggers and the air polluted by anyone who could work out how, rolling coal all over them.

Bullet dodged.

Gaz

Perhaps it's just the UK versions that look horrible.

Take the MG ZS for example... Loads of them in Thailand and they all looked so much better than the ones in the UK. Far nicer colours, all seemed to have a stylish body kit with the usual heavily tinted windows. Nicer wheels on many too.

 

[Ian345]

Any supplier will charge the maximum that they think that they can get away with. Look at the current competition:-

VW id3 - £36K
Renault Megane ev - £35K minimum.
Cupra Born - £35K minimum
Vauxhall Mokka-e - £32K minimum.
So.... Does the £32K for the Ora Cat look unreasonable, against the current market place? Marmite looks not withstanding. It's 10% cheaper than the equivalent VW, Cupra or Renault.

The real BEV market disruptor will be the MG4, coming in at about £26K. If that arrives in sufficient numbers, then that will make the suppliers look very hard at their pricing.

What is a reasonable price for an iPhone 11, based on production cost? - Much, much lower than it is, but Apple sells it for the maximum that it can get away with. Same with Dyson products. (please, no long-term debate about Apple or Dyson products)

Market forces.

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

Any supplier will charge the maximum that they think that they can get away with. Look at the current competition:-

VW id3 - £36K
Renault Megane ev - £35K minimum.
Cupra Born - £35K minimum
Vauxhall Mokka-e - £32K minimum.
So.... Does the £32K for the Ora Cat look unreasonable, against the current market place? Marmite looks not withstanding. It's 10% cheaper than the equivalent VW, Cupra or Renault.

The real BEV market disruptor will be the MG4, coming in at about £26K. If that arrives in sufficient numbers, then that will make the suppliers look very hard at their pricing.

What is a reasonable price for an iPhone 11, based on production cost? - Much, much lower than it is, but Apple sells it for the maximum that it can get away with. Same with Dyson products. (please, no long-term debate about Apple or Dyson products)

Market forces.

I've just seen confirmation from a dealer of that MG4 base price.

 

[phil-ev]

Any supplier will charge the maximum that they think that they can get away with. Look at the current competition:-

VW id3 - £36K
Renault Megane ev - £35K minimum.
Cupra Born - £35K minimum
Vauxhall Mokka-e - £32K minimum.
So.... Does the £32K for the Ora Cat look unreasonable, against the current market place? Marmite looks not withstanding. It's 10% cheaper than the equivalent VW, Cupra or Renault.

The real BEV market disruptor will be the MG4, coming in at about £26K. If that arrives in sufficient numbers, then that will make the suppliers look very hard at their pricing.

What is a reasonable price for an iPhone 11, based on production cost? - Much, much lower than it is, but Apple sells it for the maximum that it can get away with. Same with Dyson products. (please, no long-term debate about Apple or Dyson products)

Market forces.

It's all about what people feel is acceptable and the supply and demand.

VW or Apple can say whatever price and you'll always have people saying take my money in a respected and established brand.

Something like an obscure brand as Ora in the UK going me too and pricing it at premium level isn't going to work unless it has a strong USP like incredible range/efficiency or stunning style.

It's rivial is the MG not VW, but it wants to be seen as higher.

It doesn't help that it was been talked of at £18,000 originally based on the Chinese getting it at £12.6k (104k yuan) after their grant.

People were still generally excited at £25k before a £2.5k grant making it a potential people's car at £22.5k

They couldn't have predicted the world going to pot but made the mistake of giving the press a figure before it was ready and had to backtrack it to well £25-30k.

Then pricing the car at five pounds less than the £32k threshold which coincidentally gets pulls days later was hilarious.

They now got to face trying to sell it at that or drop it a significant amount.

Looks like they have gone dark to lose attention and then come back once it's blown over hoping people have short memories.

 

[GerryP]

They have only given details of the "First Edition" at 32k so perhaps future models will be cheaper..

First Edition - ORA Funky Cat - New compact electric car

Discover you future friend, the ORA Cat First Edition. Coming 2022.

uk.ora-eu.com

 

[flapajack]

They have only given details of the "First Edition" at 32k so perhaps future models will be cheaper..

First Edition - ORA Funky Cat - New compact electric car

Discover you future friend, the ORA Cat First Edition. Coming 2022.

uk.ora-eu.com

First edition is still only a small battery pack model, albeit with some additional "tweaks".


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[flapajack]

Looks like they have gone dark to lose attention and then come back once it's blown over hoping people have short memories.

I agree. It's the only real justification for going dark for so long with its imminent launch due. My guess is that it will most likely get delayed for at least a few more months, maybe even until early next year.


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[Panda]

I love the ORA Cat!

Not because I like the design, but the fact that it polarises people. That's what design should do or we would all be driving around in a model T. I don't think that any of the EVs I have driven look good, the last two being Hyundai Ioniq and Kia eNiro. They are pretty dull to be honest, but great cars. I think Audi's look terrible with their 'Russian doll' design approach, but other people think they look great.

I hope the ORA does launch in the UK. For me (as I have posted elsewhere) the price looks about right in the current environment. It will compete against more 'stylised' EVs like the 500, Mini (30K+) and Honda e (34-37K). And it is the 'claimed' size of an ID3, so looks about right on the pricing front. I know it is Chinese etc, but I am old enough to remember when people made similar comments about Japanese and Korean cars. Unlike German cars it will come with 5 year warrantee, so should be OK I expect. In the current environment we can expect the same pricing rules to hold true; I paid £160 month for my first EV based on 10K per year miles for a Mercedes, I will never see that happen again and don't expect it either.

I also remember that people said that the Tesla 3 would be from £27k Tesla because Musk said it would be $35k in the USA before any subsidies. But, by the time it launched the price had risen to £42k. The lesson; take a launch price with a big pinch of salt and it is probably media hyperbole anyway.

 

[flapajack]

I've just seen confirmation from a dealer of that MG4 base price.

If the 64kwh model comes in at under £30k, I think the Ora Cat is truly DOA, irrespective of how well it may be selling overseas. Trying to establish an entirely new mass-consumer brand with a budget-ish car pretending to be premium with competitions like MG (and hopefully soon other entrants such as BYD, etc) will be well and truly fooked.


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