After Job Losses Local Lawmaker Wants Elio Investigation

[booboo]

Because of the header "Job Losses"
Ford plans to cut workforce by 10 percent
I hope Elio can get up and running before any recessionary pressures become too great.
I think Elio's would sell very well in a recession, due to the low cost upfront and ongoing.

 

[W. WIllie]

That's 10% "WORLDWILD". How many in the USA hasn't been stated yet.

 

[Ty]

No, but I will. What Paul is talking about is ancient history. EM did not have the money to even begin to tool the freaking plant, much less move in.
And they still don't. I'm very disappointed in Paul Elio for insinuating such nonsense in an effort to divert attention and lay blame elsewhere.
Think about it. Even inferring that someone else caused EM a six month delay in moving into the plant? Are you freaking serious?
EM still doesn't have the funds or even a true production-ready prototype to base the tooling on! OMG. This is crap.

And, as far as the article and the reporter...

"Pierson also tells KEEL listeners what he know about rumors that auto manufacturer Range Rover was set to move into the plant,
a move that was squashed, some say, by Caddo Parish’s previous deal with Elio."

What Caddo Parish deal with Elio?

And just what current "negotiations" is Pierson talking about? The LED has no current leverage or agreement with anyone involved in this.

Just how stupid do both sides in this think we actually are? Besides the fact that the article has a glaring typo...

I'M TIRED OF SAYING THIS AND I'M ONLY GOING TO SAY IT ONE LAST TIME..

CADDO PARISH / IDB HAVE NEVER HAD, NOR DO THEY NOW HAVE, ANY DIRECT "DEAL" OR "DEALS" WHAT-SO-EVER WITH EM.

Even the parish Commissioners publicly agree with that.

And Stu and his SBP/IRG can basically do whatever they want (or they can choose to do nothing) with that property until Dec. 2018 with impunity.

That said, from now on, I'm going to let people spread all the misinformation that they want. It took a lot, but now I'm pissed.

I've been hanging in there through all of this, but Paul just blew his credibility with me 100%.
I told you that he never should have met with these people. This is absolutely sicking.
I'm going to have to go take a bath to wash the crud off after all this.

IMO, Paul Elio just shot a hole in his leaking rubber raft.
Concerning everyone involved in this (or claiming to be involved in this)...
This even tops politics. I haven't seen behavior like this since I was in elementary school.

Do you not remember the 6 month delay caused by that whole situation? I do. That delay caused Elio to not be able to apply for funding, make funding moves, or do much other than tour around a vehicle. It was a huge waste of time at a time when Elio was just picking up steam. From that same debacle, the news mis-reported that Elio had lost the factory, that they were being moved out, etc... Anyone who was looking at getting involved in Elio at the time would have definitely been influenced by all the false news. It was disheartening. I don't blame Paul for mentioning it one bit. The Caddo Parish DEFINITELY owns at least SOME of the blame. Remember, Paul couldn't even get COMAU into the plant to start assessing the equipment or line for 6 months. 6 months! Just remembering those days brings back the dread and disbelief that Shreveport shot itself in the foot while trying to discredit the only person bringing jobs INTO the area. Go find my post about all the companies abandoning Shreveport if you think they have tons of options. Go look through neighborhoods there. Go look at my in-laws' neighborhood (but you'd better be armed). It's sad that Shreveport is run by people who apparently can't keep their facts straight and have the business acumen of an 11 year old girl setting up a lemonade stand.

Rant concluded.

 

[Ty]

July 1st 2017 is going to be a very significant date.
If EM cannot renegotiate/extend it's equipment agreement with RACER, and Stu doesn't open his piggy bank once again...
$7.5M in fines will be due. $7.5M that EM does not currently have.

Think about that amount in the context that it took new legislation and just about moving heaven and earth...
for EM to raise $17M that was $8M short of the $25M they had hoped to raise in the A+ offering.
And we saw what... Five incomplete E-series vehicles produced?

Seems to me that a whole lot of this project, and consequently your stock, is riding squarely on Stu's shoulders at this point.

Please don't talk about the mysterious SEC rules and the ever-imminent top-secret nine-figure investors anymore.
My sides already hurt and my BS meter pegged a long time ago.

The $7.5M fine deadline was extended to Jan 01, 2018.

 

[Ty]

That's ancient history. That happened a couple of years ago. Road Ranger is long gone. That's part of the reason everybody in LA is so pissed.

So... where are Range Rovers built now? In 2015, they were building a new plant in Slovakia...

 

[Elio Amazed]

It's sad that Shreveport is run by people who apparently can't keep their facts straight and have the business acumen of an 11 year old girl setting up a lemonade stand.

Not to mention that some of them have mouths totally unbecoming of public figures.
I hope you noticed that I didn't give them a pass on blame.

On the other, I stand corrected. Please accept my apology.

 

[Ty]

As disillusioned as I now am with Paul, and as pissed as I am with his and the rest of the players' behavior...
I don't think that's how this story went. I pitched a bitch when EM started spending money for fancy ads and national cable airtime.
I felt it was inappropriate and I saw then how the newly obtained money was flying out of the EM coffers in numerous streams.

I made those concerns known at that time.The reaction I got from most reservation holders was something like...
"Aw, faggetaboutit! Paul knows what he's doing!." Concerning Paul's pay... Several members made the valid point some time ago...
That it's not in a company's best interest regarding their image to pay the lesser officers more than the CEO.

So If EM was to have competent officers, they needed to pay them accordingly.
And Paul needed to be paid at least as much as the rest according to accepted industry SOP.
It succeeded in maintaining the image of a standard hierarchy for a while, but it seemed to fail to establish competency.

I believe that Paul never had the slightest inkling of how to come in under, or at, budget on the E-series.
Especially after EM started spending a large portion of that earmarked capital in wasteful ways...
To keep the (in their minds) all-important perpetual reservation machine running.

The thing that baffles me is that EM has had some formidable automotive experts on their board.
Could it be that they were past their prime, or was it that Paul just wouldn't listen to them and continued to "chart his own course"?

And again, they themselves (before they payed Roush to give them a reality check) didn't seem to realize what a thrown together crate they'd built.
The concept was brilliant, but these seemed to be people with not much more than a brilliant concept and good intentions...
That had absolutely no realistic idea of how to bring the product itself all the way to fruition.

These were people who seemed to have a talent for solving problems with that age-old catastrophic method of "Throwing money at it."

I think listening to the automotive experts is why they went through money so fast and also why they didn't produce more of the E-series. Someone said "Hey, you need to switch to a space frame and steel body panels if you are going to produce in volume." Paul listened. Why produce a bunch of E-series using old frames or body panels? That would be a waste. Paul bit the bullet, spent the money on engineering even though it would LOOK better to have a bunch of prototypes running around. He did that even though it was the tough decision. He has a bunch of industry experts and is obviously listening to them or else we'd be stuck with a roll cage, plastic panels, weird exhaust bulge, Elgin dash, and poor handling. Thank goodness they spent money on research early on!

 

[Elio Amazed]

I think listening to the automotive experts is why they went through money so fast and also why they didn't produce more of the E-series. Someone said "Hey, you need to switch to a space frame and steel body panels if you are going to produce in volume." Paul listened. Why produce a bunch of E-series using old frames or body panels? That would be a waste. Paul bit the bullet, spent the money on engineering even though it would LOOK better to have a bunch of prototypes running around. He did that even though it was the tough decision. He has a bunch of industry experts and is obviously listening to them or else we'd be stuck with a roll cage, plastic panels, weird exhaust bulge, Elgin dash, and poor handling. Thank goodness they spent money on research early on!

Yep. I completely agreed with that "thank goodness" in my earlier post in so many words.
However, I'm thinking a lot of money might have been saved had Paul started listening a few years earlier.
You have to admit that the $17M seemed to go a hell of a lot further than anything the previous $123M accomplished.

That to me is absolutely amazing.

You're saying thank goodness they spent money on research early on.
I'm saying thank goodness they finally accepted/bought some professional help.
But IMO, it's going to be a nail-biter to see if they've changed horses too damn late.

 

[Ty]

Not to mention that some of them have mouths totally unbecoming of public figures.
I hope you noticed that I didn't give them a pass on blame.

On the other, I stand corrected. Please accept my apology.

No worries. I try not to take anything personally. I mean, who knows what the future will bring? GM and Chrysler both went out of business and I'm SURE they have industry experts employed. Elio is definitely rowing upstream.

 

[booboo]

I think listening to the automotive experts is why they went through money so fast and also why they didn't produce more of the E-series. Someone said "Hey, you need to switch to a space frame and steel body panels if you are going to produce in volume." Paul listened. Why produce a bunch of E-series using old frames or body panels? That would be a waste. Paul bit the bullet, spent the money on engineering even though it would LOOK better to have a bunch of prototypes running around. He did that even though it was the tough decision. He has a bunch of industry experts and is obviously listening to them or else we'd be stuck with a roll cage, plastic panels, weird exhaust bulge, Elgin dash, and poor handling. Thank goodness they spent money on research early on!

I agree 100%. The model Paul has always seen for Elio is mass production. It has to be 99% right from the start. The idea being, this is not a 100,000 dollar elite vehicle, but a 10,000< dollar ordinary people's vehicle.
"Tesla sold about 2,450 Roadsters in over 30 countries."
Elio will make that many Elio's very in short order when started.
There has been nothing like this for many many years in the USA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster