Straight from the horse's mouth: Here's the deal at TVR
It seems that the never-ending story of TVR has been given a new chapter. Russian Nikolai Smolenski, just days after selling the company, has bought it back for an additional £2 million. This time he has additional backing from two Americans. CAR Magazine interviewed all three of them to get the whole story in their own words.
Smolenski, apparently, will be a part-time partner. Jean Michel Santacrue and Adam Burdette from Florida will eventually take over the operation, with Smolenski backing away after he recovers some of the £15 million he has dumped into the company so far. The Americans, meanwhile, plan to reintroduce and grow the marque. They say the plan is to sell 5,000 cars a year. They even say they already have 2,000 pre-orders from American buyers. A U.S. dealer network is also said to be in the works. Of the 5,000 units annually, 2,000 will go to the U.S., 2,000 to Asia, and 1,000 to Europe. Cars are expected to reach dealers as early as the end of this year or possibly the beginning of 2008.
Follow the jump for the rest of the story.
[Source: Car Magazine]
U.S. sales will depend on TVR getting type approval, as the cars were never certified for American sale. If that goes through, actual production is still a roadblock. The company will most likely take manufacturing from Blackpool to Italy, where it is hoped either Bertone or Pininfarina will build the cars using many British components. Even British engineers and designers are being employed to develop two new models based on the Sagaris and Tuscan. It is, after all, the car's Britishness that makes it appealing to international buyers, according to its new owners.
The final question mark in all of this is whether TVR as a brand has sustained too much damage from two years of uncertainty. Santacrue, naturally, says TVR is definitely worth saving, 'The brand has been around for 60 years, I don't think two months of bad press will destroy TVR. The brand is still very strong.' We suppose that will depend on how many of the unanswered questions get answered, and when. We also predict that a lot rests in the hands of the designers. If the cars are as good as we hope they will be, then the sales will come.
Follow the read link for the whole story, with more quotes and observations.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mattlach 6:37PM (3/06/2007)
This Nikolai Smolenski is a real odd duck.
First he buys the company, then somehow succeeds to lose portions of it, offers to sell off the rest, but then buys the whole thing again.
Then he sells it again, and buys it back at a $2M loss.
How does someone with this kind of business sense become a millionaire anyway?
I'm not betting on the fact that this will work out, but I admit that it would be really nice to have a lower cost European sports car for sale in the U.S.
But judging from other car companies with limited releases in the U.S. (Like Land Rover Defender) these cars that are relatively affordable in the U.K. will likely be pretty expensive here!
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Jeff Banks 6:44PM (3/06/2007)
Isn't there a little more you have to do before you can sell a car in the U.S? I imagine there's a lot of crap you have to take care of (like emissions, safety crap, ABS and such) that I don't think TVR's come with. Regardless, i'd love to see American roads sprinkled with quirky TVR sports cars, but I won't hold my breath.
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jjpg2000 6:50PM (3/06/2007)
The EU requires all new cars to come with ABS. The US doesn't.
The EU and the US both require Air bags.
TVR's have none of these.
I for one hope they succeed, they look scary as heck and fun as hell to drive.
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ckm 7:12PM (3/06/2007)
To sell a car in the US, you basically need the following:
1. Crash/safety approval (aka type approval)
2. EPA approval
3. $500 million in liability insurance
It's important to note that #2 is hard enough that Panoz wound up using the entire Mustang fuel system rather than design their own. #1, according to Tango, a small electric car manufacturer in Oregon, costs around $20-$40 million and has to be run by an approved engineering firm (Lotus, Porsche, etc). I know that Panoz spent upwards of $500 million to get off the ground.
Of course, this is just a quicky summary based on what I have learned over the years, there's much, much more to it that just these three things...
Chris.
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Dave 7:15PM (3/06/2007)
I too am excited if this whole ordeal makes it through. However, like poster #1 mentioned, the price seen in the UK, being comparatively lower than other sports cars offered there might not share the same sentiment here in the states. However, knowing that TVR is slowly handed over to us, safety features would most likely have a place in the future. On the flip side, this is probably just another reason to drive costs higher.
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The Doctor 8:03PM (3/06/2007)
Note to Smolenski Senior: Cut off your son's pocket monkey, recall him to Moscow and stick him in the Lubyanka.
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Barney 10:56PM (3/06/2007)
I have a friend who bought one of these. He seen it once when driving home and the second time he followed the owner home and bought it. We called it Christine after the same neame used in the Steven King novel. It had Triumph running gear with NSU carbs. He evntualy sold it when he and his wife had a kid. I road in it a few times and was amazed how eccentric it was but funnnnnnn!
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doglet 6:10AM (3/07/2007)
i give a 10% chance that TVRs will be sold ANYWHERE ever again. and an insignificantly small chance that they will be sold in the US.
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Bob-o 11:47PM (3/06/2007)
Did you all not read? He bought it back, with the backing of several other investors, reducing his stake in the company.
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Disgone 11:37PM (3/06/2007)
Hope to see these in the US.
This whole he sold/bought/sold/bought/sold/bought thing sounds like the most public money laundering scam ever.
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Phil Burt 5:29AM (3/07/2007)
Quote "4. The EU requires all new cars to come with ABS. The US doesn't.
The EU and the US both require Air bags.
TVR's have none of these.
I for one hope they succeed, they look scary as heck and fun as hell to drive.
Posted at 6:50PM on Mar 6th 2007 by jjpg2000"
The EU does not require airbags otherwise how would TVR be selling cars in the first place. Regarding ABS there is some sort of EU directive on that - but again I haven't seen a lot of small manufacturers take that too seriously.
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Gordon Mackenzie 9:27AM (3/07/2007)
I think Morgan spent £5 million, worked with Siemens, and crashed 22 Aero 8s, getting type approval for the US. They don't make their own engines though; TVR do.
So it's not impossible, but it's a long hard struggle.
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White Goodman 10:18AM (3/07/2007)
I'd buy one. A Sagaris in Porsche's "Man of Chile Gray" with flat black powder-coated wheels. Bad Ass.
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Benjamin Levy 2:06PM (3/07/2007)
I'll believe it when I see it. I would probably rather get a Lotus if I had the money just because of this mess.
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