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Gautam Sharma11 Jul 2013
NEWS

Caterham's growth plans and TVR's resurrection

In decline for the past few decades, the British car industry appears set for a resurgence of sorts

Best known for its lightweight, open-wheeled sportsters, UK’s Caterham is now plotting an SUV and subcompact car in partnership with Renault, as part of its bid to position itself as a global player.

A Reuters report has quoted Caterham boss Tony Fernandes as saying the proposed new models would be vital in enabling the brand to gain a foothold in the burgeoning Asian market.

“Sports cars will do well but the city car and SUV are what the [Asian] market really wants,” Fernandes said.

“If we get the SUV right it will be huge.”

According to the Reuters report, Caterham has ambitious plans of emulating the success of the compact-sized (yet premium priced) Range Rover Evoque.

The mainstream models will follow in the wheeltracks of the new sportscar (pictured) that will be jointly developed by Caterham and Renault’s Alpine sub-brand.

This partnership will leverage both carmakers’ resources and expertise gained from their involvement in Formula One. Caterham has its own F1 team, while Renault engines currently power the Lotus, Red Bull, Williams and Caterham F1 cars.

Rather than being developed from scratch, the proposed Caterham SUV and subcompact will be based on Renault platforms and shipped in semi-finished form for final assembly in Asia. This move is aimed at further reduce cost.

According to Fernandes, the new crossover and minicar could generate much greater volumes than the “several thousand” Alpine and Caterham sportscars forecast last year by Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn when the tie-up was announced.

Fernandes conceded the Caterham brand is “unheard of in Asia, but it will become better known as we move up the F1 grid.”

He added, “The new models will have Renault engines so it’s important to have a Renault engine in the F1 car.”

Meanwhile, the dormant TVR sportscar brand appears set for a resurrection as the rights to manufacture the marque’s vehicles and components have reportedly been sold back to British interests.

Adding fuel to the fire, TVR’s official website is fronted by the message: “Thunderous news: The distant rumble of rumour has turned to thunder and TVR is back in Britain!”

The recent sale of TVR was brought to light in an Autocar interview with TVR’s former owner, Russian banker Nikolai Smolensky, who confirmed the deal had been completed last month.

A more recent Autocar report suggests the first model of an all-new, all-British TVR range could be on the market in two years’ time.

The UK publication reports the newcomer will be part of an initial two-model range that will recapture the essence (but hopefully not the build quality and lack of reliability) of the TVR products made a decade ago under former owner, Peter Wheeler.

The recent British buyout of TVR was reportedly the brainchild of Les Edgar, who led an investor group in acquiring the brand’s name, design rights and assets.

According to Autocar, the intention for the reborn TVR is to “carry on where Wheeler left off, building powerful front-engined, rear-drive models that sound great and go hard.”

The new-age TVRs will allegedly be relatively free of electronic driver aids, which could make them an appealing proposition for purists and aficionados of traditional British sports cars. Equally, this could also limit their access to markets like Australia where electronic stability control is now mandatory.

In the Autocar interview Edgar conceded that key issues such as the location of a new factory, whether or not to build updated versions of past models and whether to use proprietary engines were still to be tackled.

“None of us has ever built a car but we have a fair bit of business know-how,” he told the publication.

“We’re clear about the kind of car we want to build, and we think we can bring fresh thinking to the whole thing.”

“It is a well-thought-out business plan, and at the root is the requirement to make money. We will all have a lot to lose. But we also know it can’t be an overnight success. I’d say it would take a minimum of three years to break even.

“We’re playing the long game,” Edgar said.

TVR Engineering was founded in 1947, but has had a chequered history and a series of owners. In recent times Wheeler was the best known. The one-time chemical engineer and oil industry millionaire died in 2009, five years after selling TVR to Smolensky.

The shutters were finally pulled down in July last year as its then owner Smolensky announced that the company was no longer financially viable.

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Written byGautam Sharma
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