Jump to content
The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Not looking good for TVR


Bobbeh

Recommended Posts

TVR are in incredibly deep shit. We are almost in May which is peak season for TVR- historicaly they have sold more cars in May than any other time of year, yet sales slumped during the winter, and have slumped further still to 2 cars a week. 2 cars a week wouldn't even cover the cost of staff wages for those who are left from this round of job cuts. All the good managers and engineers have left or been sacked since Nicolai bought the company.

 

The funny thing is, the cars themselves are actually the best they have ever been, but the reputation of the speed six engine is killing them- even if it's pretty much sorted now- in 2001 there was a 40% failure rate for the 4.0SP6. The 3.6 was a bit better, and since mid 2003 there has been a vast improvement in engine reliability, but some still went pop.

 

TVR have also been hit by a clutch problem- they are lasting 25k tops, and there is a 2 month waiting time for a new one- at £1k a time.

 

If I owned a AJP8 or SP6 engined TVR, I'd be utterly shitting myself and I'd be beside myself with grief if I owned the Speed12.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently TVR sold more cars last year than ever so cant be all bad, looks like they are going to be cut down tho.

 

The thing is TVR are very good at sorting out problems after sale there was a batch of prop safts that kept braking (1000 I think) that were used in the early griff 500's and TVR rang all the owners who had that prop shaft fitted and got the cars repaired with the new parts for free.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently TVR sold more cars last year than ever so cant be all bad, looks like they are going to be cut down tho.

 

The thing is TVR are very good at sorting out problems after sale there was a batch of prop safts that kept braking (1000 I think) that were used in the early griff 500's and TVR rang all the owners who had that prop shaft fitted and got the cars repaired with the new parts for free.

 

I think they built 700 cars last year, which is one of the lowest figures for a very long time, and nothing like "the glory years" of '96-2000 when they couldn't make Chimaera's, Griffiths and Cerbera's quick enough to satisfy demand, and the Tuscan wowing everyone who saw it.

Last years poor sales have only been eclipsed by this years even poorer sales. Franchised dealers are closing or changing manufactorers.

Under Peter Wheeler the aftersale was fair, but one of the first things Nicolai did was knock the good will rebuilds on the head.

 

The laid off 90 workers last summer- although they did re-employ 60 of them a few months later, but a further 125-150 were laid off this Easter- that's not a good sign.

 

It's also worth remembering that early Griffs would put the time frame to 1992- a hell of a lot changes in 14 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. You might also be interested in our Guidelines, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.