Tuesday 27th April 2010

Caterham Raises Output To Shorten Wait Lists

Buoyant demand drives capacity increase at Dartford factory

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Caterham has announced plans to ramp up output by 26percent, as well as increasing its Dartford factory headcount by 20percent this year.

The Caterham Superlight R500

The move is intended to help meet demand for the Seven, and the increase in capacity will go some way to shortening a current 3-4 month waiting list, the company says.

"Despite the economic background we have recorded an extremely positive sales period," says Ansar Ali, Managing Director of Caterham Cars. "Adding to our capacity merely underlines our position in the market.

In the UK, the Roadsport 175 and the more track-focused Superlight R300, remain the most popular models, just ahead of the entry-level Ford Sigma-powered Roadsport 125.

Since its launch in March 2008, Caterham's range-topping Superlight R500, which can hit 60mph in under 2.9 seconds, has sold around 100 units worldwide to date - a figure its predecessor took five-years to achieve.

Ali adds: "The export market has certainly been boosted by the exchange rate, but more decisively by our success in achieving European Type Approval last year and the launch of the Ford Duratec powered Roadsport 175."

[cliffie]

Hooray, a British car manufacturer and exporter Gordon Brown has not murdered...

[louismchuge]

Exposure on top gear can really do a lot for a company can't it!

[soad]

That is good news!

[sunsurfer]

Excellent news.
The Caterham 7 in all its incarnations is great but I wish they would produce another model too. I thought the ill fated 21 was great but their bad luck to bring it out same year as the Elise and with a £28,000 price tag.

Why not have another go? Maybe there is a market for a more useable and a daily driving 7?

[scubadude]

Gotta hand it to them, that kind of progress in light of the recent climate is a damn fine job!

(Now if they'd only make a budget version I might finally be a potential customer!)

[toxgobbler]

scubadude said:

...
(Now if they'd only make a budget version I might finally be a potential customer!)

+1, until then I'll get my speed fix on two wheels.

[taziolite]

As a propugnator for kitcars in Italian Market dating from 2001 Catheram Cars, the originals always remain out of my bydget. Due also to the high exchange rate of GBP.
Me too hooray for the success and ad my contribution if Catheram will remake the type 21. Actually driving a SSC Stylus the 21 shape is not so far IMHO.
best wishes

[Oddball RS]

To be fair it was Blair and that t*at Stephen Byers that did the murdering.

[A Scotsman]

cliffie said:

Hooray, a British car manufacturer and exporter Gordon Brown has not murdered...

True and good to hear but if they do too well you can guarantee that either some smart erse private equity company or the Chinese will start sniffing round them.

[TheRoadWarrior]

3-4 month wait for a small volume British sports car?

Doesnt seem so bad, i've got 9weeks left to wait out of a projected 12 for my next car.. which is a Renault!

[White-Noise]

I would love one of these babies if they came within budget!

[Rickrjt]

Start with a Roadsport 125 and build it yourself, makes for an affordable entry to the Seven range.

If you get upgrade-itus it can be turned in to a Superlight slowly over a few years...

Will barely depreciate as well.

[jon.b]

A Scotsman said:

cliffie said:

Hooray, a British car manufacturer and exporter Gordon Brown has not murdered...

True and good to hear but if they do too well you can guarantee that either some smart erse private equity company or the Chinese will start sniffing round them.

I thought a private equity company did buy Caterham Cars back 3-4 years ago when the Nearns sold the business.

[BertBert]

jon.b said:

I thought a private equity company did buy Caterham Cars back 3-4 years ago when the Nearns sold the business.

Yep, one wonders what their plan is. PE is there to buy, own and sell.
Bert

[bikemonster]

sunsurfer said:

Excellent news.
The Caterham 7 in all its incarnations is great but I wish they would produce another model too. I thought the ill fated 21 was great but their bad luck to bring it out same year as the Elise and with a £28,000 price tag.

Why not have another go? Maybe there is a market for a more useable and a daily driving 7?

Why would they need to? A new model would be a high risk option, and they are selling all the Sevens they can make. Plus they are in a unique market position, manufacturing updated incarnations of a 50 year old design.

They have done a great job developing new versions of the Seven.

On top of that, the Seven is one of very few "unadulterated" sports cars currently available.

Their approaching is working very well indeed - if it were your company would you still be so keen on change?

[huwp]

Just hope they keep on top of quality control. As a current owner of a 125 Roadsport SV I have had all sorts of problems - and on a factory built car. That said the only thing I would replace it with would be an Atom.

[edb49]

I had the choice of an Atom or Caterham, and ended up going the Caterham route. It's a simple formula that's not changed much in over half a century, and for good reason.

[sunsurfer]

bikemonster said:

Why would they need to? A new model would be a high risk option, and they are selling all the Sevens they can make. Plus they are in a unique market position, manufacturing updated incarnations of a 50 year old design.

They have done a great job developing new versions of the Seven.

On top of that, the Seven is one of very few "unadulterated" sports cars currently available.

Their approaching is working very well indeed - if it were your company would you still be so keen on change?

If it were my company I think I would be keen on expanding. They've done a fantastic job with the 7 I'm just wondering what else could they turn their eye to?
Yes a new model would be a high risk option but I would like to see them take a risk and produce something surprising for us.

[Bruce Fielding]

I don't think 3-4 months is an unreasonable time to wait for a new car. And I'm sure I'm not alone, given that people are happy to wait that long (and much longer) for similar cars.

So why are they doing this? It doesn't make sense in a financially unstable climate to reduce your waiting lists unless you have a cashflow issue. Alternatively, is it the projected extra demand from Europe which is driving the expansion? That would make more sense. Or are they going to look for a buyer in a year or so and want a bigger business for then?

The PR story just isn't credible... what's behind it?

(Just to say I'm not trying to stir things up - I like Crates as well - I just don't fit in them, hence the Atom.)