Thursday 23rd January 2020

TVR appoints new CEO; laments factory issues

Ebbw Vale plant needs a new roof, depositors told. But Ford V8 supply secured

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It's fair to say we're all rooting for TVR. Reborn under Les Edgar's ownership the new firm promised us a Griffith built in Ebbw Vale, along with the jobs and economic boost that come with it. But lady luck has simply not been on its side, as evidenced by confirmation that the factory on the Rassau Industrial Estate needs a new roof. And you don't need to be a roofer to know that replacing the structure on an 180,000 sq ft site is going to be a costly, slow-paced process.

Edgar announced the news last month in an email to those who've paid a deposit for the Griffith - which naturally includes PHers, hence its immediate posting in the TVR forum - along with the promise that the company is "working hard with the Welsh government to resolve those issues and get the work underway". While refraining from providing a time frame (before the plant issues, TVR was set to begin production this year), Edgar did at least announce the signing of automotive project management expert Jim Berriman as TVR's new CEO.

"We hired [Berriman] because he brings incredibly valuable, end-to-end experience of getting new cars off the drawing board, into production and out into market," said Edgar, before emphasising the new arrival's success in turning Land Rover, BMW and Rolls-Royce models into reality. It's not yet clear whether Berriman's faced the challenge of a broken roof before... At least his CV suggests there'll be no messing around once the factory lid is replaced.

Still, clearly it's not ideal for Berriman to start with a another roadblock on the horizon - although news that Edgar's team has been able to secure ongoing engine supply from Ford might help sweeten things up a bit. The Blue Oval brand's very latest 5.0-litre V8 Coyote motor is set to be fitted to the production Griffith, meaning not only will the production Griffith get the Cosworth-fettled components it was first announced with, but also Euro 6d hardware to ensure it jumps through the regulatory hoops of a new decade.

A more tactile illustration of progress comes with news that the demonstrator Griffith - the one we were first shown at the 2017 Goodwood Festival of Speed - has just been registered with the DVLA, earning it a TVR-worthy 69-plate and the right to be driven on the road proper. Edgar said the car will head to several events across the UK this year, no doubt with the intention of luring in more deposits and affirming that this TVR project is not stillborn. That'll come as welcome news to just about everyone in the industry. And those with their money already on the line.

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Search for a used TVR here

[Venisonpie]

A total farce.

I imagine most PH'rs would welcome return of TVR however credibility is heading South fast.

[matlotus]

?????? Didn’t they survey the building before they signed up for it??

[Augustus Windsock]

This is becoming like ‘The Emperors New Clothes’
I’m a TVR fan and have previously owned them, but is it really possible for a so-called professional team to make so many comedic errors?
The way this is going I am starting to have doubts as to wether we will ever see production...

[Robmarriott]

“ A more tactile illustration of progress”

You’ve added ‘trat’ in the middle of a key word in this sentence for some reason.

[100SRV]

Robmarriott said:

“ A more tactile illustration of progress”

You’ve added ‘trat’ in the middle of a key word in this sentence for some reason.

[SpeckledJim]

What they're trying to do is NOT easy.

Sadly, they're not managing to make it look anything other than not easy.

[9k rpm]

Complete and utter farce. They are coming across as complete amateurs. How anyone could trust them enough to have given them their hard earned £££s is beyond me.

[Pickled Piper]

No one actually believed that they would get off the line, did they?

[Paddy78]

PH said:

But lady luck has simply not been on its side...

Is that bad luck? I would call it terrible management or at best a complete lack of due diligence. I hope they do make a success of this, but it's looking less and less likely with the people they have in charge.

[Rawwr]

Augustus Windsock said:

This is becoming like ‘The Emperors New Clothes’

I don't think you understood The Emperors New Clothes.

[BigChiefmuffinAgain]

I had to get a new roof on my 120,000 sq ft site 10 years ago, and the quote was well into 7 figures.... Very strange that this did not come up in a survey. I really fear for these guys - the delays in production must be killing their cash flow and you wonder if they have enough to ride this out. Sounds like car is at least 2 years away ( if all goes well... ) and the automotive world is moving on. There will probably be a new Boxster on the market, there already is the Alpine and there will be a RHD Corvette. Their offering is in danger of looking old before it's time.....

[chickensoup]

Building was getting a £5Million refurbishment in 2018
sounds a bit like an excuse

[Krikkit]

SpeckledJim said:

What they're trying to do is NOT easy.

Sadly, they're not managing to make it look anything other than not easy.

Indeed - some of it seems almost deliberately incompetent.

They should be watching Norton very carefully - another respected British brand rescued by a hopeful investor, they even managed to get a few customer machines out. Now they're going under because everything hinged on government grants and shoestring margins.

[cookie1600]

I've not got a deposit down on one and I wouldn't necessarily buy one if I was in that market. But I do want them to succeed and to take the name forwards in the way people have enjoyed (and still enjoy) them. But have they really only made one vehicle in all this time and can't they use the facilities where they put that one together to make say three to six more to get out into public view and on test?

Renting a unit and getting a few skilled operatives together to prototype a handful of assessment vehicles shouldn't be an issue and would help sort out pre-production glitches and methods before ramping up with iSTREAM or whatever. Perhaps they could contract out the first few to Gordon Murray Design (or another low-production manufacturer) and get something in front of perspective buyers, shows and journalists.

Signing up for a building that sounds like it's just a shell which needs a total re-build seems to be a little backwards, especially when they have made so much progress forward on the actual car design. I'd be in my 'lock-up' trying to perfect some pre-prod demo cars while all the logistics of a large production facility are being worked out and seemingly delayed quarter after quarter.

I know you need reductions of cost through scale. But at the moment, hand-building a few demo cars and loosing a bit of money on each one, has to be better than the negative impact continual delays through lack of production facilities is highlighting to prospective customers.

[Nikk]

I reckon they will not have paid anything for the factory. It will be one of a long list of sweeteners offered by the Welsh government to attract them to the area. So, yes, it looks a bit amateurish on the face of it but it's not like they had to find the cash for the place in a normal deal. The roof will be fixed by the government, so it won't cost them anything, but it's going to delay them and add to the cashflow issues as mentioned.

[Hellbound]

Nikk said:

I reckon they will not have paid anything for the factory. It will be one of a long list of sweeteners offered by the Welsh government to attract them to the area. So, yes, it looks a bit amateurish on the face of it but it's not like they had to find the cash for the place in a normal deal. The roof will be fixed by the government, so it won't cost them anything, but it's going to delay them and add to the cashflow issues as mentioned.

[cookie1600]

chickensoup said:

Building was getting a £5Million refurbishment in 2018
sounds a bit like an excuse

Can't they find a bank or tame bankers family to provide the money?

[Digga]

Nikk said:

I reckon they will not have paid anything for the factory. It will be one of a long list of sweeteners offered by the Welsh government to attract them to the area. So, yes, it looks a bit amateurish on the face of it but it's not like they had to find the cash for the place in a normal deal. The roof will be fixed by the government, so it won't cost them anything, but it's going to delay them and add to the cashflow issues as mentioned.

Reading further between those lines, the rules about what the Welsh government can and cannot do - state aid etc. - will be a lot looser, post Brexit, so there may also be very valid reasons for delay, albeit regrettable to those wanting to see progress.

[can't remember]

Leeky (sic) roof latest problem with new TVR. Works on so many (admittedly st) levels.

[cidered77]

So many miserable old bds queuing up to knock these guys... what they are trying to do it hard, very hard, and no matter what communications they put out The Internet is ready with lots of middle aged men calling out how terribly they are doing, likely from their safe office jobs.