At last! TVR talks to the media about engines...
Discussion
The Cardiff guys had a near miss by the sounds of it.
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=13&t=245903
Although there's no denying that Wales is a 'gap' on the map, Cardiff wasn't in the list of 5 in the article. I wonder how the dealers in Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Midlands feel about TVR's strategy to fill 'gaps' next door to them? There's strategy for you.
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=13&t=245903
Although there's no denying that Wales is a 'gap' on the map, Cardiff wasn't in the list of 5 in the article. I wonder how the dealers in Yorkshire, Lancashire and the Midlands feel about TVR's strategy to fill 'gaps' next door to them? There's strategy for you.
vixpy1 said:
Does anyone else get the impression that dealing with the factory from a dealers point of view is a nightmare?
Very much so. The OFT action was a long time coming. TVR's about turn with its "[reminder to all dealers] of their obligation to supply independents" makes the dealers look like villains of the piece. 
Kind of hides the fact that anyone might have put pressure on dealers not to supply "a garage that used to be one of our dealers"...
For me, the problem is that nothing has changed significantly. I'm not arguing that build quality, or S6 longetivity is not better than it was in 2001, but my question is "How much better?"
For me that means I'll be sticking with TVR, but I'll be sticking with my current Tuscan for a long time yet, even if it becomes "Grandfathers Axe", complete with an Autocraft rebuild to go with it's current Nitron suspension and CCC exhausts etc.
I would love a factory new Sagaris, but it would cost me £35k (or more) to change up to a new one, and whilst I am sure the Sag is a better car, it isn't THAT much better.
If I think like this, as a die hard TVR enthusiast who for 5 years has used TVR's as daily drivers, how is NS going to get people out of 911's and into TVR's?
For me that means I'll be sticking with TVR, but I'll be sticking with my current Tuscan for a long time yet, even if it becomes "Grandfathers Axe", complete with an Autocraft rebuild to go with it's current Nitron suspension and CCC exhausts etc.
I would love a factory new Sagaris, but it would cost me £35k (or more) to change up to a new one, and whilst I am sure the Sag is a better car, it isn't THAT much better.
If I think like this, as a die hard TVR enthusiast who for 5 years has used TVR's as daily drivers, how is NS going to get people out of 911's and into TVR's?
BossCerbera said:
...how is NS going to get people out of 911's and into TVR's?
He isn't. He's doing a fine job of getting people out of TVRs into 911s.
To be fair to NS, any exodus of either current or prospective TVR owners to Porsche or other marques, would have already started long before the NS era.
NS has focussed to date on trying to restore some confidence in the brand, through improving build quality, reliability and the introduction of the new warranty. It looks as if he's continuing to concentrate on these areas with new factory facilities and more recently in trying to build a better dealer network. Has he been successful so far ?. I think most would say the jury's out, though build quality has improved overall and the 3 year warranty has been a great boost. Some will argue the SP6 reliability issues have now largely been sorted, but clearly only time will tell.
IMHO, NS has implemented the sort of measures that any good business manager would have put in place. What I'm waiting to see, is the first new model in the NS era. Will NS continue in the traditional TVR vein of building head turning, distinctive, original and quirky cars with tarmac chewing supercar performance for little more than mid-range teutonic executive car money. For me this is the niche market TVR should continue to focus on. A lower entry model TVR, that can still out-perform the Boxsters, TT's, Z4's, SLK's & S2000's of this world would, I think, work for TVR, but cars in the £75k brackett - forget it as the expectation in terms of build quality would probably exceed what TVR could deliver.
s5tvr said:
To be fair to NS, any exodus of either current or prospective TVR owners to Porsche or other marques, would have already started long before the NS era.
Not so in my case! I got back into a TVR because of the 'promise' of improvements from NS - The build quality was sh1te! and that's why I got out after 10 months of hassle!
Also running under this thread www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=252782&f=13&h=0 >> Edited by purpleperil on Saturday 18th March 08:36
I wander how many times a day does NS wish he never parted with his millions 
Running a car manufacturer isnt as easy as most think and then one with a reputation for being notoriously unreliable too - I bet he wishes he invested the money in Tesco shares or something.... lol
Lets hope he does get his PR right, cos thats one department thats definitely died a death since takeover from Wheeler.
Goodluck NS! Wouldnt want to be ya!
My estimates predict it will take him at least 20 years to make his money back taking into account the current sales count.... poor sod.
He's dreaming if he thinks he'll break foreign markets, he'll need to throw in a large packet more, 2 to 3 times more than what he paid for the company to build solid networks across the waters.... good luck to him again.
Running a car manufacturer isnt as easy as most think and then one with a reputation for being notoriously unreliable too - I bet he wishes he invested the money in Tesco shares or something.... lol
Lets hope he does get his PR right, cos thats one department thats definitely died a death since takeover from Wheeler.
Goodluck NS! Wouldnt want to be ya!
My estimates predict it will take him at least 20 years to make his money back taking into account the current sales count.... poor sod.
He's dreaming if he thinks he'll break foreign markets, he'll need to throw in a large packet more, 2 to 3 times more than what he paid for the company to build solid networks across the waters.... good luck to him again.
I should just hold off a bit before slating the company right now. I was in a meeting with Ian Law, David Oxley and Roger Billingworth etc the week before last and after the comparable drought of information coming out of the factory since NS took ownership things most certainly seem to be on the up with the mood becoming pretty much upbeat.
I genuinely believe the NS is passionate about the company, O.K. he has made a couple of blunders such as the modified cars etc but he is 24 FFS.
It's pretty safe to say that he has probably saved TVR in it's current independant form.
I genuinely believe the NS is passionate about the company, O.K. he has made a couple of blunders such as the modified cars etc but he is 24 FFS.
It's pretty safe to say that he has probably saved TVR in it's current independant form.
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