TVR finally hurdles factory delay
Griffith production closer to reality as a builder is selected for troubled Ebbw Vale site
It’s been four years since the relaunched TVR announced its intentions to build a new sports car; since then, we only have a Griffith prototype to show for its efforts. Recently, logistic issues relating to its planned Ebbw Vale production facility have prevented the brand from making real ground, but now, following an extensive EU-wide tender process handled by the Welsh Government, a constructor has been selected – meaning real work on the site should be able to begin this year.
TVR has reported on its Facebook page that the delay in announcing a contractor was related to the discovery of “some harmful and unusual substances” in the 200,000 square foot building, which used to be a Techboard factory, alongside “the condition of the main roof and the fire system's water storage tanks”.
Apparently the firm had also failed to foresee just how extensive the search for a building contractor would need to be as a result of Welsh Government financial backing. It had expected to be selecting from a small pool of local candidates, but EU investment requires that tenders are accepted from across Europe. Which sounds time consuming.
All of this meant that TVR has kept pushing back its expected launch date for the Griffith from the initial pledge of 2017. Only now, with a builder successfully nominated can the idea of building 2,000 cars a years said to be back on track - and even then the statement talks about “a few bits and pieces that need to be tied up.” The latest predictions suggest that first deliveries of the Launch Edition model ought to kick off in late 2020, with the volume car appearing a year later.
There's a lot of work involved in kitting out a 200,000 sq ft factory ( especially if there are problems with the roof ) and until it is finished, it is very hard to even start to recruit and then train the staff.
Someone has to take a close look at their critical paths, me thinks.
I really hope they succeed although Brexit and the potential import duties related to that can’t be helpful to pricing it competitively (I doubt that the UK buyers will gobble up 2k units - or whatever they need to sell to break even - a year)
https://www.tredegar.co.uk/tech-board/website/
although the back does remind me of a new Supra.I still think there's a market, look at the abject excuse of a sports car that the Supra has become.
Hopefully the delays will allow a redesign of the awkward looking bits.
It must be possible to produce a good looking 500hp, 6 speed manual, 2 door, 1200kg, rear wheel drive sports car for £60k in a way that's compliant and profitable.
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