TVR Update
TVR has officially announced that it is to remain in Britain
As hinted at by owner Nikolai Smolenski last month (evo 093), TVR has officially announced that it is to remain in Britain. Manufacturing will move from the existing Bristol Avenue site to a more modern facility in Blackpool’s Squire’s Gate district, while a new ‘international headquarters’ will be established in Lancaster to house management, sales and marketing, and research and development. The company has also released sketches which give a feel for models under development.
In the medium term the factory is likely to move again to a state-of-the-art facility. It is also possible that some subassemblies will be outsourced where the required production skills don’t exist within TVR, such as hand-laying carbonfibre composites for curing in an autoclave or producing superformed aluminium components.
According to (ex-Lotus) consultant Nigel Gordon- Stewart, TVR will ultimately have to buy-in engines as it is the only cost-effective means of meeting ever-tougher emissions regulations and expanding into the American market. While unwilling at this stage to say from where those engines will be sourced, Gordon-Stewart does admit that the usual suspects (V8s from Ford and GM) don’t have sufficient cachet for potential TVR owners.
