Let’s dispose of the niceties: TVR needs to be shuttered. The long-suffering company, which should have been allowed to rest in peace years ago, is still grinding on in a zombie-like fashion – and, according to the latest story from Autocar, it’s now seeking £25 million in additional investment.
TVR states in the article that the money will allow it to restart its activities and get production going by 2022, almost a decade after its revival was announced in 2013. Little has happened since, however, and it still faces so many hurdles that it’s difficult to imagine anyone taking the fresh calls for investment seriously.
For starters, £25 million isn’t much in terms of automotive manufacturing. Then there’s the fact that the company's planned factory in Ebbw Vale, South Wales, is still empty and in need of significant repairs, modernisation and – of course – outfitting for TVR production.
Any problem can admittedly be overcome if you throw enough money and energy at it. TVR, that said, has shown little ability to maintain momentum or, to be honest, any inclination to actually build any cars. It intends to use the much-vaunted iStream production process, for example, which is often talked about but appears to offer no tangible benefits and is subsequently seemingly employed by no one. That aside, iStream also is mooted to require little tooling, investment or staff training.
If so, then why hasn’t TVR set up shop somewhere else as a stop-gap solution? That way, at least, some development and production could take place to bolster interest in a car and brand for which enthusiasm has been rapidly ebbing away.
As reported by Autocar, TVR also says that it expects to have spent some £45 million on the project by 2022. Let’s blithely assume that means it’s spent £20 million so far; aside from cobbling the odd Caterham together, and restoring a handful of my own cars, I’ve no hands-on experience of automotive manufacturing – however, with £20 million at my disposal, I’m damned sure that I could have put together more than one prototype after several years.
In the meantime, at least, I would have certainly worked towards ensuring elements of it were complete and signed away – so that, when the green lights finally flashed, something would be ready to go. Instead, we’ve just a single prototype Griffith and considerable development is still required before a production version will be ready. That, coupled with the factory issues and everything else going on in the world at the moment, will inevitably lead to more delays, costs, discussions, excuses and disappointment.
Then there’s the time factor; the new – well, not any more – TVR Griffith was first unveiled in 2017, so by the time planned production begins the design will already be some five years old. The ongoing global march towards electrification and hybridisation also poses further question marks, although TVR does claim to have some answers on that front. And, of course, there are the myriad challenges posed by long-established competitors that are less costly, better supported, known quantities and well regarded.
When the revival of TVR was announced in 2013, there were reasons to smile. But, with a more realistic eye cast over its proposals and chances, it was clear that a rocky road lay ahead. Now, seven years down the line and after countless hours of hard work and millions burnt in investment, its position is arguably worse than it was several years ago.
Its own figures may put a new round of investors off, too; it claims to have 500 deposits, which translates to potential sales totalling £40 million – some £5 million less than it plans to have spent on the project by that point. A sensible and profitable proposition worth investing in? Not in a month of Sundays, particularly given the market, and even more so given today's economic climate and ongoing events.
Another problem among the countless it faces is that, even if TVR secures the required investment, it’ll be launching a niche product into a hotly contested and increasingly small sector. All the interest it has at the moment is possibly all the interest it will ever garner, primarily from those few remaining devout TVR enthusiasts who are still grimly clinging on to hopes of a new production Griffith. Its eventual crashing and complete death, as a result, appears unfortunately inevitable.
I don't wish anyone involved ill, of course, but let’s not draw it out: stop burning money, stop wasting time, stop expending effort and stop destroying all the goodwill and fond memories of the brand. Please, just let TVR go.
Keyword: Opinion: It’s time to stop, TVR