McLaren positive about TVR's return
Return of high-performance UK car maker will benefit the local auto industryResurrected British sports car brand TVR will soon unveil its first new vehicle in more than a decade, expected to reprise the Griffith name, and McLaren sees the marque's return as a good thing for the UK automotive industry.
During an interview at the 2016 Goodwood Festival of Speed in the UK – a potential launch venue for the new TVR car in 2017 – McLaren's global PR boss, Duncan Forrester, told motoring.com.au that TVR's return had many benefits.
"It's a great brand but also it acts as a broader magnet to talented engineers," said Forrester.
"We're a company that's only five years old. We're going through the same process that they will have to go through to build a company. And not just build a company that can deliver one car, but a sustainable business model.
"To do that you've got to find talented people," he observed.
TVR has been through a tumultuous time in the past couple of decades with several different owners, job losses, and the lack of a long-term business strategy.
But with more than 300 cash deposits for the new 2017 sports car, which will be powered by a Cosworth-tuned Ford Coyote V8 that could belt out up to 350kW, and a new manufacturing facility in Griffith, Wales under construction that will allow the company to ramp up build numbers, TVR appears to be on the comeback trail.
It's not clear whether the recent Brexit vote will have an effect on the car maker's plans, but as Forrester explains, the more car makers there are in Britain, the better.
"If TVR and JLR [Jaguar Land Rover] and lots of other brands are strong in the UK, that acts as a magnet for talented engineers to be in the UK, and that helps us with a bigger talent pool."
"There's no doubt that having good competition is a healthy thing," added Forrester, but he stopped short of labelling TVR a rival.
"Whether the market sees TVR and McLaren as competitors will remain to be seen at such point as TVR deliver a product. From what I've seen they're probably going to be at the lesser expensive end of what we do."
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