TVR Griffith EU red tape delays reborn sports car
Reborn brand suffers setback as EU rules hold up construction work on new factory
The reborn TVR project has been delayed by European Union rules causing a seven-month tender process for construction work on the factory.
TVR revealed the all-new Griffith at the Goodwood Revival in September last year, but public updates on the project have been infrequent.
Now Autocar can reveal that progress at TVR has temporarily stalled due to an unintended consequence of the Welsh government’s 3% purchase of a stake in the company alongside a £2 million loan earlier this year.
That deal means that TVR is now subject to EU rules around state funding, so the construction work needed to turn its currently dilapidated factory in Ebbw Vale, South Wales, has had to go out to tender across the entire EU, rather than to only local firms.
That seven-month process is ongoing, and won’t be completed until January 2019, meaning construction work on the new factory is still many months away from starting.
First deliveries of the new Griffith had been slated for early 2019, but that target is now optimistic given the significant amount of work still needed to hit that deadline.
“It’s frustrating, that’s for sure,” TVR boss Les Edgar told Autocar. He revealed that the construction work will take around six months once the tender is awarded and the contractors take over the site. In the meantime, TVR is hoping to carry out some if its own prep work on the site to help speed up the process.
Edgar cannot put a date on when production will start, but said it’s possible some work could begin in March at a building next door to the factory that TVR had planned to use for training and development.
As for the development of the car, Edgar said 75% of the parts had now been sourced for the Griffith, which will used a Ford-sourced and Cosworthtuned 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 with 500bhp.