Spyker drops C12, focusing on C8 and new SSUV

Spyker’s poor financial situation has forced it to drop plans for several new models and instead focus on just two cars, the C8 and upcoming four-door D12 Super Sport Utility Vehicle (SSUV). The C8 will still be available as the convertible Spyder as well as the Laviolette glass-roofed version but production plans of the newer C12 LaTurbie and the yet-to-be released Zagato edition will be shelved.

The news comes from recently appointed CEO Hans Hugenholtz, who told reporters from MY Business Media that the C8 was kept because it's cheaper to produce than Spyker’s other models and its sales will be the basis of the carmaker’s turnaround plan. With the twelve-cylinder C12 LaTurbie no longer in production, Spyker will be wasting the significant investment it placed in tuning the Volkswagen-sourced 450 hp (336 kW) 6.0 W12 engines. There may be hope with the possibility of using the powerplant for the new D12 SSUV but chances of this happening are slim.

Production of the D12 SSUV has been delayed until the fourth quarter of next year and there isn’t even confirmation of who will build the car. One option is outsourcing production to Germany’s Karmann but nothing has been confirmed, said Hugenholtz.