Posted on Tuesday 22 January 2008
Despite Spyker’s management reshuffles and financial setbacks of the past 12 months, the Dutch sports car company remains confident of launching several new models in coming years. The first of these will be a LWB version of the C8 Laviolette, which latest reports claim will be at March’s Geneva Motor Show, but the second and more important launch will be the new D12 SUV in 2009. Speaking at an investor conference recently, the President of Spyker’s management board Victor Muller confirmed the D12 would be launched next year.
With this latest model, Spyker will be focusing on the East European market for the first time. Eastern Europe has a preference for performance and luxurious 4WDs and the new D12 would be perfect for the market, Muller claimed. He also revealed that an automatic version of the C8 will be introduced “after the summer” because of numerous requests coming out of the U.S. and China for a self-shifting version. Currently, half of Spyker’s revenues come from the U.S., reports De Telegraph.
In fact, Spyker’s future is set to be much more closely aligned with the U.S. market. To protect itself from the unfavourable disparity between the euro and U.S. dollar, Spyker plans to source more of its components from across the Atlantic. Muller also hinted that U.S. production could one day be a possibility but didn’t go so far as to reveal any actual plans.
Does anybody care?
No, not with something that ugly.