A little-known British EV start-up has been quietly recruiting some of the industry’s best-known executives as it gears up to launch an assault on the global luxury car market.
Named Forseven, the three-year-old firm is backed by cash-rich CYVN Holdings, an investment group majority-owned by the Abu Dhabi government. The group also owns Gordon Murray Technologies and recently took control of McLaren Automotive, the British brand's road-car division.
Forseven is clear in stating that it is a “British luxury” brand, working to the principle of “sophistication with purpose”.
What makes this UK start-up especially interesting is that it has managed to attract some of Britain’s biggest names, despite never having revealed any sort of car or concept. These include many who were at JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) during the firm’s purple patch in the early 2010s.
Its CEO is former JLR vehicle programme chief and board member Nick Collins, who was involved in the development of all current Range Rover, Discovery and Defender models. He also oversaw the development of the future electric Jaguars, and high-performance Range Rover SV models.
In charge of design is Alister Whelan, who held several high-ranking interior design roles at Jaguar between 2007 and 2021 and helped to launch the F-Type and F-Pace.
The firm’s managing director is Mike Flewitt, CEO of McLaren Automotive between June 2012 and December 2021, during which time the company launched landmark models including the P1 and Senna hypercars.
Forseven has also hoovered up several executives from Lotus, following that firm’s acquisition by Geely. These include Mike Johnstone, former commercial director of the Lotus Group, and Conor Horne, who led Lotus Cars’ operations in the UK and Ireland. Johnstone remains a commercial director with Forseven while Horne assumes the role of director of commercial readiness.
Forseven’s hiring spree continues: the company currently has dozens of high-profile vacancies listed on its website. That the company is still hiring a manufacturing process lead suggests it has yet to finalise a production-ready design, at the very least.
Still, Forseven says its cars will “blend British elegance with ferocious intelligence”, hinting at a focus on digital tech.
A suggestion of what will underpin Foreseven's future cars can be ascertained from a licensing agreement it signed last year with Nio – the Chinese car firm in which CYVN also has a $2.9 billion (£2.3bn) stake – to gain access to the company’s EV platforms.
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The first Forsevens could use a Gorden Murry developed chassis with Nio EV drive train, and i would also install a range extender petrol engine.
Everyone wants to make luxury goods or move their products upmarket, to make money as much money as fast as possible, forgetting about the 99% tha also buys things. The world doesn't need another luxury brand. I hope they fail.
Maybe someone should give them the telephone numbers of Infinity, Genesis and Ineos to ask how they got on?? Why is it so difficult for seriously rich and successful men to look at history and the rather obvious? How many £200,000+ luxury sector cars do they think they will sell? Far more interesting would be affordable, practical, attractive city runabours that are reliable and more attractive than a larger car. A super expensive Geely with Lotus badges on it is an idea for optimists only.