Spyker SUV on the way with hybrid powertrain

Spyker Automotive is planning as many as four new cars over the next decade, including a petrol-electric super SUV and a cheaper six-cylinder sports car, as well as increasing production to 500 cars a year.

The company, which recently revealed the Spyker C8 Preliator Spyder at the Geneva motor show, is now on a stable post-bankruptcy footing. It is based in the UK, builds cars in Coventry with CPP Manufacturing and is benefitting from the depressed value of the pound that all UK exporters are currently taking advantage of.

The Spyker C8 Preliator Spyder joins the Preliator coupé in the range and will be the first car to benefit from the new 5.0-litre naturally aspirated V8 manufactured and supplied by Koenigsegg. The engine supply contract was signed on the opening day of the Geneva show. The first C8 Preliator Spyders will be delivered this summer.

Spyker boss Victor Muller also plans is to pick up on development of a model that came part of the way to maturity before the company got into its financial difficulties in 2014: a petrol-electric hybrid super-SUV called the D8 Peking to Paris that will be engineered in part by Lotus. The name salutes the original Spyker firm’s participation in the 1907 Peking to Paris rally.

“We went part of the way to producing what we called our super-SUV, or SSUV, a decade ago, before our troubles – and we were way ahead of the curve [for luxury SUVs] at the time,” Muller said.

“The original vehicle was called the D12 Peking to Paris, and was going to use a Volkswagen W12 engine, but we lost our funding before we could deliver it and had to pay back deposits to more than 200 customers. It wasn’t a great experience and I’m resolved that we will never go through it again.”

The SUV will use the same aluminium platform designed and engineered by Lotus before the firm’s bankruptcy, and will combine Spyker’s new Koenigsegg V8 with a rangeextender electric powertrain.

“It will be an advanced hybrid SUV and one of the most beautiful cars of its kind,” claimed Muller. “Its specifications are already set and, if things go well, I’d dream of showing it at the Geneva motor show in 2018.”

After the D8 Peking to Paris is delivered, Muller’s intention is to broaden the reach of the brand with a less-expensive six-cylinder sports car: the B6 Venator, originally shown in 2013. “This will become a core part of our product range,” Muller said, “giving us the volume and interest for a step-change in dealer presence and visibility. We’ll never have the volume to need our own retail outlets, but a car like the B6 Venator would allow us to have dedicated Spyker sales representatives with our dealers, and that would make a difference to our business.

“I’ve got a reputation for spreading our resources too thinly,” Muller said. “This is a lean and light company now. We need to focus on cars like the C8 Preliator, but we also have to plan for the future.”