SPYKER

Spyker Cars (/ˈspaɪkər/, Dutch pronunciation: [ˈspɛi̯kər]) is a Dutch sports car marque. The modern Spyker Cars holds the legal rights to the brand name.^[2] The company’s motto is “Nulla tenaci invia est via“, which is Latin for “For the tenacious, no road is impassable”.^[2] The marque’s logo displays the rotary engine of an airplane, a reference to the historic Spyker company which manufactured aircraft.^[7] In an attempt to save Spyker from bankruptcy, Swedish Automobile in September 2011, announced the immediate sale of Spyker to American private equity and hedge fund North Street Capital for €32 million (US$41 million).^[8] On December 18, 2014, Spyker confirmed that it deliberately had gone bankrupt, hoping to restructure its finances and getting back on its feet.^[9] However, the bankruptcy declaration was reverted early 2015 and the company announced to continue with the production of sports cars.

History

The reborn company was founded by Victor Muller and Maarten de Bruijn in 1999, and since 2000, Spyker has been building exclusive sports cars like the C8 Spyder and the C8 Laviolette (with its elegant glass roof).^[11] Spyker’s history of producing aero engines is reflected in details in these new cars as well as in the logo.^[11] Before building the C8, de Bruijn had been building small numbers of the Spyker Silvestris, which in many ways foreshadows Spyker’s later cars.

The C8 Laviolette and C8 Spyder have a 4172 cc Audi V8 engine delivering 400 bhp (298 kW; 406 PS), acceleration 0–60 mph in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 300 km/h (190 mph).^[12]^[13] On July 14, 2005, it was announced that the C8 was approved for sale on the United States market.

Between 2002 and 2006, Spyker built the C8 Double 12 S, which was available from the factory with 5 different levels of performance called Stage I (400 h.p.) through Stage V (620 h.p.), depending on the customer’s need for performance.^[16]

Between 2003 and 2007, Spyker built the C8 Spyder T, with the Twin turbo being developed in conjunction with Cosworth from England.^[17] These engines were capable of 525 h.p. and acceleration times of 4.0 seconds.^[18]^[19]

In 2005, the head designer and founder, Maarten de Bruijn, left the company, and founded Silvestris Aquamotive which builds aluminum space frame speed boats.^[20]^[21]

In 2006, Spyker built the C12 La Turbie with an V12 engine capable of 500 horsepower and acceleration from 0–60 mph in less than 4 seconds.

In September 2006, Spyker bought out the Midland F1 team.^[24] The team competed in the final 3 races of the 2006 season as Spyker MF1. In the 2007, the team competed as Spyker F1 using engines supplied by Ferrari. Driver Adrian Sutil was paired with Christijan Albers until the European Grand Prix where the latter was replaced by reserve driver Markus Winkelhock; the team then signed Sakon Yamamoto to fill in the slot for the rest of the year. The team itself had minimal success, suffering from multiple retirements (including double retirements in Malaysia, Canada and Brazil) before Sutil scored the team’s first and only point in Japan. At the end of the season, the team was sold to a consortium named “Orange India” led by Vijay Mallya and was subsequently renamed as Force India.^[25]

On May 27, 2004, Spyker Cars listed on the Euronext Amsterdam Stock Exchange at €15.50, falling to a low of €8.28 in April 2005.^[26] The stock rebounded sharply in early 2006 to over €22 per share.^[27]^[28] Early in 2007 the stock showed a sharp decline to levels beneath €13 because of financing issues.^[26] As a result, several stock issues were announced to big investors. Notably, all shares have been sold at higher prices than the market price at the moment of announcement.^{[citation needed]} On November 13, 2005, Spyker Cars and Mubadala Development Company, a principal investment company wholly owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates,^[29] announced their strategic alliance, with Mubadala acquiring 17% of Spyker.^[30] Mubadala has a strong relationship with sports cars, also controlling 5% of Ferrari.^[31]^[32]

In 2007, Spyker, in collaboration with the Italian car-design firm Zagato, produced the C12 Zagato, based on the C12 La Turbie, but with more appealing body work, faster speeds, and the Zagato trademark roof bubbles.^[33]^[34] This is perhaps the more exclusive Spyker car to date.^[35]

In November 2009, Spyker announced that it would be moving production from Zeewolde to Whitley, Coventry, where assembly would be done in partnership with CPP Manufacturing.^[36]^[37] UK production began in February 2010.^[38] Due to the bankruptcy of SAAB and a falling out with business partners, the production was not moved to the UK.

Ownership of Saab Automobile

On 26 January 2010, General Motors (GM) confirmed that Spyker and GM had come to an agreement allowing Spyker to purchase Saab Automobile,^[39] subject to regulatory and government approval; the sale was completed on February 23, 2010.^[40] General Motors will continue to supply Saab with engines, transmissions and also completed vehicles in the shape of the new Saab 9-4x from GM’s Mexican factory. The deal includes a loan from the European Investment Bank, guaranteed by the Swedish government. It comprises US$74m in cash up front, payable to GM by July 2010, and shares in Spyker to the tune of US$320m.

On February 23, 2010, Spyker Cars closed the deal to buy Saab Automobile from General Motors. Spyker and Saab operate under the parent company Swedish Automobile, named Spyker Cars N.V.^[41]

Saab Automobile quickly ran out of money and Spyker was unable to fund the losses. The companies stopped paying their bills early 2011. On March 30, 2011, production was halted at Saab Automobile, because suppliers refused to deliver without payment.^[42]

Spyker CEO Victor Muller made several attempts at acquiring funding. A joint venture with Chinese company Hawtai was announced on May 3, 2011, only to fall apart a week later. Shortly afterwards joint ventures with Chinese car maker Youngman, and Chinese car-dealership chain Pang Da were announced. Negotiations ended with Spyker attempting to sell all of the shares in Saab Automobile to the Chinese companies on October 28, 2011, for 100 million euros. This transaction did not have the approval of former Saab-owner General Motors, who refused to supply technological licenses to Youngman and Pang Da. The proposed deal fell apart. Spyker CEO Victor Muller applied for the bankruptcy of Saab Automobile on December 19, 2011.^[43]

On 16 April 2012, a meeting on Saab’s bankruptcy was held at the District Court of Vänersborg.^[44] The official receivers in charge of the Saab liquidation valued the assets at US$500m and the debt at US$2,000m. After subtracting the value of the assets, Saab leaves a debt of US$1,500m.^[45]

Proposed sales and eventual sale of Saab

In February 2011, it was announced that Swedish Automobile, the Dutch owner of Saab Automobile, agreed to sell its sports-car unit to Vladimir Antonov. Antonov, a former Spyker chairman and shareholder, was expected to pay 15 million euros (US$21 million) for the company.^[46]^[47] However, in March 2011, the deal fell through,^[48] with Spyker’s manufacturing partner CPP Manufacturing placing a bid, but this deal fell through later that month.^[49]^[50]

In September 2011, it was announced that Swedish Automobile would sell Spyker Cars, in an all-cash offer to an American private equity and hedge fund North Street Capital, for €32 million (US$41 million).^[51]^[52] In January 2012, Swedish Automobile again offered Spyker cars up for sale, but this sale did not actually occur. ^[53]^[54]

Saab was eventually sold in June 2012 to a Chinese-Swedish investment group called National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS).^[55]

In August 2012, Spyker announced that Youngman Ltd. acquired a 29.9% stake in its parent company Spyker N.V. for €10 million (US$12.5 million).^[56]

Spyker after Saab

In March 2013, the B6 Venator was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, the B6 Venator was noted as Spyker’s first concept car in nearly four years.^[57]

On September 16, 2013, Spyker Cars’ parent Spyker N.V. lost its listing on Euronext Amsterdam after failing to undergo a restructuring agreement.^[58]

On November 5, 2014, the Dutch Court “Midden Nederland” ordered Spyker to leave, within seven days, the factory they rented and to pay 152.000 euro in overdue rent.^[59] The claim was made by Jacques Walch, the owner of the factory rented by Spyker. Despite this, CEO Victor Muller insisted the company would be able to pay its bills “in a matter of days.”^[60]

On 2 December 2014 Spyker NV was granted a moratorium of payment (financial restructuring) by the Dutch court “Midden Nederland”. Spyker needed protection from creditors for its liquidity problems. Victor R. Muller, Spyker founder and chief executive, said “Over the past few years, Spyker has faced a number of serious difficulties and challenges resulting from, among others, the legacy of the F1 era and the acquisition of Saab Automobile AB,”.^[61]

On 18 December 2014 Spyker NV was declared bankrupt by the Dutch court “Midden Nederland”. Victor R. Muller, Spyker’s founder and chief executive, said “In 2000 our objective was to found a global sports car manufacturer, and we did just that. During this time we deployed several challenging activities. These have affected the company, and contributed to our decline,”.^[62] Spyker appealed the bankruptcy declaration, and on 29 January 2015, the court reversed the declaration. This meant that Spyker NV was protected from creditors, while solving its financial difficulties. This allowed Muller to pursue plans to merge Spyker with an unnamed “US based manufacturer of high performance electric aircraft.”^[10] This proposed merger partner was eventually discovered to be a company called Volta Volare.^[63]On May 13 of that year, Spyker NV closed a deal with the creditors. Spyker owed 44 million euro and agreed to pay 12.000 euro per creditor. The curator of Saab GB was the largest creditor; it claimed 24,9 million euro. Saab GB agreed to receive a payment of 61.000 euro.^[64] A following attempt by the Latvian bank Lizings to claim more money,^[65] was declined by the court.^[66]

On July 29, 2015, Spyker exited moratorium of payment (restructuring), and resumed business operations.^[67] In March 2016, Spyker announced the production of a new model, the C8 Preliator, at the Geneva Motor Show.