Keen to focus on more volume sellers and capture a slice of that performance SUV pie, Spyker is hoping to renew efforts that were previously exploring fast high-rider prior to the company’s financial brushes with mortality a few years ago.
Specifically, these plans revolve around a concept car they brought to several motor shows called the D8 Peking to Paris. The oddly named vehicle (originally conceived as the D12 and meant to commemorate Spyker’s participation in the 1907 race of the same name) was a four-door coupe SUV with suicide doors and a 6.0-litre Volkswagen W12 engine prior to the project being scrapped.
Now, the ingredients are more accessible to Spyker than ever following the powertrain partnership it announced with Swedish hypercar boutique Koenigsegg, with their newest C8 Preliator supercar powered by a naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8 from their new collaborators.
According to Autocar, Spyker founder and CEO Victor Muller said that the new SUV will pick up development from where the company left off prior to 2014 and that the fruits of this may result in a five-seater SUV engineered in part with Lotus (chassis and suspension) and could feature a petrol-hybrid 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,” said Muller. Assuming this timeline will be fulfilled, it could be in the latter stages of next year before we see a production version hit the road around Spyker’s new home in the UK and elsewhere.
The resurgent sports car maker is also looking into expanding its portfolio in other ways, namely to increase production volume and capturing new customers with a broader range of models, including one more affordable entry offering (think Lotus Evora) with that will sit below the flagship C8 range and powered by a 6-cylinder engine of some sort, likely to be called the B6 Venator and based off another previous concept car.
“This will become a core part of our product range, 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.”, Muller added.
With as many as four new models said to be coming down the pipe, Spyker sees production numbers ballooning to 500 cars a year, constructing its hand-built machines in its new manufacturing assets in Coventry, England.
