Spyker Cars

Infobox_Company
company_name = Spyker Cars N.V.
company_
company_type = Public
company_slogan =
foundation = 2000, Zeewolde
founder = Victor Muller
location = Zeewolde, the Netherlands
key_people = Victor Muller, founder and CEO
Michiel Mol, investor
num_employees = --
industry = Automotive
products = hand-built cars
revenue = € 36.293 million (2006)
net profit = € 0.828 million (2006)
homepage = [http://www.spykerworld.com/ www.spykerworld.com]

Spyker Cars N.V. (Euronext [http://www.euronext.com/trader/summarizedmarket/0,5372,1732_6834,00.html?selectedMep=2&idInstrument=75694&isinCode=NL0000380830 SPYKR] ) is a Dutch hand-built automobile manufacturer, not related to or controlled by the previous Spyker company that went bankrupt in 1929. The modern Spyker Cars only has the legal right to the brand name. The company's motto is "Nulla tenaci invia est via", which is Latin for "For the tenacious, no road is impassable".

The company

The reborn company was founded by Victor Muller and Maarten de Bruijn, and since 2000 the company has been building exclusive sports cars like the C8 and the C8 Laviolette. Spyker's history of producing airplane engines is reflected in details in these new cars as well as in the logo.

The C8 Laviolette has a 4172 cc Audi V8 engine delivering convert|400|PS|0|abbr=on and a top speed of convert|300|km/h|mi/h|abbr=on. On July 14, 2005 it was announced that the C8 was approved for sale on the United States market.

In 2006 the Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris high-performance SUV was announced at the Geneva Motor Show, which began production in late 2007.

Spyker Cars is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. The initial public offering was on May 27, 2004, at € 15.50, falling to a low of € 8.28 in April 2005. The stock rebounced sharply in early 2006 to over € 22 a share. Early in 2007 the stock showed a sharp decline to levels beneath € 13 because of financing issues. 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. On November 13, 2005, Spyker Cars and Mubadala Development Company (a principal investment company wholly owned by the Government of Abu Dhabi) announced their strategic alliance with Mubadala acquiring 17% of Spyker. Mubadala has a strong relationship with sports cars, they also control 5% of Ferrari.

In 2005 the head designer Maarten de Bruijn left the company.

Cars

* Spyker C8
* Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris
* Spyker C12 Zagato

Motorsport

pyker F1

On September 9, 2006, Spyker bought Midland F1 Racing, a Formula One team from Russian businessman Alex Shnaider. Spyker paid US$106.6 million for the team [ [http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns17434.html Midland sells MF1 Racing to Spyker] , GrandPrix.com, September 9, 2006] which was re-named Spyker MF1 Team for the last three races of the 2006 Formula One season. As part of the deal, the cars had a revised livery for the final three races of 2006.

The new Spyker F1 team used the Dutch flag from now on (instead of the Russian flag), since Spyker is based in the Netherlands. For the 2007 season the team was named Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team. Etihad (Airways) and Aldar (Real Estate Developers) corporates were the main sponsors for the team, from the oil-rich Emirate of Abu Dhabi. [cite news | url =http://www.manipef1.com/news/2006/index.php?id=1752 | title =Spyker to drop MF1 for 2007 | work = | publisher =Manipe F1 | pages = | page = | date = 2006-10-24 | accessdate =2006-10-24 | language =]

On September 30 at the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix, the team scored its first championship point. Driver Adrian Sutil finished 9th on the track, but was promoted to 8th place and into the points-scoring position when stewards ruled, post-race, that Toro Rosso's Vitantonio Liuzzi had overtaken Sutil under a yellow flag on lap 55; Liuzzi was subsequently given a 25-second penalty that dropped his time below Sutil's.

On August 14, Spyker Cars announced that it may have to sell all or part of the team due to a potential split of the team from its parent company. [cite news| title =Spyker considers selling F1 team| publisher =autosport.com| url =http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/61529| date =2007-08-14| accessdate =2007-08-14]

On September 3 Indian billionaire Dr Vijay Mallya (Chairman and CEO of Toyota sponsors Kingfisher Airlines) and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol (Spyker’s Formula One Director), stated the Spyker board has accepted their offer and will sign off within a month to become the new owners of the Spyker Formula One team. [cite news| title = Mallya and Mol set for Spyker takeover | publisher = F1 | url=http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/9/6697.html| date =2007-09-03| accessdate =2007-09-03]

As a result of this agreement, the team was sold to a consortium named "Orange India" led by Mallya and Dutch entrepreneur Michiel Mol after approval by Spyker's shareholders. Contracts were signed quickly, and Mallya attended the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix as team owner. [cite news| title = Spyker takeover approved | publisher = F1 | url=http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/9/6895.html| date =2007-09-30| accessdate =2007-09-30] The team is named Force India for the 2008 season.cite news| title = FIA approve Spyker's Force India name change | Formula 1 Website | Formula 1 Website | publisher = Formula One Administration Ltd | url=http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/10/7036.html| date =2007-10-24| accessdate =2007-10-24]

pyker Squadron

The Spyker Squadron is the factory racing team, competing in events such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Le Mans Series, occasional entries in the FIA GT Championship, and the 12 hours of Sebring. Spyker also supplies a car to Swiss Spyker distributor, Speedy Garages, running under the name Speedy Racing Team.

References

External links

* [http://www.spykercars.com Spyker Cars web site]
* [http://www.spykersquadron.com Spyker Squadron web site]
* [http://www.spykercars.com/?pag=44 Spyker F1]
* [http://www.sportnetwork.net/main/s495.htm Spyker F1 Fansite]
* [http://www.broughtons.co.uk/spyker Spyker Cars UK] Spyker News, History and Information
* [http://www.al-zayani.net Hamad Zayani & Sons Motors W.L.L.] The official & exclusive dealer for Spyker in Kingdom of Bahrain
* [http://www.spykerowner.com Spyker Owner and Enthusiast Forum]