Forseven

[Otispunkmeyer]

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/who-fo...

What do we make of this?

I have to be a bit careful what I say because I believe the company I work for is quite close to this lot. Its supposed to be a new car brand/manufacturer. EV Only. Luxury. Its headed up by ex-JLR, ex-McLaren, ex-Lotus - so people who do know their onions - and bankrolled by Abu Dhabi.

Their website is pretty nebulous to be honest. Talk of crafting "unforgettable" cars... but not a car in sight, not even a sketch or a hint about what direction they might take. Details are very thin on the ground, but maybe they haven't been going all that long.

My concern is, how viable is this going to be? I see lately the CEO of Lucid has stepped down likely over yet more significant losses. I think it was something like $2.7bn loss during his tenure. Rivian are hanging on in there, Fisker died a death, Polestar are on the ropes, no one wanted Mercedes EV efforts etc etc. Forseven sounds like a "British Lucid" to me. Lucid may objectively good cars, some of their tech is stellar, yet people don't buy them and the company would have probably gotten better return on investor money by just setting fire to it.

Its also a space occupied already by RR, who have pure EV offering with the Spectre and RR are already known for being the pinnacle of "British Luxury". Then we've got Jaguar positioning themselves into this space as well with their recent pivot to EV-only, British Luxury. They've got an actual car, being tested and have a recognised, heavy weight brand to play with too. People already think that is going to be a dud, but who knows.

Is there room for one more? is there some starting trend or trajectory that shows low volume, British, Luxury EV is going to be a major success story?

I dunno. Its obviously going to be a massive challenge just getting this entity off the ground and developing their first product from scratch isn't the work of a moment. When it arrives, though will anyone pay attention?

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

I had a conversation with a couple of their employees a few weeks ago, ostensibly they were looking to employ me in a role although I didn't know this at the time.
I was put off be the calibre of the people they have in senior positions, ex Lotus and Jag is not a boast. They are looking to increase staff to circa 1000 by year end ( currently about 300)

It's luxury SUV they are building using NIO battery tech.

It is well funded, but it'll need to be as it'll be burning through 3bn before the launch of the car.

I guess they think that there are enough of the elite who'll stump up 200k for an EV.

I think the car is due out in '27 and they've been going about 18 months

Edited by Dynion Araf Uchaf on Wednesday 5th March 13:50

[malaccamax]

HUGE challenge. I imagine it'll be well engineered but it'll be too slow out of the gate to sell in any meaningful quantity. But good to be bankrolled by CYVN and they'll be useful for McLaren

[Blockbuster]

When I saw the title, I thought this was going to be a new 7 seater model from Smart!

[paddy1970]

Even with strong backing, creating a successful new automotive brand from scratch is extraordinarily difficult today, especially in a segment where established players are already struggling to find sufficient customers.

[modeller]

Just thinking about Dyson .. pulled the plug after spending £2bn

[Otispunkmeyer]

modeller said:

Just thinking about Dyson .. pulled the plug after spending £2bn

Yeah good point. And there is Apple as well... Though we don't fully know how much work they did (if any) you've got to think they at least thought about it and decided not to. And they effectively have some kind of infinite money cheat.

[Europa Jon]

I was thinking it was a new, very basiclightweight sports car with a name like that
Of course I wish them well, but realistically they have less chance than those that have fallen in recent times after spending bug bucks. Why would the backers try to build it in the UK when China holds most of the cards these days?

[WestyCarl]

modeller said:

Just thinking about Dyson .. pulled the plug after spending £2bn

Forseven have a different business model to Dyson.

My company has been involved with Forseven in the past, of all the "EV start ups" I think it has a better chance than many.

[malaccamax]

WestyCarl said:

modeller said:

Just thinking about Dyson .. pulled the plug after spending £2bn

Forseven have a different business model to Dyson.

My company has been involved with Forseven in the past, of all the "EV start ups" I think it has a better chance than many.

Dyson was trying to do everything by itself, while Forseven has the Nio (and McLaren connection) but even so there's no cheat I think of that will hand you success in a competitive market. Especially with the US seemingly dead to EVs for the next four years

[Otispunkmeyer]

I find NIO a bit of a strange one as well. They were on the scene quite early and had some good ideas/tech but seem to have completely had their lunch eaten by the likes of BYD.

[Skodillac]

This lot will probably end up in the Ocean... (failed luxury electric SUV pun there for those asleep at the back.)

A few execs will trouser massive salaries for a few years (offshored to avoid UK tax of course) and move on to their next disaster.

[SWoll]

Skodillac said:

This lot will probably end up in the Ocean... (failed luxury electric SUV pun there for those asleep at the back.)

A few execs will trouser massive salaries for a few years (offshored to avoid UK tax of course) and move on to their next disaster.

This all day long.

Rinse and repeat..

Otispunkmeyer said:

I find NIO a bit of a strange one as well. They were on the scene quite early and had some good ideas/tech but seem to have completely had their lunch eaten by the likes of BYD.

Edited by SWoll on Thursday 6th March 15:21