Chinese distributor buys 50 cars from Ginetta

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A Chinese distributor has bought 50 cars from the British sportcar maker Ginetta. The company manufactures about 300 road and race cars annually at its factory at Garforth, Leeds, with a staff of 60. The deal will see the company’s G60 and G40R road cars sold in China.

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Mr Tomlinson said: “The cars are quirky and very British, [the Chinese] just love the shape of the cars.” The deal could also lead to expansion of the Garforth works as the factory steps up production.

About 80% of Ginetta’s car production is now for export, said Mr Tomlinson, a trained engineer who bought the firm in 2005. He said the Chinese were attracted to the luxury cars as their economy expanded and consumers had new wealth to spend on luxury goods. The firm has been building cars since 1958.

Via: BBC.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Realistically, they will not succeed in selling the 50 cars. Lotus has been in the market since late last year, and they have literally sold only a handful of Elises and Evoras.

    Furthermore, the Evora is available with an automatic, which is why Lotus managed to sell whatever little they have so far. These Ginetta’s are 6-speed manual only, which is like kryptonite for the rich Chinese buyers in the market, who want to put as little effort/ input as possible into driving their sportscars, and instead want maximum ‘image/status’ to show wealth (hence all Porsches, Audi TTs/S5s/ R8s, GTIs and Golf Rs are only available with automatic-transmissions here).

    Take a look at the BMW 1M – 200 allocated for China, with the marketing really emphasizing this exclusiveness and limited availability which Chinese consumers really love and buy into. Nonetheless, less than 25% of this allocation has been sold so far because of the manual-tranmission only, actually requires driver involvement to drive well (such as a sportscar should), and the fact that its not flashy enough to show wealth in China!

  2. the Lotus is priced way too high here in China.
    If it were around 400,000 to 500,000 then they would move off the floor. Like you said the rich only what to show off how rich they are .. the guys that want to have fun and drive only spend a little.

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