Reviving the Austin-Healey
Analysts salute HFI's entrepreneurial spirit but doubt its chances for success. "It's not easy to make cars as a small player, because you have no economies of scale," explains Garel Rhys, an auto expert at the University of Cardiff. That rules out making cars priced much lower than $40,000. So a new Healey could find itself competing against the popular Porsche Boxster (base price of $45,000). Competition is tough at half that price, too: That's where Mazda Miatas and Toyota MR2s reign. Fenna is for now keeping mum on pricing.
Classics. While Austin-Healey is a much-venerated name among older enthusiasts, for most car buyers younger than 40, it's not an instantly recognizable brand. "There's not a lot of pent-up demand. If people are that keen on the original, they can have an original," says Jay Nagley, a consultant at Spyder Automotive, referring to the robust market for classic Austin-Healeys. Fenna says that while it's important to evoke the spirit of Austin-Healey, "the marketing won't be based on history. It will be sold as a new sports car for a new generation of buyers."
But that's problematic, too. Many large automakers now sell top-quality, stylish sports cars. To succeed, Nagley says, the new Healey "has to be better than a Boxster. And how do they do that?" What's more, buying from manufacturers with reliable dealer and service networks gives customers a peace of mind that HFI may find hard to match. The big players also invest hundreds of millions of dollars in designing a car. Fenna admits HFI can't spend that kind of cash, but he says potential buyers will be impressed once it's announced who's involved with the new Healey. The design team is European, with American input, and HFI's other partners are "big, serious players from the auto industry."
The Healey's return could coincide with the relaunch of another famed British sports car. Nanjing Automotive Corp. of China last year bought the assets of bankrupt MG Rover and says it wants to start making the MG TF in England again. The dawning of a new era for classic British sports cars? Perhaps. This time, however, the competition won't be dull Yank Tanks from Detroit but slinky, British-inspired sports cars from Germany and Japan.
AT A GLANCE
HFI Automotive is seeking to re-create the Austin-Healey mystique.
Managing director: Tim Fenna
Products: The first car will echo the Austin-Healey 3000 roadster; a second car is based on the Sprite.
Manufacturing: Some 400 production workers are to staff a plant in either the English Midlands or Wales.
Delivery target: Mid-2007
Distribution: Through dealerships in the United States, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe
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