The automotive industry, we’re sorry to say, is not a meritocracy. A carmaker may have a superior product, and even offer it at a competitive price, but that doesn’t mean its manufacturer will thrive – or, indeed, even survive. Take, for example, Zenos, which has now entered bankruptcy proceedings.
Zenos, for those unfamiliar, is a British manufacturer of lightweight sports cars. It was established in 2013 by Ansar Ali and Mark Edwards to challenge Lotus and Caterham, where they both used to work. Along the way, Ali departed to work at McLaren, leaving Edwards in charge, and the company to continue on.
Zenos developed a lightweight yet low-cost carbon monocoque around which it built the E10 roadster, launching later S and R versions with increasing levels of output. After kicking off production in January 2015, Zenos sold its hundredth E10 just a few months ago, and had plans for additional models and body-styles in place – including a convertible E11 and fixed-roof E12.
Unfortunately, according to Autocar, it had a number of orders cancelled recently. And with such a low production volume, that has apparently lead the company to fiscal insolvency. A statement on the company’s website directed any inquiries to the offices of Begbies Traynor LLP – a bankruptcy administration firm based in London.
“It is with great disappointment that the board has had to take this step,” Edwards told Autocar. “We still believe that our products offer unrivalled affordable fun and we have already made very good progress in developing the next product in our strategy.”
If the bankruptcy administrators can secure new financial backers for the company, Zenos may yet re-emerge from the proceedings in better shape and more stable than before. If not, however, it could go the way of Saab, Gumpert, Wiesmann, Fisker, Artega, De Tomaso, and so many others that have vanished from the marketplace.
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