Yesterday it was announced that Saleen Performance Vehicles, founded in 1983, will end production at the end of the third quarter, 2011. If you recall, the company has had many ups and downs over the years. Saleen's parent company, Revstone Industries, said Saleen will focus on aftermarket parts in the future. These parts are available through its Speedlab division.
In an interview with Oakland Press, Bob LaCourciere, president of Revstone Aftermarket said, "The teams responsible for engineering and development of Saleen bring a level of engineering prowess and passion that is second to none. We want to apply that same talent and dedication to second-stage manufacturing."
Meanwhile, Steve Saleen, the original founder of Saleen Performance Vehicles, will continue making cars at his new company, SMS Supercars.
http://www.smssupercars.com/The off-again, on-again history of the Saleen Mustang is… off-again. The Oakland Press is reporting that Revstone Industries – the latest in a long string of owners of the company – plans to cease production of Saleen Performance Vehicles by the end of summer.
“As part of this strategic shift, the 2011 Saleen S302, which is built at Saleen’s site in Troy, will be the last car produced under the Saleen name. The S302 vehicles are currently in production, but production will be completed by the third quarter of this year,” explained Bob LaCourcie, president of Revstone Aftermarket.
Warranties on existing Saleen vehicles will continue to be honored, according to LaCourcie, and replacement parts will be available through the Speedlab operation. Revstone intends to step up operations by manufacturing aftermarket performance parts.
Indications of Saleen’s troubles began in 2006, when the company failed to show for November’s SEMA Show. West Coast private financier Hancock Park Associates soon got involved with the company and in May of 2007, Steve Saleen announced his retirement from the company. Hancock Park subsequently acquired ASC Limited and merged it with Saleen, in August, 2007.
In March of 2008, Steve Saleen announced today the formation of SMS Limited. While the company initially worked on the Dodge Challenger, by April, 2009, sketches of an SMS Mustang were circulating.
By February, 2009, the private equity firm had enough of the automotive business. Portions of the Saleen business were sold to MJ Acquisitions, a company with some background in the performance business, including Arrow Racing Engines and Power-Tec Engineering. Specifically not included in the sale were the Saleen S7 and S5 Raptor vehicles or the MI- based paint operations.
Near the end of the year, Saleen acquired a new member of the Board of Directors, in the name of Jack ‘Doc’ Watson – creator of the Hurst Performance Research vehicles. In November, 2010, Watson announced that he was “teaming up” with Revstone Global Performance Vehicles to integrate the Saleen Performance Vehicles enterprise within GPV. How and where MJ Acquisitions fell out of the picture was never made clear.
The strategy announced by Revstone closely mirrors that revealed by Shelby American some time ago. After decades of modifying cars for sale through dealers, the company began to focus more on ‘post title’ conversions and performance parts sales. For the time being, this leaves ROUSH Performance as the remaining independent performance Mustang builder of significance.
http://speednik.com/files/2011/03/BySal ... 00x274.jpghttp://www.stangtv.com/wp-content/blogs ... leen-2.jpg
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