The latest version debuts...
The latest version debuts at next week"s Geneva Motor Show, and will be at dealers by the end of the year. Blue oval bosses expect the cars to disappear so quickly they"ll leave tyre marks!
Professor Krish Bhaskar...
Professor Krish Bhaskar, whose Triple A consortium made an unsuccessful bid for MG Rover, reckons Peugeot will shut the ageing site within two years, because the new 207 won"t be built there. He wants to convert it to produce four sports cars under the British badge.
Bhaskar"s bold ideas don"t end there. His proposals include making a Mercedes CLS rival, which could use the Riley name, as well as a trio of SUVs badged Wolseley. Bhaskar, who has extensive experience in the motor industry, said: "The cars have to be suitably different to anything else in order to make them viable.
"We"ve done preliminary research and are sure there is a market for the products." The project would cost a staggering í‚á£1billion, although Bhaskar claims to have the necessary financial backing to make it happen. There are issues over the names, though; Austin-Healey is owned by the Healey family, while BMW and MG Rover"s new owner Nanjing have the rights to Riley and Wolseley respectively.