Nikolai Smolensky, the owner of the British sports car manufacturer TVR, has spoken publicly on more than one occasion about his fond feelings for his company and the British auto industry as a whole. “I have always been a fan of the British auto industry and I believe that the best car designers and engineers work in this country,” he said two and a half years ago, announcing the purchase of TVR. At that time, according to British media, the deal cost the entrepreneur 15 million pounds sterling. Over time, his love only grew stronger. “Now I am even more passionate about TVR than when I bought it,” Smolensky said last summer. “I never intended to leave [the plant], I believe in its future, and I have no intention of losing money.”

True, at the end of last year Smolensky did sell the plant (the manufacturing company he was part of had by that time been renamed from TVR Engineering to Blackpool Automotive). Plans to increase car production tenfold and turn TVR into the British Aston Martin failed to materialize. Moreover, if at the end of the 1990s the company sold 2,000 cars annually, since then this figure has been steadily declining. In 2005, the company sold 540 cars, and its losses grew from 1 million pounds with a turnover of 21 million in 2004 to almost 12 million pounds a year later with revenue of 16.7 million pounds.

But last week Smolensky proved that he does not throw words to the wind. The entrepreneur won the auction for the sale of Blackpool assets, organized by the external manager of the company, the British firm PKF Partners (this function was assigned to it by the directors of the car manufacturer, who bought the company from Smolensky). The organizers of the auction did not disclose the amount of the deal. It is only known that Smolensky had to buy the entire company, including production facilities, assembled cars and the TVR trademark. Meanwhile, back in December, the British press wrote that the entrepreneur kept the brand for himself. One of the PKF partners told Vedomosti that the trademark was not alienated from Blackpool. (According to the UK Patent Office, the TVR brand has belonged to TVR Engineering since 1998 and has not been transferred to anyone.) And the PKF partner explains Smolensky’s re-purchase of the company simply - the entrepreneur was its largest creditor. Thus, part of the funds paid for Blackpool will return to Smolensky. His competitors in the bidding were deprived of this advantage.

In addition, Smolensky will now be able to start life in the auto industry from scratch. After all, the assets he inherited are debt-free. The entrepreneur also has no restrictions on moving production to other countries, which he thought about last year. However, Smolensky's chances of saving the company are minimal. After all, he was unable to cope with TVR's losses. And he will have to pay several million dollars to move the facilities, plus spend money on finding and training workers. It turns out that Smolensky has only one way out - to find a rich buyer for TVR. So his triumphant return to the auto industry may well be short-lived.

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