Wiesmann BMWs planned for the US

[kaisen]

Wild, Wild Wiesmann
German company plans expansion to States by 2010
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060913/FREE/60911021/1024
By JENS MEINERS

AutoWeek | Published 09/11/06, 2:49 pm et
German coachbuilder Wiesmann is dramatically boosting production as it gears up for sales in the United States by 2010.

“The decision has been taken,” company co-owner Martin Wiesmann told AutoWeek. “There is no elaborate plan yet. We won’t start our own dealer network, and we need partners.”

The company, based in Dülmen near Münster, Germany, began in 1993 building a lightweight car that combined the styling of a classic British roadster with a BMW powertrain. BMW’s then-board-member Wolfgang Reitzle gave approval to use BMW engines in Wiesmanns just a few days before the car’s launch at the 1993 Frankfurt motor show.

Today the $117,000 roadster is powered by either a 3.0-liter 231-hp inline six-cylinder, or the M3’s 3.2-liter 343-hp inline-six. Lighter weight plays a huge part, with the M-engined roadster weighing in at 2600 pounds (vs. 2850 pounds for a BMW M Roadster), while the 3.0-liter roadster weighs less than 2400 pounds.

The Wiesmann formula was expanded last year to include a second model, the longer, wider, closed-roof $142,000 GT, powered by BMW’s 4.8-liter 367-hp V8.

Wiesmann’s plans call for increasing sales to 300 cars annually by 2009—big talk for a company that sold 92 cars total in 2005 and has produced just over 500 cars in its 12-year history. Most of the growth will come from the GT model and from a push to sell more cars abroad.

Wiesmann also hopes to cut wait times for cars; buyers now wait six months for a Roadster and 18 months for a GT model.

If Wiesmann can clear the hurdles to U.S. sales, the company’s retro-styled cars could pack even more power in the future.

“The turbocharged engines that BMW will offer could be a viable option,” said Wiesmann. “The GT is designed to be able to host all BMW engines, including the V10 from the M5, and even the V12.” A BMW diesel powerplant isn’t even out of the question.