Nothing has been simple during Nikolai Smolenski's reign at TVR, and that doesn't look to change any time soon now that Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling is being pressured to launch an inquiry into last weeks sale of the firm back to the Russian businessman.
The Transport and General Workers' Union have requested the inquiry as they believe that Smolenski put the company into administration late last year, and then bought it back last week, in order to avoid the redundancy payout owed to the 300 ex-workers of the Blackpool factory.
It is expected that Smolenski will sell TVR to two American businessmen within the next few weeks, resulting in the traditional British manufacturer being made into a 'virtual' car company, which will outsource production to various other manufacturers, leaving TVR alive in name only. If the new owners' forecast comes true, there will be up to 5000 TVRs produced each year, the majority of which will sell in the States. We can only hope that it is more successful under American guidance than it was Russian.
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