it's a good deal for RUF for sure. sounds like the bahrainian investor is just throwing money away. it would be interesting to see what he gets out of this.

maybe a free car every year?

 

One of the other main important reasons is that Ruf will be able to cater for the Japanese market, which has proven to be very strong over the years.

all the best
adam

 

Bahrain's King Abdullah is very corrupt.

There IS oil in Bahrain.

 

good point. and don't forget China too, which given the way things have been going, will probably be the #1 market for supercars within the next 10 years or so.

OT: I seem to remember recently that Shanghai (or was it Beijing) is now 2nd only to Bevery Hills as having the highest concentration of Rolls Royces...

 

the highest per capita ruf concentration is puerto rico! a number of these guys keep rufs bothh at home and pfaffenhausen.
carlos

 

 

Greg,

Looks like 2007 will be the year.

I will quote the article posted on the second page..........

Elaborating on the company's expansion plans, Ruf added: "We are also in the advanced stages of the development of our new, indigenous super car, which is slated to be launched next year. Our joint venture in Bahrain will supplement the production facility in Germany for the production of this car, which will be totally hand-tailored as is the case with all RUF cars."

The new RUF offering is aimed at the premium end of the luxury sports car market, affords a large degree of customisation to customers, and will sell at a price to be announced in due course.

"While starting off with limited production volumes, we aim to gradually upgrade our facilities in Bahrain to increase this number to more than 20 units in the near future," he added.

 

i put this on my list of places to visit

 

Barhrain's king is King Hamad. Where do you get your facts? And how would you know if he is corrupt? Please stop spewing nonsense and get your facts straight!

 

Does every transaction need a winner and a loser?

In my daily business there is always a win-win situation.

Not sure how others work, but customers come back when they are happy and satisfied, not the opposite.

 

I'm not sure I understand your response. This individual sounds like an investor, not a customer. Most people don't consciously agree to the wrong end of a "win-lose" situation.

With RUF only producing 35 cars a year, it would appear that it would take forever to get back any sizeable investment in this venture. This is all speculation of course as we don't really know the particulars of the transaction. Unless you plan on quadrupling your production, why bother with such a facility? According to the article, we're only talking 35 cars here, worldwide. And even then, they're not a true manufacturer, more of a builder/tuner. I would agree that it would make sense to have a service center in the region in lieu of flying mechanics around with as many customers as they have there. That is one of the things that turned me off from the RUF supercharger for my car (that and the riddiculous price). Waiting for mechanics to fly in and fix my car sounds like a pain in the ***.

RUF has a long and sucessful history, so you have to assume they know what they're doing.

 

good points all. here's what i believe is going on:

1) 30+ cars a year produced currently, yes. but that's likely a function of limited production capacity (Pfaffenhausen is a pretty small operation). i'm guessing that they would be able to sell a lot more, but simply can't meet demand. this facility in Bahrain changes all that;

2) Ruf's revenues can't be estimated just by the 30+ cars produced. those are Ruf VIN cars. there are many many many more Ruf conversions. i have no idea what the ratio is, but you get the idea...

3) and after the conversions, you have all those bolt on parts. wheels, exhausts, body kits, strut bars, suspension...

and yes, all with pretty hefty mark-ups. agree or not with the pricing, all of these add up to well over just the estimated revenue of 35 RUF VIN cars...

Ruf opend up their US arm not long ago... they've also opened an outfit in Japan. and now the middle east. those are three of the largest consumers of high end cars on the planet. will definitely be interesting to see how things go.

if anything, what i'd be worried about is not whether they're over expanding, but whether this expansion will ultimately and in the long run, diminish the "personal touch" involved in purchasing a Ruf. its that classic transition from small mom & pop outfit, to big business. unless you're careful, something gets lost in the translation...

 

good post hesperus. excellent points.

 

You're absolutely right. Yet they still only pay the Third Country Nationals (TCN's) that do all of the actual work in this country *barely* enough to live. It's pretty disgusting, actually.

 

Maybe they know something we don't