Tanfield launches US joint venture
ELECTRIC vehicle maker Tanfield Group is launching itself into the American market with a joint venture to be known as SEV US (Smith Electric Vehicles US).
With newly installed President Obama saying he is putting up $2bn of Government money to develop electric vehicles, Tanfield is keen to qualify for such aid and a business which is majority US owned will be able to bid for it.
But even though Tanfield aims to do business with Washington DC, the company says its headquarters and the Smith Electric Vehicles R&D function will remain in Washington, Sunderland.
Darren Kell, chief executive of Tanfield Group, said: "North America represents potentially the largest single market for our commercial electric vehicles. The establishment of Smith Electric Vehicles US Corporation will provide Tanfield with a fast, efficient and economically prudent route to market."
Tanfield is working with US financiers Lincoln Woods Capital Management, based in New York, to bring in investors to support the new business, but its own contribution will be through licensing its intellectual property and expertise to the company, with no capital investment.
* For a full report on the formation of SEV US, see nebusiness in tomorrow’s Journal.
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