The previously unknown automaker who would take over a former Delphi assembly plant near Monroe, Louisiana, has been named as V-Vehicle Company, which says it plans to build a high-efficiency car designed by Mazda Miata designer Tom Matano. Few details have been released about the vehicle, which is believed to be powered by natural gas.
“What we’re doing… is trying to create a new American car company,” V-Vehicle founder Frank Varasano said in a promotional video sponsored by the Louisiana Economic Development Department.
Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, founder of BP Capital Management and an outspoken fan of natural gas production, is one of the company’s major investors, leading many to believe the new cars will be powered by natural gas.
“The Miata may be the iconic car of the last 20 years, but this will be the iconic car of the next 20,” Matano said.
V-Vehicle says it will add about 325,000 square feet to the Monroe assembly plant beginning later this summer. The factory is set to employ about 1,400 workers making an average of $40,000 annually, according to company documents
The company has applied for federal loans under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Loan Program established by Congress.
No images of the car have been released, though rumors point to it being a small, Fiat 500-esque minicar. There is no word on where the powertrain will be sourced, though the startup says it wants cars on the road within the next 18 months.
06/17, 1:20 PM
posted by:
shaver
Wow, talk about left field.
06/17, 1:26 PM
posted by:
bigs4610
didnt expect that
06/17, 1:28 PM
posted by:
zfenderguy
You heard it here, the Miata is THE iconic car of the last 20 years.
Oh well, at least now we have something to do with all the CNG that is available at every gas station in ready supply for vehicle consumption…
06/17, 1:31 PM
posted by:
Borat
Proved me wrong. I was betting on Hyundai.
06/17, 1:35 PM
posted by:
2morrowdesign
Matano is the man !!!
I can’t wait to see it !
06/17, 1:49 PM
posted by:
JakeK66
I miss Tucker – now that guy was a visionary. These people now just keep copying each other with there electric/natural gas powered cars that will never make it anywhere. I’m sorry – but you have to have tons of capital that even T Boone Pickens can’t reach to create and design a inexpensive car for the masses that is reliable and attractive and can be fixed just about anywhere, let alone be charged/filled up anywhere.
06/17, 1:49 PM
posted by:
A4
Well I bet all of you that complained about LLN’s loose use of the term “gas” in the last post about this feel pretty stupid…
06/17, 1:51 PM
posted by:
A4
And I’m sorry, but when I think last 20 years.. I don’t think Miata. In fact the only time I think Miata is when someone mentions Corky Romano.
06/17, 2:03 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
THE iconic car of the last 20 years? I don’t know but there’s about a jillion Crown Vics out there so I beg to differ.
06/17, 2:07 PM
posted by:
Kid Icarus
Left field indeed
06/17, 2:14 PM
posted by:
shaver
T.Boone is pretty smart he has natural gas interests, this is like being a battery manufacturer and starting an electronic toy company to consume your batteries.
06/17, 2:44 PM
posted by:
carstuff
Yes, but too bad he has no distribution system.
06/17, 3:07 PM
posted by:
sprockkets
Maybe the best selling roadster of all time, since no one else save for GM recently sold one, but iconic car of the past 20 years? No.
06/17, 4:06 PM
posted by:
Hyperion
This sounds like it could be good news, however I don’t understand how having the designer of the Miata penning a “Fiat 500-esque” car suggests this vehicle will be anything remotely like a Miata.
The article wasn’t clear: is this car more like the 1950’s rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive Fiat 500 or more like the new, front-engined, front-drive Fiat 500 that has nothing in common with its sporty predecassor?
This is going to be competition for the Yaris and Smart if the company succeeds at the time of their launch but it’s not going to be trading in on any sportscar heritage.
06/17, 4:33 PM
posted by:
jayjc08
How about they build a car that will run on E85 and gasoline first, so they can turn a profit on the first vehicle they produce? How about they develope and market a car that will run on both natural gas and regular gasoline? Something that will work in today’s ordinary environment…
A4- That’s a stupid statement, why would anybody feel stupid for asking if they meant natural gas or gasoline? Obviously they just clarified it for anyone who was confused.
Hyperion- Sporty predecessor? The new one is much more fun to drive than the old one. Old one was horrible to drive.
People seem to have this idea that all the recent reincarnations of vehicles are worse than the old ones…
06/17, 5:04 PM
posted by:
RaineMan
Now only if there were a Natural Gas pump on every corner… I might just be interested.
Why do people continue to put money into cars that don’t have an infastructure to support them? It’s not like tires or something… where one place in town is okay… it’s fuel, and driving 20 miles or more just to fill up is stupid.
06/17, 7:24 PM
posted by:
StepAhead
r Tom Matano I believed was still at Mazda design california. Did’nt realised he left.
06/18, 7:40 AM
posted by:
MercMark
There is a natural gas infrastructure. I heat my house with it!
How hard to have the corner gas station add a CNG pump next to the others?
Finally someone is doing something about Saudi Arabia & OPEC!
06/18, 9:25 AM
posted by:
jdasch1
CNG has legs where the pipeline is built out. Some towns like mine don’t have much build out because electricity is so cheap…3 cents a KWH. The only problem with CNG is the recertification of the high pressure tanks when they age. The mainenance on CNG is minimal otherwise. The oil doesn’t even get dirty after 10k miles…still looks like new. Engines last twice as long….emissions are the lowest around. Still going to cost billions to build out the supply system, so congress is going to need some backbone to get it done. Talk about shovel ready projects. We need this to happen.
06/18, 11:52 AM
posted by:
Bubs Solo
several years ago Iran converted all of there vehicles from gasoline to natural gas… so it can be done.