Apparently the owners of Saleen have laid off 40 employees, including several Saleen executives. This sounds like the actions of a company that intends to finish out its current run of '07 cars and then shut down for good. But who knows for sure.
Didn't they use Troy employees to help build the GT40? That might be why some of the lay-offs occurred.
It could be that these people were just not effective as well. Read this site and you see numerous complaints about quality, parts, service etc. Someone has to be responsible for these issues. Perhaps its is just a shake up to get headed in the right direction.
Now, the part about Saleen and Ford not getting along is totally beleivable. Look a the relationshipsand dealswith Shelby,Roushand Foose. Saleen seems to be squeezed out of the equation.
I had the same initial thoughts as Jonsey-- perhaps it is due to the end of the GT40 run,ormaybe a shake up to turn around the company. But why let go of thefinance, engineering, and design executives while retaining operations-oriented positions unless you are in a wind-down mode and therefore not designing new cars and planning for their future production?
I hope this is a turn-around move and not a shut down. I wonder how long it will be until we get some clear indication from Saleen.
It states VP Engineering was let go and that is SAR I believe.
I found this article naming SAR as Vice President of Advanced Engineering, let us hope it was not him, he was a great advocate for Saleen and a great contact. If it was, Mr. Tally I wish you and your family well and good luck.
Quote:
The Saleen S7 is a supercar that was jointly designed by RML and Saleen, Incorporated and is currently being built at Saleen's headquarters factory in Irvine, California. It is constructed with a unique hybrid of a steel spaceframe and aluminum honeycomb panels encased with autoclave-cured carbon fiber bodywork. Engineering of the unique engine that is used in the S7 was headed by Billy Tally, Saleen's current Vice President of Advanced Engineering.
Not to mention earlier post all over the place about the possibility of working with other Auto Mfg.
Sounds like a Company that absolutely is looking to the future and expanding. They just released that Sport Truck and the Parnelli cars... Whats next???
They are also sponsoring The Great American Run and now getting into drag racing as well with the Fun Ford Weekend stuff with JDM.
I think they are just fine... With the exception of the 40ppl that went bye bye!
SALEEN SHUTTING DOWN???
