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Company
Profile
The Company
Created to fulfill specific transport
needs Khaleej Cars is a limited company registered in England.
Its business activities comprise automotive engineering, design
and manufacturing.
The company was created to turn 'The
Scarab' into reality. Khaleej Cars was incorporated on 26 July
1996.
The
story so far
The early days
The company was incorporated in 1996
with three shareholders and two directors, Iain Falconer,
Managing Director, and Roger Whalley, Marketing Director.
However, the story started much longer ago.
Iain Falconer and Roger Whalley met
in the late 1980's while Iain Falconer was working for The Colt
Car Company, Mitsubishi importers into the UK and Roger Whalley
was carrying out dealer training and development for the same
company.
Iain Falconer left that company in 1990
and went to work abroad. Having worked previously in Saudi Arabia
and Oman in the Gulf he was approached and took a position with
Ford Kuwait and experienced the invasion and its aftermath. While
he was working in these countries he was constantly thinking
of ways to make his fortune. His mind kept coming back to the
fact that the best profits were to be made in the motor industry
but as a manufacturer not as a retailer. The world of the motor
industry is mainly submerged beneath a number of multi-national
motor manufacturers with little hope for a small company. Iain
realised that he had to find a niche, which was too small for
the multi-nationals to wriggle into.
On his travels which included a spell
in Australia and Papua New Guinea he realised that there was
an opportunity for a small low-cost vehicle which could be hired
out to holiday-makers. The existing vehicles available to hire
companies are all compromises and are extremely costly. Iain
then decided that this was a niche that he could develop and
started the plans, which resulted in the company being formed.
About the same time Iain made contact
again with Roger Whalley who runs a motor industry consultancy
company specializing in training and dealer development. Together
they started looking for suitable markets for the yet to be designed
product. They had artist drawings prepared for a suitable vehicle
and showed them to potential investors to raise money to build
a prototype.
At the same time they made contact with
potential distributors and manufacturers in countries with a
large number of holiday-makers. This took them to Cyprus
and Malta for potential customers and the United Arab
Emirates and Egypt for potential manufacturers. The
link with the Middle East was what inspired the name of the company.
The word Khaleej in Arabic means "Gulf" which was felt
to be an evocative name which would interest investors and partners
in that region.
The export market
During 1996, following the incorporation
of the company, enquiries were made with the Department of
Trade and Industry for a Small Firms Loan Guarantee. This
is available for small companies who have the entrepreneurial
skill without the resources. Although the company has met all
the requirements of the scheme no bank (until recently) was prepared
to endorse the application which would then be presented for
approval by the DTI. This meant that all the funding for the
very expensive process of developing the car has been borne by
the company.
However, one benefit of the approaches
to the DTI was the involvement of "Business Link".
This government body has been extremely supportive through the
export promoter scheme and in particular Mr.. John Fordyce who
was the export promoter for Egypt, Mr... Tony Burckhardt, the
export promoter for the English speaking Caribbean and Mr....
Peter Woods, export promoter for the Spanish-speaking Caribbean
have all been extremely helpful.
In the fervent belief that you only
get business by getting out and finding it, the Directors of
Khaleej Cars Ltd have traveled extensively at their own expense
to promote the company and its product. Since the company's formation
the Directors have taken part in DTI Trade Missions and have
traveled to: Egypt, Dubai, Cyprus, Malta,
The Canaries, Trinidad, Barbados, Puerto
Rico and the Dominican Republic. These travels have
resulted in securing orders for the car and joint venture partnerships
to manufacture the car in Egypt, Trinidad and Jamaica.
The car
The first model to be sold is called
the Scarab. This name was chosen because the Scarab beetle is
considered very lucky in Egypt.
The first artist drawings captured the
interest of potential customers and so in December 1996 the decision
was taken to manufacture the first prototype. Engineering drawings
were prepared and the long-established company, Eagle Cars Ltd,
were commissioned to build the first car. Rob Budd, the automobile
engineer who has been responsible for many designs of exciting
vehicles has personally interpreted the designs of and ideas
of the Directors in his workshops at Goodwood.
This first vehicle was completed in
March 1997 and has been extensively road tested. This car was
shown to potential customers in April and May of 1997. Visitors
came from Egypt, Trinidad, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, The Canary
Islands The Dominican Republic and Cyprus to see and drive the
car. It was acclaimed as being ideal for the market and the first
orders were placed in June 1997 by Krishna Persad Associates
of Trinidad who intend to manufacture the car for sale in
Trinidad and Tobago exporting to other Caribbean islands
and by Best Imports of Alexandria who will build the car
in Egypt for the Mediterranean.
The car has a steel ladder frame chassis
and a glass-fibre body. The power unit is built for the company
by The Ford Motor Company. The vehicle is capable of speeds up
to 72 mph, has an open sports type body with full safety equipment
and is ideal for holiday-makers in Mediterranean or tropical
climates. Potential additional markets are seen as: North Africa,
The Canaries Isles, The Balearics, South Africa, in fact anywhere
where there are tourists. The car is safe, comfortable and economical
to run.
The business proposition
It would be uneconomical to build the
car in the UK or anywhere in Western Europe as it has been expressly
designed to have a high labour content. This makes the production
of the vehicle very interesting to countries where labour costs
are low. It also means that it brings work to these countries,
which makes it a very attractive proposition for local investors.
We have had meetings with government industry ministers in Egypt
and the Caribbean and they are prepared to make valuable financial
and operational concessions to attract the factory to these countries.
Khaleej Cars Limited has recently signed
Heads of Terms with Best Imports to establish production at a
factory in Alexandria which used to manufacture Ford Taunus products
in the 50's. A vehicle has been shipped to Egypt for testing
and market evaluation.
Two pre-sale prototypes have been shipped to Trinidad for local
marketing and evaluation. Once these tests have been completed
then the factory will be established near the Airport in Trinidad
in a free zone which is assisted by TIDCO*.
A further joint venture assembly plant has been agreed to operate
in Antigua and three vehicles and two trailblazer trailers have
been shipped to St Johns.
Three other vehicles have recently arrived in the Bahamas for
market appraisals with Shirley enterprises of Nassau and their
interest in potentially in manufacturing or some form of assembly
type operation.
The difficulties
It could be said that there are no problems,
only opportunities. In that case Iain Falconer and Roger Whalley
have had their fair share of opportunities. The main problem
has been the obvious one of raising sufficient money to build
the prototype cars and to keep the company going until revenue
from the sale of cars starts to come in. Private investors have
been invaluable and have in total invested nearly £500,000.
Iain Falconer and Roger Whalley have poured all their personal
resources into the project and are confident that it is going
to bring them excellent rewards.
Iain Falconer says "We have had
a constant struggle to keep the company afloat until with the
help of the Midland Bank (HSBC) and Grant Thornton we succeeded
in having a DTI Small Firm Loan approved which was the beginning
of investor confidence."
"We also qualify as a potential
joint venture company for ECIPS* and CDI* assistance from the
European Union and have completed our first full European feasibility
study sponsored by the CDI for Trinidad and the West Indies.
Khaleej Cars is reported to be the first Private Company to receive
such assistance in the UK.
The turning point
This was reached in September 1997 when
David Simpson, the founder of Pet Plan, a British Company, heard
of the company through another small investor. David met with
the Directors and agreed to invest a considerable sum of money
in the business becoming its Chairman and enhancing the management
expertise in the field of public relations. The company is now
on a sound financial footing and all the plans of the company
to enter into manufacturing both in the UK and abroad can now
be implemented.
The future
Is undoubtedly rosy. The company has
completed the second model which is a small pick-up truck carrying
approximately 1 tonne, which is ideal for markets in Asia
such as Sri-Lanka, Vietnam, India and
Pakistan. In fact they are already in discussion with
potential business partners in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Three
major motor manufacturers are discussing licensing the new pick-up
for their company.
Following the pick-up the company will
build a small people carrier, probably in Jamaica where a Commonwealth
Industrial Development Grant through *JAMPRO from the European
CDI is funding a feasibility study to assess the manufacturing
potential. These types of vehicles used for public transport
all over the region additionally they are used in South East
Asia and Africa.
The Scarab replacement is already on
the drawing board as the company realises that it cannot stand
still in the dynamic world of the motor industry.
Khaleej Cars is a small company with
big ambitions, which will succeed in spite of all the difficulties,
which have been placed in its way.
The company is interested in locating
interested companies who are interested in any of the following
activities:
Manufacturing; Distribution; Retailing;
Hire Companies
For further information please contact Khaleej
Cars Ltd
Press Monthly magazine COMET (Committee
for Middle East Trade)
Quarterly Newsletter Business Link Sussex Ltd
* TIDCO Trinidad Industrial Development Corporation
* ECIP European Community Investment Programme
* CDI Commonwealth Development of Industry
* JAMPRO Jamaican Industrial Promotion
Developing
the Concept
A simple, low-cost car that customers
really want
Khaleej Cars Ltd was created to pursue
a mission to fill a gap in the automotive market places
of the world for a low-cost car, tailored to satisfy the real
needs of dealers and their customers and suitable for local manufacture
in a manner that ensures sustainable profitability.
The man with the vision to set up Khaleej
Cars was Iain Falconer, co-founder and now managing director
of the Chichester-based English company. Falconer and co-founder
Roger Whalley, have vast experience of the automotive business.
After working in markets all around the world, Falconer realised
that there was a dormant demand particularly from car rental
companies and holidaymakers for a simple, fun car. And
that the demand was clearly not being met by the current products
of the multi-national automotive giants.
On 4 February 1994 while reaching the
potential market for low-cost cars in Cyprus a country
which purchased over 20,000 Mini Moke cars (an open-top runabout)
in years past Falconer sketched out the original design
for what has become 'The Scarab'.
Both the name of the company and its
first car reflect Falconer's strong ties with the Gulf region
he worked for Mitsubishi and Ford in Saudi Arabia, Oman,
and Kuwait. While touring the Middle East to present their concept
and artists' impressions of the yet-to-be-designed car, to potential
distributors, Whalley and Falconer named their creations. Khaleej
in Arabic means 'Gulf' the region from which it is hoped
to attract investors and the Scarab beetle is considered
a bringer of luck in Egypt, where production of the car was a
possibility.
Initial response to presentations of
the concept were encouraging and Khaleej Cars' directors have
subsequently taken part in several DTI Trade Missions and travelled
extensively to publicise the Scarab in countries with existing
or potential tourist demand for transportation.
The feedback from these missions and
fact-finding tours has been both positive and informative
allowing Khaleej Cars to evolve the Scarab's design, specification
and equipment levels accurately to match the genuine needs of
operators and customers. The company now has firm interest from
a host of countries around the world.
From the very beginning it was acknowledged
that to supply the anticipated world-wide demand for the Scarab
from factories in the UK or Western Europe would be uneconomic.
Though simple to construct, the car requires a high labour content
which makes production an attractive proposition for countries
where labour costs are low.
Falconer recognised that to succeed
the Scarab would have to deliver certain benefits to local investors
and manufacturers: low set-up costs, a low break-even point,
and a flexible design that can utilise some locally-sourced parts.
For local car rental companies the Scarab
holds the promise of low initial purchase price, low running
costs, the opportunity to attract more customers through lower
rental rates, ease of repair and better (local) parts availability
and greatly enhanced profitability.
Khaleej Cars also offers a truly unique
service to re-body and re-trim the car after two years' use for
about $1,800 and greatly enhance profitability up by more
than 150% over a conventional, mass-produced small car with is
high import tariffs according to company estimates.
For customers the Scarab also has a
unique appeal. It will be fun to drive, cheap to rent, reliable
and safe, and distinctly different from the majority of cars.
It will be entirely appropriate to holidaymakers relaxed care-free
mood. It will also be immensely practical with a seat-design
that lets water drain away, a secure lockable stowage compartment,
a heater in countries where windscreen demisting is needed, drainage
holes in the floor for easy cabin cleaning and over a range of
300 miles range on a single tank of fuel.
The Scarab offers numerous potential
benefits for small countries and local communities. Employment
through manufacturing, retailing and retail outlets. Scarab low
rental costs will encourage tourists to rent for longer periods
and to explore further afield, spreading their spend to a wider
community.
The
Board of Directors
David Simpson, Chairman
Iain Falconer,  Managing
Director
The man with the vision to set up Khaleej
Cars was Iain Falconer, co-founder and now managing director
of the Chichester-based English company. Falconer and co-founder
Roger Whalley, have vast experience of the automotive business.
After working in markets all around the world, Falconer realised
that there was a dormant demand particularly from car rental
companies and holidaymakers for a simple, fun car. And
that the demand was clearly not being met by the current products
of the multi-national automotive giants.
Roger Whalley, Director
Paul Roberts, Finance Director
Joe Gatt, Director
Company
Data
Company registration Number 3229862.
Company VAT Number GB 677 1905 04
Bankers
HSBC, Midland Bank plc, 26 Broad Street, Reading, Berks RG1 4BU
Accountants
Grant Thornton, Chartered Accountants, Thames Valley Office,
Corporate Finance Dept., Edinburgh House, Windsor Road, Slough,
Berks SL1 2EE
Company Solicitors Barrett & Co, 54 Queens Road, Reading,
Berks RG1 4AU
Corporate Solicitors Pinsent Curtis, Dashwood house, 69 Old Bond
Street, London EC2M 1NR
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