Superformance new USA Caterham Distributor

[James A]

Oh, Jon has always been very good with me, responsive and a wealth of information!

[TurboWood]

I've also been pleased with Jon's support. Anything that increases brand awareness in the US should be good for us.

 

Daniel

[bigdog]

I think the US dealers try hard enough.

I have always thought that Caterham UK was almost indifferent to the US market, always seeming to do just about the minimum to keep visible and buoyed up by some hard core Seven fans that put up with a lot because they love the cars.

 

Have you tried dealing with the modern socialist US government on anything. Were lucky to have even a small Caterham presence in the USA. It's not quite as bad here in Germany. Both governments just love bureaucratic red tape.

 

I have run two parts departments at motorcycle dealers. It was horribly difficult & expensive to get setup and running.

And that was with Suzuki, Kawi, Yamaha. It was worlds more stressful dealing with Aprilia, Piagio & Vespa.

Then there were the owners of said bikes. Who seem to think that a parts department should look like Walmart and have Walmart prices as well. Now try that with a car company that sells only about 500 cars a year worldwide.

 

If you want good parts support, call or email the guys at redline components. They are the main supplier to Caterham UK. Caterham UK stocks very few spare parts. When I needed the LHD headlamps for conversion from RHD lights. Caterham said no can do not in stock. I called redline, They said they normally have them in stock. [/url]http://www.redlinecomponents.co.uk/

[scannon]

I had a chat with Jon from Caterham USA this morning. He is happy with passing the importer role on to Superformance and getting out of the hassles and paperwork involved in getting the cars into the country. He has other businesses and doesn't want or have the time for an increased role as Caterham builds sales in the USA.

 

He will remain as a dealer as he enjoys putting the cars together. About half of his sales are kits and the rest are assembled cars. He has five in process at the moment and six more on the way. He mentioned that he sells more CSRs in this country than they sell in England.

 

I asked him about the 160 and whether he would be getting any of them. He was not much interested in it mostly because the difficulty of sourcing the Suzuki engines which are not certified for the US and not available here.

[MichaelD]

Jon has always provided prompt service for me over the past 13 years.

 

Thank you Jon.

[Taber10]

Plus one on MichaelD's comment above.

 

Taber (also known for a wildlife encounter where Jon's help was invaluable and unsurpassed!)

[Guest Terry]

I wish the guys at Superformance all the very best. Dealing with Caterham UK will be a real challange. The only guy at Caterham UK who is easy to deal with is Darren in the Parts Dept

[BruceBe]

Respectfully, there is a bit of irony to recommending that US owners purchase parts overseas, and at the same time muse about lack of support stateside. As a dealer, we constantly walk the line of committing capital to parts inventory while meeting ongoing customer demand. In a perfect world, we would have enough spares to build a complete version of every current model, and a good sampling of older models. We would love to quickly grow our parts inventory as demand dictates.

 

We have LHD headlights (large bowls), in both black and chrome :-)

 

Cheers,

-Bruce

 

Have you tried dealing with the modern socialist US government on anything. Were lucky to have even a small Caterham presence in the USA. It's not quite as bad here in Germany. Both governments just love bureaucratic red tape.

 

I have run two parts departments at motorcycle dealers. It was horribly difficult & expensive to get setup and running.

And that was with Suzuki, Kawi, Yamaha. It was worlds more stressful dealing with Aprilia, Piagio & Vespa.

Then there were the owners of said bikes. Who seem to think that a parts department should look like Walmart and have Walmart prices as well. Now try that with a car company that sells only about 500 cars a year worldwide.

 

If you want good parts support, call or email the guys at redline components. They are the main supplier to Caterham UK. Caterham UK stocks very few spare parts. When I needed the LHD headlamps for conversion from RHD lights. Caterham said no can do not in stock. I called redline, They said they normally have them in stock. [/url]http://www.redlinecomponents.co.uk/

[bigdog]

Respectfully, there is a bit of irony to recommending that US owners purchase parts overseas, and at the same time muse about lack of support stateside. As a dealer, we constantly walk the line of committing capital to parts inventory while meeting ongoing customer demand. In a perfect world, we would have enough spares to build a complete version of every current model, and a good sampling of older models. We would love to quickly grow our parts inventory as demand dictates.

 

We have LHD headlights (large bowls), in both black and chrome :-)

 

Cheers,

-Bruce

 

Respectfully, When I took the time to call RMSC's parts departments phone number from GERMANY (where I happen to live) No answer, Called again, No answer, Called again, No answer. The USCaterham web site only provided the Colorado phone number as the POC for parts. Your dealership was not listed under "parts" on the USCaterham web page parts drop down menu. When I googled US Caterham parts suppliers, Your name did not show up. So from my prospective there isn't or at least wasn't a viable nor reliable parts supplier in the US. I didn't know you existed as a Caterham spares supplier till this thread started. Who's fault might that be? It certainly wasn't my fault. I actively called USCaterham and then sought out an alternative US supplier and had no success. Till I called redline.

 

But as you are taking up the challenge to supply spares, I salute you. And I will support you with my business when I return to Walla Walla. In fact I will give you guys a go before that. Provided you can send parts for a 1983 S3 to a military APO Box. If you can't then you will have to wait for my business till I return in late 2015.

 

 

Kindest regards & the very best of luck to your future success.

[s2k7]

xxx

Edited January 24, 2014 by s2k7

[Guest Terry]

Respectfully, there is a bit of irony to recommending that US owners purchase parts overseas, and at the same time muse about lack of support stateside. As a dealer, we constantly walk the line of committing capital to parts inventory while meeting ongoing customer demand. In a perfect world, we would have enough spares to build a complete version of every current model, and a good sampling of older models. We would love to quickly grow our parts inventory as demand dictates.

 

We have LHD headlights (large bowls), in both black and chrome :-)

 

Cheers,

-Bruce

 

Dont read anything into or pass judgement on my recomendation of Darren.

[blubarisax]

I have had good luck with Darren, but Tony is my main go to man for parts at Caterham. Tony has always gone the extra mile to help me.

[crewst]

One can only hope Superformance will provide better support for Caterham than they

 

did for the S1 owners.. Once you got the car, Superformance was done with you ......

 

sad, but true

[TurboWood]

Here is a nice slap in the face to US-Caterham:

 

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140106/CARNEWS/140109921

 

This article suggests the car isn't currently here...such B.S. It also states the superformance will only be offering rollers.

 

Daniel

[Alaskossie]

AW took their article directly from the Caterham press release, which said and implied the same thing -- clearly giving the impression that Caterham USA has been importing Caterhams illegally all this time.

 

That's the clear implication from the article. Someone should set AW straight.

 

I'm assuming that even with Superformance involved, they cannot offer both the roller and the engine from UK, but that they will have to require the buyer to source his own engine.

 

This is the administrative two-step that allowed Caterham USA to legally import a non-conforming "roller," which the buyer then mates to his chosen engine. if the Seven came over as a complete car (even in parts), it could not be legally imported due to US EPA and DOT requirements. Even Caterham USA could not supply the engine (whether imported or domestic), but had to let the buyer deal directly with the engine builder (in my case, Cosworth USA).

 

I assume it must be the same with Superformance.

 

I wonder how long we can count on this interpretation of the federal regs?

[lucky dawg]

I think the roller/kit market is so small and off the Fed radar, that they will continue to leave it a local (state) issue.

[speedwagon]

sad, but true

Second that motion!! We cannot even find where the original parts were sourced. Mine is gradually becoming a hicost/locost.

[Taber10]

It seems that this kind of misleading journalism and the wide readership that AW receives is exactly what could get a Federal review of the current situation, which could lead to NOTHING good for us. Just my thoughts.

[Sean]

AW took their article directly from the Caterham press release, which said and implied the same thing -- clearly giving the impression that Caterham USA has been importing Caterhams illegally all this time.

 

That's the clear implication from the article. Someone should set AW straight.

 

The Caterham press release reads nothing like the AutoWeek article. AW's Graham Kozak has changed the story significantly with just a few added words. That's just plain irresponsible journalism on the part of Mr. Kozak, as well as AutoWeek generally. Boo, hiss.

 

I see the federal regulations as fairly straightforward - until an engine or gearbox is installed, it's all just "car parts", in some stage of assembly. Once an engine or gearbox has been installed, it is forevermore a "car", even if the engine and/or gearbox is subsequently removed. They have to draw the line somewhere, so even if they move that line to include/exclude other equipment, it just changes the maximum level of assembly which "car parts" can be readily imported without crossing the line to be defined as a "car", and subject to significant restrictions.

 

NOTE: I am not an attorney, and have no relevant training or experience in any legal field.

[MoPho]

The Caterham press release reads nothing like the AutoWeek article. AW's Graham Kozak has changed the story significantly with just a few added words. That's just plain irresponsible journalism on the part of Mr. Kozak, as well as AutoWeek generally. Boo, hiss.

 

 

 

Actually that is what I took away from the original press release too, the writer just rewrote it into his own words and jumped to the conclusions insinuated by Caterham:

 

Caterham signs new US distributor

 

Caterham Cars and its iconic Seven will be officially sold in the USA with a new US distributor as of January 1st 2014.

 

Superformance (http://www.superformance.com) is based in Irvine, California and will sell several variants of the Seven.

 

Increased American interest in the legendary British sportscar was sparked earlier this year, when X Factor supremo Simon Cowell took delivery of a Seven CSR 260 at his home in Los Angeles.

 

Superformance will stock a range of Seven variants, although primarily the higher-power incarnations of the car, which have traditionally been more popular in the American market. The range will include the Seven 480 and the new Seven 620R, which will top the US line-up initially.

 

Caterham Group CEO, Graham Macdonald, said: "The US market has always been a difficult one for us, thanks to the stringent federal homologation rules. But we know there is an appetite for our particular brand of lightweight and performance and we already export our SP/300.R to the States through Dyson Racing.

 

"In the last two years, Caterham has significantly broadened its reach internationally and signing a new official distributor in the form of Superformance in America is a natural extension of how our brand is expanding, rapidly, across the globe."

 

Sevens will be shipped to the USA in part-built form and sold as rolling chassis via Superformance's nationwide dealer network for customers to then complete the build personally.

 

 

How many people besides us existing 7 owners actually even knew Simon Cowell got a Caterham?

 

 

With news hitting the internet so fast these days, most of the lackeys who work on updating the magazines websites really have no time to do any research and end up just rewriting press releases all day. I've even heard that a few of the mags have asked potential job candidates for web journos if they can write a review on a car without having even driven it.

I know one journalist who writes for one of the big car blogs who just scans the internet and forums for "stories"

 

I know two journos at AW and both have seen my car and one of them I helped test drive an R500

 

 

.