Lancaster Council ready to 'walk in' to troubled Africar
Page 9
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Africar is in severe financial difficulties, and the company is expected to apply for voluntary liquidation this week, after managing director Tony Howarth failed to find rescue finance in North America.
Joint backers of the allterrain vehicle project, Lancaster City Council, is owed around £120,000, and is expected to take "walk-in" possession of the company's assets upon liquidation. The council has already arranged "walk-in" possession last week, but its bailiffs did not go in after the 1 August deadline given to Africar, and the council has "not precipitated any change" while the company searches for further funds.
The collapse follows the withdrawal of a bridging loan sustaining pre-production at the company's Lancaster factory on 14 July, although before that there had been an abortive attempt at a public share issue. This was cancelled when advisers Deloitte Haskins and Sells withdrew its support to the company last February.
The project to design and build an all-terrain vehicle suitable for third world production and use has had several setbacks despite gaining massive publicity. This time last year the project was rescued by a large injection of private capital after a disappointing reaction from financial institutions in the City to the Africar.
The first production examples were due to be delivered on 1 June this year. However, despite an order book for over 600 vehicles, there have been difficulties in developing the innovative two-stroke supercharged engines, and finance was always critical.