[Wazza]

I'd suggest that Peter Ransom ( D.R.B. Sportscars ) has simply made a sensible move, whilst the GFC continues to have such an adverse effect on his business.

I would think that a business like D.R.B. would have reasonably low profit margins , and depend heavily upon a continued decent number of orders.

When the orders slow down, unfortunately a lot of the costs continue on a week to week basis.

He sold a lot of kits ( GT40's) to the U.S.A., and the swing in the Australian Dollar, and the U.S. Dollar has slowed that down.

This together with the general tightening of the economy, would obviously mean that there will be a severe slow down in the market for items like GT40's and Cobras.

Peter has stated that he'll reduce the operation , until the economy picks up, and will still continue with parts sales. etc. mostly via the internet, and the continued follow up service to the existing clients , operating from smaller and less expensive premises.

I would think that for the forseeable future, the "Australian "Cobra manufacturers need to either be almost a "One man band"...i.e. smaller operations with minimal overheads...or "Sub-contract" a lot of the work , and thereby only pay for the services /skills as they need them, rather than having "staff" sitting around waiting for the next order..

The manufacturers that rely on purchasing a lot of their kits/goods/parts from the U.S. certainly have a better time of it now, than they did in previous years, when the Australian Dollar was worth U.S.$0-60.


I wish Peter the very best of luck, and hopefully he can treat this as a well deserved "break" until things improve.

Cheers,
Warren.