Spyker plans car-sales boost on $240,000 C8 Aileron

Spyker Cars NV, the Dutch supercar maker that acquired Sweden's Saab Automobile, aims to raise annual vehicle sales sevenfold in two years with the new 198,000-euro ($240,000) C8 Aileron model.

Spyker is targeting deliveries of 250 C8 Ailerons in 2012, Peter van Rooy, the company's sales manager, said in an interview at the manufacturer's headquarters in Zeewolde, Netherlands. Spyker sold 36 cars last year and has delivered a total of 214 vehicles since 2002.

The expansion contrasts with plans by Fiat SpA's Ferrari brand to keep production at 2009 levels and eliminate jobs. Spyker is reducing the cost of making the C8 Aileron by shifting production to supplier CPP Manufacturing Ltd. in Coventry, England, while targeting U.S. drivers by offering an automatic transmission, Van Rooy said.

"This car is much more comfortable and more modern," Van Rooy said. "It won't be bought as an owner's sixth or seventh collector's item. People will probably be putting more miles on this one."

Spyker rose as much as 79 cents, or 2.9 percent, to 2.83 euros as of 11:27 a.m. in Amsterdam trading. The stock has gained 33 percent in 2010, valuing Spyker at 59.6 million euros.

The first C8 Aileron delivered will be a tailor-made, 260,000-euro silver-and-white model with turquoise leather seats, to be handed over in late July to a Russian billionaire, Van Rooy said, declining to identify the buyer.