>From Automotive News.
Matt Murray
mattm@optonline.net
Joke if you will: Bricklin plans a son of Yugo
Latest venture seeks to import a low-priced line from rebuilt
Serbian plant
By Jim Henry
Automotive News / April 29, 2002
Back again
Malcolm Bricklin
Company: Zastava Motor Works USA, Mahwah, N.J.
Title: President
Job history
1995 Co-founder, Electric Bicycle Co. (went bankrupt)
1985 Co-founder, Yugo America Inc. (went bankrupt)
1982 CEO, International Automobile Importers
1974 Founder, Bricklin Vehicle Corp. (went bankrupt)
1968 Co-founder, Subaru of America Inc.
NEW YORK - Former Yugo importer Malcolm Bricklin says he's back
in the car business, unveiling plans to reintroduce cars from
Zastava in Serbia, the same manufacturer that made the old Yugo.
"I know you're thinking, 'Who needs to start that up over again?'
I thought the same thing myself, at first," Bricklin said.
"What's different this time is we'll be in charge of quality."
Bricklin calls his venture Zastava Motor Works USA - "ZMW, get
it? That'll drive people (at BMW) crazy," he laughed in an
interview last week.
So far, Zastava Motor Works USA consists of half a dozen people
working from their homes in New York City and suburban Bergen
County, N.J. Bricklin wasn't even positive if the business had
been incorporated or, for that matter, in what state. "This has
all come together awfully fast," he said.
No laughing matter
Bricklin's partner, another Yugo America alumnus, is designer and
engineer Tony Ciminera, executive vice president of product
development. "People can joke if they want, and we know they
will," Ciminera said. "But we think they'll be pleasantly
surprised." He says the U.S. group has a letter of intent from
the factory approving U.S. exports, but he says a contract has
not been hammered out.
Bricklin, 63, was last in the news at the helm of Electric
Bicycle Co., a venture that went bankrupt in 1997.
The last time the Zastava factory was in the news was in April 19
99, when NATO forces bombed it because it was suspected of being
used to make weapons. Zastava has denied the charge.
Factory workers and family members occupied the plant as a "human
shield" against the NATO strikes. The workers claimed that 120
people were injured, the plant was damaged and that the power
plant supplying electricity to the factory and to the city of
Kragujevac was wiped out.
Big claims
Bricklin claims all has been set to rights, and he says he will
be ready to offer cars in the United States in 14 months.
There is a lot to do in that time:
Bricklin says he wants to sign 10 to 12 U.S. distributors, each
with about 15 to 20 dealers. He was starting from scratch as of
last week, although he says some dealers have expressed interest.
He doesn't have dealer agreements, signs, marketing materials,
owner's manuals, an ad campaign or 1,000 other details ready to
go.
The cars Bricklin is talking about importing are auto show
concepts. Styling for U.S. models isn't final, nor are the cars
ready for production. Ciminera says the factory is considering
using plastic body panels to restyle Zastava's existing lineup -
basically the old Yugo, which is called the Koral, and a bigger
model, the Florida. In addition, Bricklin says he wants new
interiors, which have to be designed.
Zastava does not meet U.S. safety or emissions regulations. Not
to worry, Bricklin says. He claims Zastava is negotiating a
contract for engines from "a major European manufacturer," which
he was not prepared to name, and those engines will pass
emissions requirements easily. Zastava also is not ready for U.S.
passive safety requirements.
Low sticker prices
On top of that, Bricklin claims sticker prices will be from
$5,000 to $10,000. That would be the cheapest sticker in America
by far, for a range of cars including a sedan, sports car,
convertible and maybe a pickup at an annual volume of about
60,000.
These larger-than-life claims are vintage Bricklin.
To his credit, Bricklin co-founded two U.S. auto distributors -
Subaru of America Inc. in 1968 and Yugo America Inc. in 1985 -
plus his own car company, Bricklin Vehicle Corp., in between.
Only Subaru is still in business. Bricklin left Subaru 31 years
ago.
Bricklin also formed a company called International Automobile
Importers in 1982 to import the Bertone X1/9 and the Pininfarina
Spider. That venture petered out after Bricklin started Yugo and
ended up in breach-of-contract claims and counterclaims between
Bricklin and some investors. They remain unsettled.
Meanwhile, Yugo America went bankrupt in January 1989 - months
after Bricklin sold his share of parent company Global Motors
Inc. to Mabon Nugent & Co., a Wall Street investment firm, and
left the company. Yugo America closed for good in April 1992, in
the midst of civil war in Yugoslavia.
Since then, Bricklin was in and out of the electric bicycle
business.
"I am so glad to be back in the car business." Bricklin said.
"The bicycle business sucks."
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