Hispano Suiza wants to place Barcelona in the world's first division of electric cars

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A new Hispano Suiza model is back on the roads. It's hard to see it, because, for now, there is only one working example of this 100% electric made in Barcelona supercar, the so-called zero car. There are four other Hispano Suiza Carmen in the production chain that the legendary car brand ---owned by Grup Peralada--- has installed in Montmeló (Barcelona), in a warehouse of more than a thousand square meters located near the Circuit de Catalunya.

A team of 42 professionals (mechanics, engineers, designers, upholsterers…) work diligently to build a vehicle that has been entirely conceived and designed in Catalonia and that is at the forefront of electric cars in the highest category of the market. In fact, it is a unique model in the hypercars segment (more than 750 horsepower), since competing cars have internal combustion engines.

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The Hispano Suiza Carmen is built with a carbon fiber monocoque and is equipped with a lithium-ion battery (80KWH) and a custom-made electric motor, with a power of 750 KW (1,019 HP) and capable of accelerating to 100 km/h in less than 3 seconds.

83% of the Carmen's components are manufactured in Spain and 65% come from the Barcelona area, "where the great talent accumulated over many years in the automotive industry is found," explains Sergio Martínez Campos, CEO of the new Hispano Suiza Cars.

The shareholding of this company is controlled by the Suqué Mateu family, owner of the brand and Grup Peralada. Martínez Campos is also a partner, along with other minority shareholders. The Catalan automotive engineering company QEV Technologies, specialized in electric motors and electric mobility projects, operates as a technological partner and as a manufacturer of the new Hispano Suiza. QEV has innovated and developed some of the most advanced technologies equipped in Formula E cars, the great world championship of electric cars.

"We have brought Grup Peralada together with QEV's experience; this is a project based on the spectacular local talent we have available; we have to believe in ourselves more," emphasizes Martínez Campos. Joan Orus, technical director, and Francesc Arenas, design director, are two of the main names behind the first 100% electric car made in Barcelona.

"Hispano Suiza is a start-up, but it is very important for Barcelona, as behind this brand there is a 116-year history of the automotive industry, a history that is much more than a car, it is a lifestyle and the dream of a family," notes Martínez.

Behind the brand there is a 116-year history, a history that is much more than a car, it is a lifestyle and the dream of a family

But let's go back to the Montmeló workshop. The first of the four units being manufactured ---car one--- will be delivered to its owner in March 2021, exactly two years after the new Hispano Suiza presented the Carmen model at the Geneva Motor Show in 2019. That event marked the resurrection of a brand more than seventy years after the last Hispano Suiza rolled off the production line in 1946.

The pandemic has complicated, but not prevented, the commercialization of the only 19 units of the Carmen model that will be manufactured. There are 19 for the year of resurrection and also for the year of birth, in 1904.

So far, four cars have already been sold ---two since the beginning of Covid-19---, although there are negotiations with another 36 lovers of so-called hypercars who have contacted the company since the model was unveiled in Geneva.

It is only manufactured to order and the production of each unit extends between nine and twelve months, as each car is unique and can be customized to the extreme. In fact, the buyer of the first Carmen, Michael Fux, has asked for it to be painted in a striking and unique fuchsia color, Fuchsia Fux.

And who is Michael Fux? He is a US businessman of Cuban origin who has amassed a great fortune thanks to the mattress industry. He is a familiar face in this very narrow segment of hyper-luxury cars, with a collection of more than one hundred vehicles, although the Hispano Suiza Carmen will be the first one hundred percent electric car he owns.

Opening of a store in Mexico

The second unit will also fly to the American continent, in April 2021, and more specifically to Mexico, where the brand's second client resides, businessman José San Vicente, president of Grupo Sanvi. He will also become an ambassador for Hispano Suiza and the firm's first dealer or international representative, which will soon translate into the opening of a Hispano Suiza flagship in Polanco.

The identity of the people who have ordered the third and fourth Hispano Suiza Carmen has not been revealed ---none are Spanish---, but they will also be delivered in 2021. The brand's goal is to have sold all the Carmens within four or five years.

"The sales process for this type of car is long, not only because they are valued at one and a half million euros, but because it is a more emotional than impulsive purchase decision. The profile of our buyers are not so much multimillionaires as super collectors, people who love design and engines and are looking to buy unique pieces, works of art," says the CEO.

Our buyers are collectors, lovers of design and engines who seek unique pieces, works of art

According to the executive, Carmen meets those aspirational requirements that this type of buyer seeks: "it is a limited edition of only 19 fully customizable units and, at the same time, it is a brand that offers legacy, exclusivity, elegance, latest technology and reliability."

Since the model was unveiled in 2019, the great challenge has been precisely to offer confidence, as the brand had been absent from the market since 1946. During those four decades, the firm founded in Barcelona in 1904 by Damià Mateu and engineer Marc Birkigt became a legend and a synonym for reliability throughout Europe, along with Rolls Royce.

It has been precisely Mateu's great-grandson, Miguel Suqué Mateu, vice president of Grup Peralada, who has been the architect of the firm's rebirth. A true dream come true that makes Hispano Suiza the only brand in the world that has always been in the hands of the same family, a very important element for buyers. In addition, Hispano Suiza has become the only 100% Spanish company in Anfac, the powerful employers' association of the automotive sector.

Miguel Suqué has not only paid tribute to his great-grandfather, but also to his mother, the late Carmen Mateu, a great patron and promoter of the Peralada Festival, after whom the car has been named.

Hispano Suiza has just launched the Carmen Boulogne, a sportier variant of which only five units will be manufactured (the other fourteen will be of the original model).

After signing an agreement to establish a sales office in Mexico, the company is preparing contracts with new dealers in Germany, the Middle East, and the United States to boost the commercialization and international projection of the design made in Barcelona.

The Hispano Suiza brand has not been relaunched to manufacture only 19 cars; the project will continue.

And once the 19 cars are sold, what then? "It is clear that the Hispano Suiza brand has not been relaunched to manufacture only 19 cars; the project will continue," assures Martínez Campos. He anticipates that the company is already planning the next step: entering a segment of electric cars with a more accessible price. The hope is to maintain production in Barcelona and consolidate the Catalan capital as a reference in design and electric mobility.