W Motors is the Middle East's first supercar manufacturer
The Lykan Hypersport costs $3.4m, can hit 395 km/h, and
has diamond headlights

Asking the top speed of the world's first Arab supercar
is beside the point. The 0-60 times, or horsepower, too.
Those numbers won't matter by the time you notice the seats
are stitched with gold thread and headlights are trimmed with
diamonds.
When did the company think, "diamonds, what we need is
headlights made of diamonds"?
Ralph R. Debbas, W Motors CEO, laughs: "Diamonds in the
headlights are something we don't need at all, actually. It was
a true marketing gimmick that we integrated. But people talk
about it."
W Motors styles itself as the Arab world's first supercar
manufacturer, and has major plans to build its name in the
oil-rich Middle East, which has so far lacked a credible motor
industry.
Its first creation is the ferociously styled $3.4 million Lykan
Hypersport, built to attract attention and invite Instagram
photos -- "in a crazy way, in a disruptive way" -- in a market
already crowded with ultra-exclusive autos.
The Hypersport ticks each of the hypercar performance boxes.
If you must ask, it has a 3.7-litre 780bhp, twin-turbo flat-six
which can go from 0-100 km/h in 2.8 seconds (faster than
the power-focused Lamborghini Aventador) and reach a top
speed of 395 km/h.
But Debbas knows better than anyone that buyers chasing the
top hypercar specs (and have a few million to spare), are
already spoilt by the likes of the face-peeling Pagani Huayra,
Koenigsegg Agera , or Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
That's not the point, he insists: "My client already has a
Pagani or a Koenniggseg, and he wants something different."
"Flying doctors"
"When you get into something like this hypercar, it's really
about a luxury lifestyle," explains Stephanie Brinley, senior
analyst at industry experts IHS Automotive. "It's something
that somebody would buy in place of yet another house
somewhere, and it's a whole other stratosphere than typical
transportation."
For W Motors, the car itself is just part of the package. Buyers
also get a global servicing system, where the press of a
button in-car summons a technical advisor to come to their
aid, explains Debbas. And if needed "flying doctors" -- a team
of W Motors-trained engineers -- will fly to wherever you are
in the world.
An elite, invite-only and round-the-clock concierge service
comes as part of the deal too and there's also a watch --
designed specially by Swiss luxury watchmaker Franck Muller
-- which you can probably chalk down as another "gimmick."
Crucial, though, is the fact that only seven Hypersports will
ever be manufactured -- and Brinley explains this kind of
above-and-beyond service and exclusivity is what buyers
looking to spend $3.4 million want:
"It's special, it's unique, and you can be darn sure that there's
like two other people in the world that have what you have."
The Wolf Model
Debbas doesn't call other boutique manufacturers Pagani and
Koenigsegg "competitors" -- "I respect all of them. We work
with them all" -- and neither does he see himself taking on
the heritage brands' most exclusive offerings, like the Ferrari
LaFerrari or Porsche 918 Spyder .
The company's model is different from those heritage
manufacturers, whose story typically begins with an
obsession for engineering. W Motors -- the W is short for
"Wolf," a nickname given to Debbas as a child -- pitches itself
as a young marque that brings together designers and
engineers already esteemed by automotive "connoisseurs".
Ralph Debbas, CEO of W Motors
Debbas, who started the company seven years ago, then aged
just 22, is the master of ceremonies coordinating existing
specialists across the Middle East and Europe. Under the
watchful eye of 15 core staff in Dubai, 70 staff-contracted
workers in Italy from automotive engineers Magna Steyr build
the car around engines and chassis made by specialists RUF
in Germany.
"Working with the biggest people in the industry, this gave us
a lot of credibility and access to the world. It's true we don't
have a hundred years of heritage, and there's no pedigree
behind, but the companies that we work with have over a
hundred years of experience."
W Motors' forthcoming, so-far unnamed SUV project
Building pride
Being new, and the first home-grown manufacturers in the
Middle East helps W Motors understand a growing group of
buyers from the oil-rich nations, says Debbas, who's
Lebanese.
But their projects in the region go beyond catering to the
unrestrained desires of the incredibly wealthy.
Super heroic! #WMotors #Lykan #HyperSport #
LykanHyperSport #AbuDhabi #UAE #AbuDhabiPolice
A photo posted by W Motors (@wmotors) on Jun 10,
2015 at 11:39pm PDT
Short term aims still cater to this market: a $1.6 million
"Supersport" model and a $250,000 SUV are to follow, but
these are set to be constructed in a purpose built factory --
employing 100 people -- opening in Dubai in a year's time.
Debbas is bullish: "We are not only building a car. We are
building an industry, we are building a name, we are building
something historical. Every step of the way, we're getting the
support of the Arab nations that are helping us to be proud,
and raising the heritage."
Before that there are challenges. Car manufacture remains
"capital intensive, highly regulated, highly complicated, [and]
highly competitive," reminds expert Brinley, and hyper luxury
is a difficult market for those even with pedigree.
Even Bugatti, a historic marque with the support of
Volkswagen, remains subject to different stories about whether
it "has quite ever been profitable," she says.
"It will be a cautionary tale as to whether something like W
Motors will ultimately be [profitable]. Basically if VW can't
leverage its global footprint and get the Veyron to be a
profitable, it will be very difficult for a one-off to do that."
"But I don't know," she laughs. "This W Motors car has
diamonds on it!"






cc lalasticlala

Blacks are never considered in engineering, hence the more reason we need to really develop home grown technology in solving our problem. But I love the performance of the car in the fast and furious 7.