ATTI asks a selection of industry professionals what they would identify as the cornerstone of development at their companies. Next up: John Beech, chief engineer, Morgan.
As a niche manufacturer with typically lower budgets than larger OEMs, Morgan needs to be more flexible in preparing for tests. We don’t have the luxury of being able to produce large numbers of development vehicles for individual testing programs. Often, one vehicle has to take part in a multitude of tests, therefore adding time onto the program due to not being able to run tests in parallel. Flexibility is key in taking advantage of test slots as and when they become available.
This can create challenges when trying to book test slots, particularly during emissions updates. Large OEMs have the purchasing power to book vast amounts of test slots, leaving smaller manufacturers with what is left. This can add time and increases the pressure to deliver updates on time.
In some aspects, Morgan has less stringent tests. However, planned changes to the regulations, particularly GSR2, will affect small-volume and large manufacturers alike. This will level the playing field and will no doubt create a large challenge for low-volume manufacturers.
