Remember the tale of the two Hispano Suiza companies? Well, one of them is in trouble. Austrian outlet ORF reported that Hispano Suiza Engineering based in Villach, Austria, filed for bankruptcy, not being able to cover its liabilities. The latter is not associated with Hispano Suiza, the maker of the Carmen electric supercar, but with the Hispano Suiza Automobilmanufaktur AG, maker of the Maguari HS1 GTC.
Hispano Suiza Engineering was founded in 2016 and is wholly owned by the Hispano Suiza Automobilmanufaktur AG that has been around since 2010 and is headquartered in Baar, Switzerland. Its official website is still active, promoting the V10-powered Maguari HS1 GTC that was unveiled in concept form back in 2019 and was scheduled for a limited production of 300 units.
According to ORF, production was delayed due to various factors including the pandemic, and the high development costs for the vehicle resulted in a debt of €4.7 million ($5.35 million) owed to banks, shareholder loans, and suppliers. Assets include the Villach soon-to-be production site, and two full-size prototypes of the Maguari HS1 GTC that will likely be liquidated, with the trademark rights reportedly confiscated by the bank.
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At the moment, Hispano Suiza Engineering employs three people, including managing director Erwin Leo Himmel. The former design director at Audi, whose name is associated with the 1991 Audi Quattro Spyder concept among other production vehicles, is also the founder of Hispano Suiza Automobilmanufaktur AG.
Here we need to clarify that none of the aforementioned companies are related to the Barcelona-based Hispano Suiza, maker of the 2019 Carmen and the 2020 Carmen Boulogne electric supercars. This one is owned by the Peralada Group, with Miguel Suqué Mateu, the great-grandson of the original Hispano Suiza founder, as chairman.
Speaking of which, the original La Hispano-Suiza, Fábrica de Automóviles S.A. was founded in 1904 by Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt and Spanish businessman and politician Damián Mateu, with the goal of producing high-performance luxury vehicles. While the name was not used in the automotive sector for several decades, the 21st century found the two totally unrelated companies wanting to revive the Hispano Suiza spirit.
