Zeewolde, the Netherlands, 31 August 2009 - Spyker Cars N.V., manufacturer of exclusive premium sports cars, today announces its semi-annual report in full. Spyker is listed on Eurolist by NYSE Euronext Amsterdam (ticker symbol SPYKR).
MANAGEMENT BOARD'S REPORT
Developments in the first half year 2009
The operating result of the Spyker group of companies ("Spyker" or the "Group") for the first half year ("HY") of 2009 improved by 8% compared to HY 08, despite lower sales. This was achieved by lower costs in production and strong focus on general cost control. Total sales decreased by EUR 1.6 million in HY 09 compared to HY 08.
In order to fund the development and production costs of the Spyker C8 Aileron, both for the coupe and spyder version, and the development costs for the Spyker D8 Peking-to-Paris, Spyker Cars attracted several short term loans. Due to the increased loan amounts, the interest costs went up by EUR 537,000. In HY 09 the result slightly improved (net loss of EUR 8.7 million) as compared to HY 08 (net loss EUR 8.8 million).
On 3 March 2009, at the Salon International de l'Automobile in Geneva, the first production version of the Spyker C8 Aileron - the coupe - was presented to the public. This second generation sports car has a 150 mm longer wheelbase. Its optimized dimensions accommodate an automatic gearbox as an option and more interior space. The Aileron was transformed within a year from a prototype car into a production-ready car.
Spyker also presented this production version in the USA at the New York Auto show. In order to enable Spyker dealers to get acquainted with the Spyker C8 Aileron and pre-sell it to end-users, Spyker organized dealer launches and driving experiences in Europe and the USA.
Development and testing of the Spyker C8 Aileron is reaching its final stages. Funding was made available by Snoras Bank and its related institutions, such as Latvijas Krajbanka and Krajinvesticijas. In the first half year of 2009, new loans were granted for a total of EUR 15 million.
Spyker is about to obtain the European Small Series Type Approval, which regulation was introduced on April 1, 2009. It passed all tests for the Conformity of Production (COP) certificate. The COP certificate is issued by the Dutch Rijksdienst voor Wegverkeer (RDW). Spyker received the certificate for the Spyker C8 short wheelbase, from which the C8 Aileron will benefit to a large extent.
Production output in the first half of 2009 amounted to 21 cars. In the same period in 2008, Spyker produced 22 cars. In Q1, the production focus was mainly on Spyker C8 short wheelbase cars, whereas in Q2 the production of the C8 Aileron started in modest numbers. The non-automatic short wheelbase cars will remain in production for as long as there is sufficient demand. The 9-cell line production allows to produce both short- and long wheelbase Spyker cars simultaneously.
23 cars were sold in the first six months of 2009, compared to 26 cars in the first half year of 2008.
The appointment of the Dilawry Group of Companies in Calgary, Spyker's first dealer in Canada, marked Spyker's expansion of the North American sales and distribution.
In the USA, new dealers were contracted in Houston (Texas), in San Francisco (California) and in Salt Lake City (Utah). With the appointment of Platinuss in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Spyker stepped into the continent of South America.
Spyker and Coventry Prototype Panels Ltd. ("CPP") concluded a tooling contract for the C8 Aileron. CPP builds the bodies-in-white for the C8 Aileron. The chassis of the C8 Aileron is produced by Heggemann AG in Germany.
The payment moratorium which Wilhelm Karmann GmbH ("Karmann") announced early April, had no impact on Spyker's production since the body-in-white and chassis production contract between Spyker and Karmann had terminated.
A new cooperation between Swissvax and Spyker enables Spyker to offer an exclusive car wax care system to its customers.
In 2009, the factory race team Spyker Squadron continued to race the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Squadron, sponsored by title sponsor Snoras Bank, participated two times at a 1000 km race: at Catalunya-Spain and at Spa-Francorchamps-Belgium (fourth place). At the high profile event of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team started from an eleventh position. The drivers, Jarek Janis, Tom Coronel and Jeroen Bleekemolen got the mission to drive at a steady pace and finish. This brought the Spyker GT2R to finish in fifth position in its class, preceded only by four Ferrari's and leaving behind six Ferrari's, five Porches and one Aston Martin.
Spyker prepares an expansion of its merchandising activities by increasing the selection of its apparel, available at www.spykercollection.com. Numerous factory visits were organized in the first half of 2009.
Spyker's average number of employees (in FTE) slightly rose from 132 per the end of 2008 to 134 per 30 June 2009.
On 24 April 2009, the Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) ruled against the Autoriteit Financiële Markten (AFM) on an appeal lodged against the ruling of the Court of Appeal (Ondernemingskamer) dated December 2007. The rejection concerned all 26 objections that the AFM had raised against Spyker's 2006 Annual Accounts.

Recent developments
On 16 August, the spyder version of the Spyker C8 Aileron was launched at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Its features a semi-automatic soft-top. Spyker's logo "Nulla tenaci invia est via" (for the tenacious no road is impassible) is affixed to the top panels of the spyder as a tribute to Spyker's employees who have stood by the company from the very beginning.

After months of focus on further development of its GT2 race car, Spyker was very pleased finishing second in the 1000 km of the Nurburgring on 23 August, just after a Porsche 997, leaving behind all other competitors.

Outlook
The outlook for the second half of 2009 is one of cautious optimism. The market has reacted very positively to the Spyker C8 Aileron and the C8 Aileron Spyder, launched at Pebble Beach, the latter expected to go in production in Q2 2010.
The ramp up of the Spyker C8 Aileron production is in full process and the pace at which production can be increased is dependent on the delivery of body-in-white production tools which is gradually taking place in the course of this half year. This means that more and more parts of the Spyker C8 Aileron will be produced on so-called "hard tools", reducing the production time of the body-in-white massively, hence increasing the output of cars.
It is now expected that by the end of this year production capacity will reach its desired level, which can then increase gradually throughout 2010 in line with demand for both C8 Aileron Coupé and Spyder. The Spyker C8 short wheel base models will remain in production along the Spyker C8 Aileron for as long as there is sufficient demand.
Testing and development of the Spyker D8 Peking-to-Paris is continuing throughout 2009 and the production is scheduled to commence in 2010.
Spyker will participate in the last race of the 2009 Le Mans Series season on 13 September 2009 at Silverstone (United Kingdom).
Spyker is working on further expansion of its dealer network in the second half of 2009.