From Homes to Sports Buggies
Agris Smelteris has spent the last five years pivoting from residential construction to the high-stakes world of sports buggies. The founder of Līvas Grupas, a conglomerate with interests ranging from window and door manufacturing to brewing, recently unveiled the “Hornet”—a sports buggy engineered to compete on an international stage. Smelteris debuted the project on the TV3 program Force exerted, as reported by Lasi.lv.
Building a Foundation on 800 Homes
The leap into automotive manufacturing follows two decades of development in the housing sector. The company’s early years were lean, with the construction arm failing to turn a profit and requiring the window and door manufacturing division to act as a financial buffer. That stability eventually paid off: Līvas Grupas has now produced over 800 houses, and the group’s total turnover has reached eight million euros.
The Engineering Philosophy Behind the Hornet
The Hornet represents a deliberate shift toward global competition. For Smelteris, the project is a test of his team’s collective capability. He maintains that his primary objective is to create the best possible product, relying on the active participation of his staff to push the vehicle to international standards.
Broadening the Latvian Business Horizon
Arnis Škapars, a board member at SEB bank, points to the evolution of Līvas Grupas as a model for industrial agility. “The success of Līvas Grupas demonstrates that business owners do not need to remain in a single industry for their entire careers,” Škapars noted. He added that the ability to start fresh and motivate a team is what leads to products that can be presented with pride as being created in Latvia.
A Showcase for Domestic Innovation
The Force exerted series, produced in cooperation with SEB bank, continues to chronicle the trajectories of local entrepreneurs. Future episodes will feature Lotti Tisenkopfa-Iltnere, co-founder of MÁDARA Cosmetics. Her company, which launched two decades ago to marry Latvian natural resources with modern science, has grown to reach a turnover of 23 million euros.
The program airs every Sunday at 6:25 p.m. on TV3 and remains available on the portal tv3.lv.