McLaren Automotive looks back at its first 12 months
McLaren Automotive has had one exciting year since it relaunched 12 months ago with a new supercar that became every young-boys dream.
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During its first year, McLaren Automotive sold over 1,000 units of the MP4-12C, opened 38 dealers across 22 countries, earned respectable praise from Top Gear, debuted the MP4-12C GT3 race car, won Best British Luxury Brand and much much more.
“This is a proud moment in time for everyone at McLaren where, in only 12 months, the 12C has established itself as one of the most acclaimed high performance sports cars in the world amongst a very discerning customer,” said Managing Director Antony Sheriff. “From the day that Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button officially opened our very first showroom in London, McLaren is now present in 38 cities in 22 countries across the globe. At the heart of this journey is a single-minded focus on the very highest quality and personal care and support wherever our customers are in the world. That is what our customers expect after they buy the car, and are just as important as a fast lap time.”
Hit the jump to see other highlights from McLaren’s first year.
Global retail network in 22 countries
Through four regional offices, each with its own management team, McLaren showrooms are now located in some of the most prestigious locations around the world:
Europe: UK, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Monaco
North America: USA, Canada
Middle East / Africa: UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, South Africa
Asia Pacific: Japan, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong
Official opening of the McLaren Production Centre (MPC)
Prime Minister David Cameron officially opened the new MPC in Woking and, during the visit Mr Cameron said that he had never seen anything quite like it. Describing the work of McLaren Group as “inspiring”, the Prime Minister said his visit was a great reminder that Britain still had “world class engineering, world class manufacturing and world class production techniques.” He added “it’s visits to places like this that make me optimistic about the future.”
Walpole award for Best British Luxury Brand
McLaren Automotive emerged as the winner from a shortlist of some of Britain’s most revered luxury firms, all of whom exemplify excellence in the luxury sector. On collecting the award McLaren Group & Automotive Executive Chairman Ron Dennis said “We set out to build a world leading automotive business, manufacturing and marketing category leading, high-performance vehicles. To be recognised by such esteemed peers as having also built Britain’s Best Luxury Brand is both an honour and reaffirmation for our team that we are moving in the right direction.”
Launch of McLaren Special Operations
McLaren Special Operations is the new division of McLaren Automotive, responsible for the delivery of bespoke projects for McLaren sports cars – and is headed by Programme Director Paul Mackenzie. “McLaren Automotive already offers 12C customers extensive options to personalise their car. However we recognise some owners have specific tastes and we have the knowledge and capability to design, engineer and produce almost anything a customer may desire for their 12C.” said Mackenzie.
Debut of new 12C GT3
As McLaren GT prepared to enter two cars in the Blancpain Endurance Series race at Magny Cours, the new GT race car manufacturer announced that the first 25 12C GT3 race cars available to purchase for racing in 2012 were sold. Like the 12C road car on which the 12C GT3 race car is based, demand has outstripped supply. The limited production run of race cars has been distributed to customer teams for racing in various championships across Europe.
– By: Omar Rana
