McLaren presents it plans for upcoming supercar
By Andrew C., 30 Aug, 2010. 0 Comments
The brand new mid-engined supercar of McLaren will be available for sale in 2011 with about 1000 units built annually. But this figure will increase to about 4000 by 2015 with the addition of other P11 variants together with another model.
Frank Stephenson will oversee the styling of the future models that are presently under development. The press release did not include technical details of the P11 nor photos of the car but it is confirmed that its styling will not be totally derived from the McLaren F1 and is similar to the Ferrari F430 in size. Some speculate that the P11 will come with a Mercedes V8 that was modified by Mahle in the UK. It was revealed by the managing director of McLaren Automotive, Antony Sheriff, that the car is not produced like any other existing supercar and, compared to the competition, the P11 will be more exclusive and priced at a premium. Continued after the jump!
More detailed technical information is due this July although the P11 has been close to production after two years of intense development with 24 prototypes involved. The car is priced beginning at 100,000 Euros and the carmaker says it will cover three percent of the global market represented by 130,000 units annually. McLaren is currently in the process of building a global dealer and distribution network who will take care of the sales of the new P11.
McLaren Automotive, a new and independent company, will build the supercars led by Ron Dennis who has resigned from F1 team leadership. He intends to vend 49 percent of McLaren Automotive for about 250 million Pounds to make sure that the new company is debt-free and fully prepared financially. Many are seeing this move as the best way of growing the whole McLaren operation in the medium term, in part by taking advantage of the company name which has been proven to be able to support a supercar brand. To meet the increase in production, McLaren Automotive plans to construct a new, autonomous plant which could create up to 800 jobs. Although no details were released concerning the location of the planned plant, McLaren says it will be lodging a request for planning permit this April.
[via autocar]
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