McLaren MP4-12C

[Corsugone]

McLaren Automotive confirms city locations for its first global retailers

MTC, Woking, England

* McLaren Automotive global retail network to feature 35 of the world’s best car retailers in 19 countries in 2011; further growth planned from 2012
* McLaren Automotive’s first 23 retailers due to be confirmed ahead of MP4-12C’s global debut at Goodwood Festival of Speed
* Demand for McLaren brand underlined by over 2,500 prospects on www.mclaren.com, and over 500 retailers requesting the opportunity to represent McLaren Automotive
* Mario Micheli, McLaren Automotive’s new Commercial and Marketing Director, driving programme to present 12C at over 100 events in 2010

WOKING, UK (May 21, 2010) – McLaren Automotive today announces the city locations for its global retail network. Operating independently, but located at the heart of the McLaren Group, the company expects to confirm the names of the majority of its partners in these cities within weeks, with the remainder making up the launch network of 35 retailers confirmed through the autumn.

An initial eight retailers in North America (USA, Canada), 12 in Europe (UK, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland), two in the Middle-East, and McLaren’s South African representative are expected to be the first confirmed retailers in the company’s network, which begins selling the McLaren MP4-12C from spring 2011. A further 12 retailers will be announced through 2010, completing the initial line-up, including McLaren’s Spanish retailer, two further retailers in the USA, five more in the Middle East, and the company’s network of four retailers in its Asia-Pacific region.



McLaren Automotive can confirm that it will be represented by many of the world’s best automotive retailers in the following cities and markets:

* Europe: Birmingham, London, Manchester; Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich; Brussels; Monaco, Paris; Milan; Barcelona/Madrid; Zurich
* North America: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa; Toronto
* Middle-East / South Africa: Manama; Doha; Jeddah, Riyadh; Dubai, Abu Dhabi; Kuwait; Johannesburg
* Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong; Singapore; Sydney; Tokyo

Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive’s Managing Director, said: “This is a landmark day for McLaren Automotive as we confirm the locations of the first of our partners that will represent us around the world. It has been incredibly encouraging to experience the demand to sell McLarens from the world’s best car retailers – in every country in which we planned to launch and at the heart of all performance car markets.

“We have proposed sensible, but high quality, expectations from our preferred retail partners and have been amazed at some of the proposals presented by potential retailers: nearly half are building brand new flagship showrooms.

“There is clearly an appreciation of McLaren all around the world. Aside from the obvious Formula 1 links, we believe this is down to our strong business plan, our exciting and innovative product line-up, and a focus on what is best for the retailer – sensible investment, and attention to customer service and aftersales, both in how we treat the customer and how we design the car. We will offer the retailers a unique focus on the customer, supporting them far more than is typical after a sale has been completed. We have a phrase at McLaren that sums up our attitude and appeals to the retail business: sanity, not vanity.

“We will also develop a global network that has fewer retailers than our competitors, selling a smaller volume of higher quality cars with more useable technology and performance; almost the perfect scenario for experienced retailers of premium high-performance sports car,” Sheriff concluded.

High demand to represent McLaren; high demand to buy a McLaren
A unique combination of a premium sports car ‘designed around the driver’, focus on the customer, and McLaren’s unrivalled motor racing heritage in Formula 1, Le Mans, Can-Am, and Indy Cars, has attracted many of the world’s best car retailers to take up the opportunity of representing McLaren at the birth of its global car company.

Over 600 automotive businesses have been considered to be McLaren Automotive retailers; McLaren pre-selected 100 preferred partners to review, with a further 500 making direct approaches to McLaren following the announcement of the company’s business plans in September 2009.

The 12C, the first in the company’s new range of ‘pure’ McLaren high-performance sports cars, goes on sale from spring 2011. Up to 1,000 12Cs will be manufactured and delivered in 2011. Of the 19 countries launching the 12C in 2011, the USA, UK, and Germany will be the company’s biggest markets. Between 300 and 400 cars are planned for North America, 400 to 500 for Europe, and 100 to 200 each for the Middle-East/South Africa and Asia-Pacific regions.

Initial demand for the 12C appears to validate McLaren’s strategy for a high-quality, performance-oriented and highly efficient sports car featuring Formula 1-inspired technology. Over 2,500 ‘prospects’ have registered ‘expressions of interest to purchase’ on www.mclarenautomotive.com .

Once the first retailers are contracted, McLaren will begin to deliver those prospects’ details to the retailers to take orders. With retailers adding their own contacts, demand for the McLaren’s first ‘pure’ high performance sports car is due to be high.

The first 12Cs will be delivered to customers in Europe, followed by a phased distribution to retailers in the Middle-East/South Africa, North America and Asia-Pacific. McLaren Automotive’s long-term strategy is to sell a range of around 4,000 high-performance sports cars per year that will account for between three and four percent of the annual global market for premium sports cars: a conservative target based on the 2003 market for luxury and performance cars.

Further retailers will be added in select mature and emerging markets from 2012 as McLaren moves to full production of its model line-up by the middle of the decade. McLaren Automotive’s aim is for its global network to remain smaller, more flexible, and more profitable than competitors’ networks. McLaren does not anticipate a global network of more than around 70 retailers, ensuring effective communication and logistics, and strong business relationships between McLaren and its retailers that will be of direct benefit to customers.



Formula 1 at heart: in design, build and show
The 12C will make its global public debut, alongside the company’s Formula 1 team, at the world-famous Goodwood Festival of Speed in southern England in July. McLaren Automotive will then present the 12C, and other core assets such as the car’s motor racing-inspired one-piece MonoCell carbon chassis, at a number of public, high-profile events through 2010. All McLaren retailers will also host 12C launch events for VIPs and prospects as part of the car’s 2010 world tour. Aimed at car enthusiasts and potential customers alike, McLaren Automotive anticipates presenting its first McLaren at over 100 events in the second half of 2010.

Mario Micheli, McLaren Automotive’s recently-appointed Commercial and Marketing Director, said: “McLaren is a name that resonates with motorsport fans around the globe: no other racing team can match our achievements and this means for many prospective retailers and customers, it is easy to understand our aspirations for the new sports car range. If you know McLaren, you will know we bring passion, commitment and an absolute ambition to succeed.

“However, launching a global car company will require engaging with more than just motorsport fans. That is why we are pushing ourselves and the new network to make a huge impact through global events. Whether you know McLaren or not, we believe it is vital that our prospective customers see the 12C, feel its quality, and meet our team behind its development in order to really understand the culture that drives everything at McLaren - to be the best,” Micheli concluded.

Uniquely, the full range of cars will be designed, engineered, developed and built within and alongside the home of the company’s Formula 1 cars at the award-winning McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) global headquarters in Woking, England. A brand-new manufacturing facility, the McLaren Production Centre, began construction adjacent to the MTC on March 1 2010. Within two months, its construction was already two weeks ahead of schedule.



Commitment to customer satisfaction
McLaren Automotive plans to repay the successful retailers’ commitment to bespoke McLaren dealerships with innovative technologies and processes aimed at delivering new levels of customer satisfaction in the sports car market:

* Intense focus on aftersales: McLaren Automotive and its retail partners will invest in the aftersales process, where it adds true value to the ownership experience. The ‘sanity not vanity’ principle will deliver a focus on the customer by favouring heavy investments in training and diagnostic equipment over showroom ‘palaces’.
* Innovative construction: The 12C is constructed from a unique one-piece carbon fibre chassis, with bolt-on aluminium secondary structures that makes it stronger, lighter, more rigid and much easier to repair and maintain than other cars in the segment. (mais oui, c'est bien "A Tribute To Amedeo Felisa" ... )
* A commitment to more effective repair processes: McLaren Automotive will be supporting retailers in stocking at least one spare part of almost every component. This will ensure immediate parts availability to speed up repair and minimize the time cars are off the road.
* Bespoke diagnostics: New desktop, remote, and dynamic diagnostic processes and equipment developed for McLaren Automotive will ensure more accurate and quicker diagnosis and resolution of issues.

Antony Sheriff said: “Our business will succeed or fail on our ability to exceed our customers’ expectations - for technologically advanced cars, great quality and reliability, and excellent relations with their retailers. Our aims are simple: to offer the best cars and service ever seen in this demanding market.

“Therefore, our challenge has been to find retail partners with the same attitudes as McLaren – an absolute focus on being the best that is inherent in everything we do and a natural result of our successful motor racing heritage,” Sheriff concluded.

[pierre]

S'ils veulent qu'on voie quelque chose dans leur showroom, je leur (re)fais volontiers leur concept d'éclairage...

[Corsugone]

S'ils veulent qu'on voie quelque chose dans leur showroom, je leur (re)fais volontiers leur concept d'éclairage...

T'es cuisiniste ??

[SebM]

Non, Pierre est une lumière !!!

Zurich finalement... dommage, l'option Genève était bien selon moi, enfin ca viendra peut-être plus tard...

[pierre]

T'es cuisiniste ??

Non, boulanger.

[La grenouille]

Patissier aussi


C'est voulu et c'est connu faut pas trop mettre en lumière

[Ferrarissima]

La prod'

Des faux airs de 458, vous trouvez pas?

[jl32]

bon alors ... avouez ... combien d'entre vous ont déjà commandé ???



Finalement je vais passer mon tour et attendre le développement de la gamme ... (en fait mon porte-monnaie est trop plat !!).

[ze_shark]

Avec un réseau aussi peu étoffé, il faut être fada.
C'est déjà pas facile chez Ferrari avec une dizaine de concessions, mais là, tant pour le SAV que les relations commerciales, c'est de la roulette russe, avec trois balles dans le barillet.

Ensuite, il y a le produit lui-même qui a encore toutes ses preuves à faire en termes de prestations et de fiabilité, en particulier si on fait de la piste avec, ce qui est pour moi le seul intérêt d'une auto de 600 chevaux aujourd'hui. Usage piste pour laquelle cette version est probablement inadaptée, trop GT, donc il faudra attendre une version typée club sport.

Comme NF l'a relevé récemment au sujet de la 458, super auto, mais beaucoup trop cher pour faire du circuit avec et, ça c'est mon avis perso, sans plus trop d'intérêt en dehors.

Pour moi, le sweetspot se situe quelquepart entre une crevette et une GT3 tant en termes de gamme de tarif que d'enveloppe de perfs, fortement du côté GT3 pour l'adaptation intrinsèque à un usage piste, peut-être plus du côté Z06 côté tarif. Largement assez pour se faire plaisir sur tous types de circuits, largement assez aussi si ça finit dans une glissière, avec le risque de se faire mal.

La McLaren se range pour moi dans la catégorie Aston/Ferrari, beaux objets certes, mais le jour où je remets autant d'argent dans l'équivalent d'un promène couillon nautique n'est pas près d'arriver. Mais ce n'est là qu'un avis.

[ZeusRS]

Et bien pour une fois Shark, je partage totalement ton avis...

[Mouse]

[Corsugone]

Carbo Tech secures world’s largest ever order for carbon monocoque production

Salzburg, 28 May 2010

* Mclaren Automotive and Carbo Tech deliver world’s largest carbon monocoque order for series-production cars
* New production facility built at Salzburg site – more employees required
* Leap forward from manual to industrial production for McLaren Automotive’s new range of high-performance sports cars

Carbo Tech has received the world’s largest order for series-production carbon monocoques to be introduced on a range of high-performance sports cars from McLaren Automotive from 2011. The order, which amounts to 150 million Euros, will result in investment in a new production facility at the company’s Salzburg site. Up to 100 new jobs will be generated in construction of the new facility, and in manufacturing the carbon fibre-based monocoque.

Carbo Tech will manufacture the McLaren-designed carbon chassis (the MonoCell) for series-production models of a new generation of McLaren Automotive road cars over the next eight years, making this the world’s largest carbon fibre order for series-production cars, and a natural step for McLaren Automotive, the world’s most successful motor racing company who introduced carbon ‘tubs’ into motorsport and road cars.

The first series of Carbo Tech CRP (= carbon-fibre-reinforced) components will form the chassis of the McLaren MP4-12C, the first of McLaren Automotive’s new generation of high-performance sports cars. The 12C, and all future McLaren sports cars, will be of lightweight monocoque design. “Our clear advantage over the competition was our ability to produce large carbon fibre components in series for McLaren’s cars to McLaren’s design. Our skill at industrialising what has traditionally been a very labour-intensive process was decisive,” said Karl Wagner, CEO and CTO of Carbo Tech. “Working with McLaren Automotive in taking this fundamental engineering step in carbon fibre engineering and production will, we believe, enable carbon technology to establish itself ever more in motor vehicle production. Carbon has now achieved the breakthrough into industrial production."

Monocoques are one-piece passenger cells for cars made from carbon fibre. They are particularly light and thus reduce the CO2 emissions of the vehicles while at the same time offering improved strength, structural rigidity and engineering predictability, resulting in better driving dynamics.

Series production and lower costs convinced McLaren

During the development programme for the 12C, McLaren had been searching worldwide for a suitable supplier. The unit cost alongside the series production capability was also key to Carbo Tech’s successful integration with McLaren Automotive. “We have now developed an in-house technology that allows us to offer our monocoques at far more economical cost,” explains Dr. Ernst Wustinger, CFO Carbo Tech AG. “McLaren’s design and innovative foresight, along with our expertise and ability to rapidly develop these unique monocoques resulted in production costs for monocoques that are significantly reduced in cost over similar structures previously manufactured.” Carbo Tech has also protected its special technology with patents.

Carbon-based sports cars based on chassis weighing less than 80 kilograms

“The goal for our sports cars is to offer the lightest weight, with the most engaging performance, and a great driving experience from both a driving dynamics and comfort perspective. The carbon monocoque - a traditional concept for McLaren - is the perfect solution. This particular development and partnership with Carbo Tech presents a unique and innovative development in this technology. Carbo Tech has proven to be the ideal partner in the process that, I believe, will revolutionise the use of carbon chassis in road cars,” said Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive Managing Director.

The carbon monocoque in the 12C weighs less than 80 kilograms and satisfies all crash test requirements for series-production vehicles necessary for street homologation. McLaren Automotive plans to build a range of high-performance sports cars that will compete with the world’s best sports car brands. All models will feature the carbon MonoCell as the structural heart.

New production facility at the Salzburg site

In order to manage this ground-breaking order, Carbo Tech has built a new production facility at its Salzburg site. Up to 4,000 monocoques per year will be manufactured in the new 3,500 m2 production hall over the next eight years. Much of the new facility (2,500 m²) will be used for production; the rest is planned for engineering and logistics.

Some 100 additional employees recruited

In the coming years up to 2014, Carbo Tech will take on around 100 new employees to handle the major order. “Particularly at the present time, this major order is an important signal on the labour markets,” says Gabi Burgstaller, Governor of Salzburg. “The production of lightweight cars will play an ever more important role in the future. Carbo Tech is thus safeguarding jobs for the longer term.”

Order strengthens Salzburg’s business location

“With its innovations, particularly in the automotive sector, Salzburg has always been one of the leaders,” says Deputy Governor Dr. Wilfried Haslauer. “I am proud that, with Carbo Tech, a Salzburg-based company has created a premiere by producing the world’s first genuine series-production monocoque for a sports car. The order is a strong signal from Salzburg’s innovation centre and is enormously important for our business location.”

“The order has a total volume of 150 million Euros and is thus the largest order in the company’s history,” says Dr. Ernst Wustinger, CFO Carbo Tech. “In the year of the highest production alone that represents a volume of more than 20 million Euros.”

Carbo Tech

Carbo Tech is a racing sport-oriented, high-end producer of composite components. The main focus is on complete consistency from the projection through to construction, strength design, model building, mould making and final testing. In this way the customer has a partner for a cost-efficient total solution, whether it's the manufacture of a single prototype or a whole series. In order to manufacture high-end composites, extensive hardware and software solutions are required - something that is already standard at Carbo Tech. The extreme sportsman, Felix Baumgartner, also entrusted the production of his wings for the flight over the English Channel to the know-how of the Salzburg specialists, as do leading customers from the automotive sector.

[Corsugone]

MP4-12C à la pompe, petit bruit sympathique au démarrage.

[LEX 911]

MP4-12C à la pompe, petit bruit sympathique au démarrage.

Même si elle à quand même un air de déjà vu...

[Corsugone]

Via la MP4-12c, MoteurNature pose la question du recyclage de la fibre carbone.