McLaren set for second generation launch
- January 5, 2017
- Posted by: Simon Wait
- Category: Industry News
McLaren Automotive will celebrate a record sales year with the launch its second generation Super Series at the 87th Geneva International Motor Show.
The first of the 15 new cars cited in the company’s Track22 Business Plan, the second-generation Super Series is also the first replacement of a product family by the British manufacturer of luxury sports and supercars.
‘Super Series is the core of the McLaren business and personifies the blend of extreme performance, crafted luxury and unparalleled driver involvement that is the McLaren heartland,’ explained McLaren Automotive CEO, Mike Flewitt. ‘This is the first time we have replaced a product family and the new Super Series will be absolutely true to McLaren’s pioneering spirit in being a revolutionary leap forwards, both for our brand and the supercar segment.’
The new Super Series is created around an ultra-lightweight, carbon fibre central structure. Immensely rigid, yet weighing less than the carbon fibre and metal cockpit architecture of the first-generation Super Series, the Monocage II contributes to a lightest dry weight of just 1,283kg for the new car – lower than the closest competitor and 18kg lighter than a McLaren 650S with comparable specification.
The development of Monocage II has allowed McLaren to incorporate a wider cabin entrance and lower sill to improve access into a driver environment that will offer excellent all-round visibility. The new chassis structure also enables a lower centre of gravity, further sharpening the dynamic performance of the new Super Series.
Meanwhile, the company has recorded another record year of sales growth with a near-doubling of its sales volume year-over-year, selling a total of 3,286 cars in 2016 compared to 1,654 in 2015. The 99.3 per cent improvement in sales performance also follows the company’s announcement of a third consecutive year of profitability in 2015 and the production milestone of the company’s 10,000th car, all capping another highly successful and record-breaking year.
Mike Flewitt, chief executive officer of McLaren Automotive, said, ‘2016 was a remarkable year for McLaren Automotive. We’d planned it to be a year of considerable growth, thanks to the first full year of Sports Series production, but it’s surpassed even our own optimistic expectations, having seen development in all regions.
‘We’ve also invested significantly in our future. The launch of the second shift at the McLaren Production Centre this time last year gives us the capacity for future volume increase and in March, we launched Track22, our six-year business plan, that demonstrates the longer-term future for the company, with 15 all new cars or derivatives planned between now and 2022. I look forward to showing the world the first of those 15 new cars in Geneva: the second-generation McLaren Super Series.’
