Yahoo Finance McLaren reveals £200m plan to almost double supercar production rate
McLaren plans to almost double the rate it builds its supercars as part of an ambitious expansion plan.
The Woking-based car maker has unveiled its “Track25” strategy, setting out its aims into the middle of the next century.
An update on the £1bn “Track22” plan launched two years ago, the modified strategy – announced at the Goodwood Festival of Speed – will see an extra £200m put back into the business.
Financed from deposits taken from customers willing to sign up to long waiting lists, the money will allow McLaren to increase annual production by almost 75pc from current level to 6,000 cars a year, though all will still be hand-built at its Surrey factory.
Recognising the automotive sector’s electric revolution, the company will introduce 18 new models between now and 2025, and add hybrid options.
McLaren has also pledged to build a successor to its £1m P1 car, the first petrol-electric hybrid supercar.
Other plans include developing a light and fast-charging battery system which will give McLaren cars a 30-minute endurance at racetrack speeds.
Mike Flewitt, chief executive of McLaren, champions “lightweighting” cars to make them more efficient, saying the industry has forgotten the “weight race” as it piles on features which make vehicles heavier, degrading their performance or requiring bigger engines to compensate.
Privately-owned McLaren is already investing £50m in a composite materials technology centre in Sheffield, bringing to the UK manufacturing of lightweight chassis of its cars which was previously done by a supplier in Europe.
When fully operational, the centre will also develop new lightweight parts for use in its cars, with the new technology expected to trickle down from supercars into the wider automotive industry.
