McLaren is a name synonymous with motor racing excellence, with eight Formula 1 Constructors’ Championships and 12 Drivers’ championships. But over the past five years McLaren has been finding success off the racetrack and on the street by building street legal high-performance vehicles handmade in the UK.
Last year marked a banner year for the relatively young carmaker. Globally, McLaren sold over 3,200 cars, a big jump from the approximately 1,600 that it sold in 2015. But in North America, the automaker topped 1,000 cars sold for the first time—representing growth of over 100%.
North America is indeed a huge market for sports car maker like McLaren. And with marquee brands like Ferrari (RACE) and Lamborghini already competing in the space, doubling sales in a fierce market is no small feat.
Tony Joseph, president of McLaren North America, attributes the big gains made to McLaren’s newest line, the Sports Series, which includes the 570S and 570GT models.
“We feel we’re really redefining the sports car segment,” Joseph says of the Sports Series in the above video. “[The 570GT] really has supercar looks, it’s got supercar performance, but it’s priced in the sports car price segment.” The Sports Series cars start at around $190,000.
Despite the success of the Sports Series, McLaren isn’t losing sight of what it considers the core of the brand, the Super Series, a step above the Sports Series. Headlined by the 675 LT, or Long Tail, this on-the-edge, high-performance supercar (which starts at around $350,000) sold out in two weeks. Later this year at March’s Geneva Auto Show, Joseph revealed McLaren will be debuting the second generation model of the Super Series, known as the P14.
Clean power
McLaren also has its eye on the future, investing in the development of engines that are not only powerful, but also clean. As part of this “Track 22” plan, which earmarks $1 billion towards new R&D spending, more than half of the plan will be hybrid-powered sports cars. One possibility is an all-electric hypercar that would be part of the McLaren Ultimate series. Think of it as the spiritual successor for the legendary P1, McLaren’s bonkers 1,000-horsepower hybrid hypercar.
What’s next for McLaren?
Investing in R&D, especially complex powertrains, requires a lot of capital. An initial public offering (IPO) could be a big source of much needed cash. Even an acquisition could be in the cards for the growing automaker.
While an IPO or merger might be on the horizon, Joseph adds that staying independent has its advantages. “Our independence is what we thrive on, our independence allows us to do some of the things that we’ve done,” Joseph says. “It allows us to be very versatile.”
If this independence means producing supercar after supercar, many of McLaren’s passionate fans and customers hope it will stay that way.