McLaren's MP4-12C (right) with a McLaren F1
McLaren officially launched its MP4-12C today – the sports car which will rival Ferrari’s 458 model.
The company is entering a new era as it begins production of road vehicles in greater numbers than it has done before and ends its association with Mercedes. It has begun buying back the 40% stake Mercedes acquired in McLaren and should complete the process by the end of the year.
While the new MP4-12C was officially revealed to the press at McLaren’s headquarters the car was also on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed media event. It was shown alongside a McLaren F1 – the ultra-exclusive supercar, formerly the fastest production car in the world, examples of which have sold for millions of pounds at auction.
The MP4-12C, is powered by an engine built by McLaren in-house. This will inevitably raise speculation that the team might want to go the same way with its F1 cars.
But it announced at the end of last year that a deal was in place to continue its supply of Mercedes F1 engines until 2015 – despite Mercedes entering its own works team in the sport this year.
It’s a significant change for the team that has competed in F1 longer than any other team bar Ferrari. Instead of being partly owned by a car manufacturer, it is now dependent on its ability to sell cars.
Can McLaren inspire enough wealthy buyers to spend over £150,000 on an MP4-12C? It claims it is on the way with over 1,600 expressions of interest for the first 1,000 examples which will be built in the first year of production.
It adds an extra dimension to their long-running rivalry with Ferrari which will now be measured in car sales as well as championship trophies.
And with with Mercedes promoting its SLS AMG via its role as F1 safety car supplier we now have three car manufacturers in F1 who are all competing for sales in the same market segment – an unusual and fascinating scenario.
McLaren MP4-12C
McLaren MP4-12C and rivals
- McLaren MP4-12C road car revealed
- Schumacher in Mercedes SLS ad (video)
- Mercedes SLS AMG to lead the pack as new F1 safety car in 2010
Images (C) F1Fanatic.co.uk
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