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The McLaren MP4-12C has been revealed as the first in a range of high-performance sports cars from McLaren Automotive ... as the search continues for retail partners to help market it in the region.
The location for a Middle East and Africa headquarters is also yet to be determined although industry insiders suggest that the @bahrain development near Bahrain International Circuit would be an ideal site.
"It is a long-held dream of mine to launch high-performance sports cars that set new standards in the industry," said Ron Dennis, McLaren Automotive chairman. "Incorporating the leading edge technologies that the McLaren Group has built up, I believe we are now perfectly placed to open up this new chapter in McLaren's history."
The first car from the new company is a high-performance two-seat mid-engine model aimed at the 'core' sports car market segment for vehicles costing between BD78,000 and BD110,000. It will be racing to win a place in a marketplace currently dominated by the Ferrari 458, Lamborghini Gallardo, Porsche 911 Turbo, Bentley Continental GT and Aston Martin DB9.
The 12C, and future models within the range, will challenge the world's best sports cars, McLaren says. At its heart, the McLaren MP4-12C features a revolutionary carbon fibre chassis structure, the Carbon MonoCell: the first time a car in this market segment is based around such a strong and lightweight racing car engineering solution and the first time any car has ever featured a one-piece carbon fibre structure.
This step change in sports car design means that the 12C will introduce new standards not just in handling, ride and outright performance, but also safety, economy and practicality in an already competitive sector.
Martin Whitmarsh, team principal of McLaren's racing team, highlighted the integral part that the company's motorsport and road car experience played in developing the 12C. He explained: "McLaren has for years offered a potent mix of race car and road car technologies. This combination of McLaren's performance heritage, and future demands on what is expected of high-performance sports cars in the 21st Century, gave us a head-start when we embarked on this project.
"The 12C, and future variants, draws on the spirit of Formula 1 and delivers real-world technological advances."
Although the recent economic downturn has affected the performance car sector, just as it has the entire motor industry, McLaren Automotive believes that the 'core' segment's growth from 8,000 sales in 2000 to more than 28,000 in 2007 highlights the potential that exists and that it will soon return to at least 2007 levels.
"By the time the 12C is launched in 2011 we expect the economic conditions to be much improved. We have already seen significant interest in the car and the supply of the 12C will be relatively scarce; in its first year we plan to produce just 1,000 cars which represents only 3.5 per cent of the 'core' market," explained Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive managing director.
The 12C will be 'pure McLaren', featuring no carryover parts from any other car, and will be produced by McLaren in the UK. Bahraini Mumtalakat Holding Company has a 30 per cent shareholding in the McLaren Group.
As well as offering exhibition and convention facilities, hotels and an indoor arena, the @bahrain development will offer a range of automotive-related facilities including an engineering section and research institute. Also part of the Mumtalakat Group, it will be one of largest projects to have taken place in the kingdom in the past five years.
