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McLaren Automotive has released more details about its expectations for the Middle East market, where it will launch the first in its range of high performance sports cars from spring 2011.
The company says it will be represented throughout the region through a retail network in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Mumtalakat, the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, has a 30 per cent stake in McLaren. The announcement follows the world debut of the new McLaren MP4-12C at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England, where the two most recent Formula 1 world champions, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, unveiled the new car.
The MP4-12C will be sold through a high-quality, dedicated and profitable global retail network located in the most popular and mature regions for sports car sales. McLaren Automotive believes that its partners will be both commercially successful and committed to the launch of a new brand that is set to challenge the world's best sports car businesses.
McLaren Automotive plans to initially sell the 12C across 19 countries. It is expected that its retail partners in the Middle East will account for between 10 and 20 per cent of the overall sales volume.
The search for retail partners has been moving quickly across the Middle East, a region of particular importance for the company. So far, around 30 applications have been received for regional dealership franchises, and the selection process has reached the shortlist stage.
"We have been making significant progress in finding the right representatives to market the MP4-12C, the first in our range of high performance sports cars," said Ian Gorsuch, McLaren Automotive's regional director for the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.
