Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
PLANS have been unveiled for the new state-of-the-art showroom at the foot of the Bahrain World Trade Centre for the McLaren high-performance sports car.
As revealed exclusively in GulfWeekly, McLaren Manama will be part of the Moda Mall luxury shopping complex and will see the brand’s first premium high-performance sports car, the BD100,000 12C, sit alongside the world’s most exclusive fashion, restaurant and jewellery outlets.
The ‘glass box’ design style will ensure it is a genuine ‘jewel in the crown’ for McLaren in the Middle East, and a new landmark in Bahrain, where Mumtalakat, McLaren Automotive’s principal shareholder, is located.
And, whilst the cover will soon be going up, the marque’s new open top Spider version is now available to provide a timely boost to an impressive first car launch. Its makers claim strong demand for the McLaren MP4-12C Coupé has seen McLaren ‘outperform all rivals’ in the first half of 2012 across the Middle East.
Mark Harrison, McLaren Automotive’s regional director for Middle East and Africa, said: “The opening of McLaren Manama will conclude the first stage of our automotive business strategy in the Middle East; a region that is vital to McLaren’s high-performance sports car business.
“The enthusiasm for luxury and performance cars in the region, combined with our plan to offer exceptional customer service and breath-taking innovation in our cars, will be tested to the full in Bahrain. We intend to deliver to the full!”
Mumtalakat Holding Company, the kingdom’s investment arm, has a 42 per cent stake in McLaren Group as well as a 50 per cent stake in McLaren Automotive, and the island is considered a ‘home from home’ by the company based in Woking, in the English county of Surrey.
Its official dealers in Bahrain, Al Ghassan Motors hope to open the showroom, featuring a genuine F1 McLaren classic on display, close to Abd El Wahab Lebanese Restaurant, in the autumn.
It will be the first time an automotive company has located a retail outlet in this area with many of the major marques based in Sitra.
The high-profile location and architecture displays both companies’ commitment to the Bahrain market, they say. McLaren Manama will complete the initial Middle East retail network of six McLaren dealerships. Al Ghassan Motors President and CEO, Sheikh Ghassan A H. Sulaiman said: “The showroom will, I believe, be a new landmark in Manama, and reflects our commitment to McLaren and sports car fans from the region.”
The showroom has been designed to be visually dramatic and visible from the city’s main thoroughfare, the King Faisal Highway. It will provide fans and customers with a unique location in the heart of the city where they can see the latest McLaren models.
In addition to the Moda Mall masterpiece, McLaren Automotive has already opened showrooms in Abu Dhabi and Dubai (Al Habtoor Motors), Kuwait (Ali Alghanim & Sons Automotive), Jeddah (Al Ghassan Motors). McLaren Doha (Al Wajba Establishment) is due to open soon. A service centre in Lebanon (Saad & Trad Sal) is planned too.
