The British carmaker went from zero to hero in just five years
We love automotive success stories, and McLaren's is one of the most spectacular in recent history.
After building the F1 supercar between 1993 and 1998, followed by the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren from 2003 to 2009, McLaren Automotive set out to create its own range of supercars in 2011.
Starting with the MP4-12C, McLaren worked its way up to a lineup that now consists of three core models each spawning a number of variants. The range includes the Sports Series (540C, 570S, and 570GT), the Super Series (625C, 650S, 675LT), and the Ultimate Series (P1, P1 GTR).
In just a little over five years, McLaren Automotive's production facility in Woking has gone from building zero production vehicles to 10,000 units. The 10,000th car that rolled off the assembly line is a McLaren 570S finished in Ceramic Grey paintwork that the company will keep for itself, adding it to the Heritage Collection.
"The production of the 10,000th McLaren is a significant milestone in the short history of the company. The fact that it took us 42 months to build our 5,000th car and just 22 months to build the next 5,000 speaks volumes about the pace of development of the company."
Mike Flewitt, McLaren Automotive CEO
McLaren owes much of this spectacular growth to the introduction of the Sports Series family of cars. In early 2016, the manufacturer introduced a second shift in Woking to meet increasing demand for the 540C, 570S, and 570GT. As a result, the daily output doubled from 10 to 20 cars.
McLaren Automotive is on target to almost double sales this year compared to 2015, from 1,654 cars last year to over 3,000 cars in 2016 — over 90 percent of which will be exported.