McLaren announces supercar

In a hastily organized press conference held yesterday (April 16), McLaren Group Chairman Ron Dennis announced bold new plans for a production car range. Produced under the McLaren Automotive brand - and following on from the legendary McLaren F1 and hugely successful Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren - the car is codenamed P11. It will be a mid-engined two-seater, set to arrive in 2011 to rival cars like the replacements for Ferrari's F430 and the Lamborghini Gallardo.

The middle of a recession might not seem like the best time to be unveiling plans for a new supercar, but Dennis is upbeat about the project, stating: “launching this product coming out of a recession is strategically a good move.” Nobody is likely to argue with Dennis, the famously fastidious businessman dropping his 43-year involvement with the McLaren Formula One to give 100 per cent of his time to the road car project. Martin Whitmarsh will take over the reins at McLaren F1.

The P11 will spearhead a new range of models from McLaren Automotive too. McLaren is claiming production figures for its first new car of around 1,000 units a year, the company eventually talking of an annual volume of 4,000 vehicles from a multi-car range. Set to be more exclusive than its obvious competition, the range will require a new production facility and should create between 500-800 highly skilled jobs in the UK.

Taking a slightly different approach from rivals like Ferrari, McLaren Automotive's Managing Director, Antony Sheriff, stated that the company's cars would provide not just 'phenomenal performance but also remarkable efficiency and safety'. Development of the car has been underway for around two-years, McLaren briefly revealing a 90 per cent production ready car at its press conference. Sharing some styling cues with its McLaren F1 predecessor, the mid-engined machine features heavily sculpted air intakes along its flanks and a black rear grille with four high mounted exhausts exiting from it.

Technical details remain scarce but the new car is expected to be powered by a V8 engine, McLaren promising that the production car will bring plenty of innovation to the marketplace. The project requires investment of around $450 million, Dennis stating that much of that funding is already in place. It's expected that, if successful, McLaren Automotive will be instrumental in doubling McLaren Group's size in the next three to five years. Certainly everyone at the unveiling was keen to point out that the P11 represents not just the creation of a car but an entire car company. With Ron Dennis and his team driving the project forward rival manufacturers are likely to be very worried indeed.