PARIS DEBUT FOR McLAREN MP4-12C WITHIN GLOBAL LAUNCH PROGRAMME

Sep 29, 2010

Media Information
29 September 2010
MTC, Woking, England

• McLaren Paris to give exclusive viewings of the new 12C to media and prospective customers from 05-08 October
• McLaren Automotive confirms new retailers in Spain, North America and Bahrain; Asia-Pacific retailers set to follow in October
• MP4-12C prototypes undertake extreme weather testing in Arizona
• www.mclarenautomotive.com now available to view in German language

MP4-12C makes Paris debut
National and regional media in France and prospective customers of McLaren Paris will be given the opportunity to view the groundbreaking new MP4-12C high- performance sports car at a private venue in the French capital city from 05-08 October, shortly after the opening day of the 2010 Paris Motor Show. 

McLaren Paris, owned and managed by Neubauer Group, will present a 12C finished in Supernova Silver and XP13, a rolling 12C chassis, to more than 300 guests over the course of two days.  Visitors will have the opportunity to get up close to the innovative technology under the skin of the 12C, with Frank Stephenson, McLaren Design Director present to unveil the car.

Eric Neubauer, Group Director for Neubauer Group will be joined by Christian Marti, McLaren Automotive Regional Director for Europe in presenting the 12C to guests.

New retailers announced for McLaren Automotive in the Middle East, Europe and North America
Al Ghassan Motors is today confirmed as McLaren Automotive’s local partner in the Kingdom of Bahrain and joins four other Middle East sales and service partners situated in UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi.

Al Ghassan Motors has vast experience in the luxury automotive industry and has been selected for displaying an outstanding track record in excellent customer service, a core competency of all retailers appointed to represent McLaren Automotive.

A total of 35 retailers will represent McLaren Automotive in 19 countries worldwide from 2011. In Europe, McLaren Automotive will appoint 13 retailers.  Spanish and Portuguese customers will be serviced by a retailer based in Madrid, with further details to be announced in due course. McLaren Automotive has to date confirmed details of its European retail partners in Birmingham, London, Manchester, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Brussels, Milan, Monaco, Paris and Zurich.

A McLaren Automotive retailer for Newport Beach in Orange County, California will be confirmed in the coming weeks. The announcement follows a highly successful debut presentation of the 12C at the recent Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California.  Ten retailers will be appointed in North America and Canada for 2011, with retail partners already confirmed in Beverly Hills, Chicago, Dallas, New York, San Francisco, Tampa Bay, Miami and Toronto.  Details of a Philadelphiaretailer will also be confirmed in the near future. 

Meanwhile, retailers in Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney are anticipated to be confirmed in October.

12C prototypes undergo extreme testing in Arizona
From the start of the 12C development programme in 2007, more than 40 prototype vehicles have been built by McLaren Automotive to undertake real world testing.  The latest iteration of 12C concept-phase vehicles is codenamed Validation Prototype (VP).  McLaren VP and XP (Experimental Prototype – the previous phase of 12C concept car) 12Cs are being continuously tested in the UK and across Europe.  More recently, an intensive extreme weather testing programme was undertaken by the McLaren Automotive development team in Arizona, USA.

With temperatures peaking at 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit), a 28-strong team of engineers, technicians and vehicle development partners ran two VP cars and one XP car day and night over three weeks on a mixture of driving surfaces between Lake Havasu City - where the team was based - and the town of Flagstaff, further west in Arizona.

The 12C prototypes began testing on a dynamic handling platform and high speed circuit at a proving ground near Yucca, and then completed the programme at high altitude on public roads in Flagstaff.

Tony Joseph, Regional Director for McLaren Automotive North America, said:

“Feedback from prospective customers we received at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance clearly indicates that Americans are keen to see McLaren succeed in this market, so it is vitally important that our development team undertakes test programmes in North America.

“The combination of extreme ambient temperatures in a high altitude environment is perfect for testing components including the 12C’s bespoke heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, which has performed exceptionally well in Arizona.  Amassing mileage in these conditions is invaluable in proving the 12C’s new engine, which was equally impressive throughout significant changes in the test environment.”

Andy Beale, a Vehicle Development Engineer working on the programme said: “Between Lake Havasu City and Flagstaff the development team passed through Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.  Our 12C prototypes received great comments from motorists along the way, relating in particular to the car’s design and its exhaust note.”

The MP4-12C inside-out and in German at www.mclarenautomotive.com 
McLaren Automotive’s online showroom for the new MP4-12C is now available to view entirely in German. Germany is expected to be the 12C’s biggest export market outside of North America. Visitors to www.mclarenautomotive.com will immediately be presented with options to view the site in ‘Deutsch’ or ‘English’.

Christian Marti, Regional Director for McLaren Automotive Europe said: “I am delighted we can now offer German-speaking prospective customers the opportunity to explore the McLaren Automotive website in their own language.

“We are currently undertaking a European tour with the MP4-12C in partnership with our new retailers. In Düsseldorf and Hamburg the response to the car has been incredibly positive and this website development will help customers in Germany discover more about the technical innovations that have shaped the new 12C.”

A unique car configurator is one highlight of the website and was developed using data obtained from the McLaren Automotive design and engineering teams at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England.  The configurator allows users to enjoy specifying their preferred 12C options from a range that literally offers millions of combinations.

Ends