McLaren Automotive has set a milestone with the building of the 10,000th car at its factory.
Car number 10,000, a 570S finished in Ceramic Grey paintwork from the McLaren Special Operations ‘Defined’ palette, has emerged from the brand’s Production Centre in Woking, Surrey. However it won’t be going far, being retained as part of the McLaren heritage collection.
The milestone has been reached just over five years after the first car, a McLaren 12C, was completed, and less than two years since car number 5,000 was built.
In early 2016, a second shift was introduced into the McLaren Production Centre to cater for the increased volume that resulted from the introduction of the Sports Series family, today comprising the 540C, 570S and 570GT. This took capacity at the Production Centre from 10 to 20 cars per day.
The year of 2016 has also seen the announcement of the brand’s third year of profitability in the first five years it has been producing cars – unprecedented in the automotive industry.
The brand is currently on target to almost double its sales in 2016 compared to 2015, from 1,654 cars last year to more than 3,000 cars in 2016, of which over 90 per cent will be exported.
McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt believes the short time in which the 10,000 milestone has been reached shows the growth of the company.
According to Chief Executive Officer, Mike Flewitt, the fact that it took the company 42 months to build 5,000 cars and just 22 months to build the next 5,000 speaks volumes about the pace of development at McLaren.
“Much of that development is thanks to the introduction of the Sports Series family of cars and it’s therefore fitting that the 10,000th car is a McLaren 570S,” Flewitt says.
The McLaren Production Centre took 14 months to build, from breaking ground until 18th July 2011 when the first car, a 12C, was approved for shipping. The facility has since been the only location where McLaren cars have been built, from the initial 12C and 12C Spider, through to the 650S and 675LT in the Super Series, as well as each of the 375 highly-bespoke P1 cars.
Today, the Production Centre employs around 750 people out of a total of approximately 1,750 staff at McLaren Automotive.
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