Although the team suffered in F1, it was otherwise a great year in Woking.
McLaren may have had a difficult time at the track, but things are better away from it. 2017 was another milestone year for the Woking-based car manufacturing division, which saw its highest-ever sales figures.
In 2017, the company sold 3,340 vehicles, marking the third consecutive year of a record-breaking number of vehicles. In 2016, McLaren had sold 3,286 cars and 1,654 in 2015. McLaren’s entry-level models were the most popular, accounting for roughly two-thirds of sales. The United States was McLaren’s largest market with 1,234 cars crossing the pond.
Although it was introduced only part-way through 2016, the new Super Series 720S matches McLaren’s 2016 sales figures for similar cars. This suggests that McLaren could have yet another record-breaking sales year – provided the rich customers keep coming back.
McLaren, the US’ largest exporter of automobiles, opened a Regional Distribution Center (RDC) in Mechanicsburg last November. This facility was the company’s first outside of Surrey. McLaren had previously stated that it would be moving production of carbon fibre tubs for its cars to Sheffield in order to meet increased demand.
McLaren still has 12 cars in development as part of its Track22 plan for 2016. The track22 plan was launched last year with the 720S, 570S Spider and Senna supercars. While we don’t yet know what else will be coming, we do know that a McLaren F1-inspired hypercar has been ordered and is already out of stock. A car that isn’t even known exists, and that the majority of the world doesn’t know about, has been completely sold out.