Wed, Jan 4, 2017


Motoring
McLaren to roll out second-gen Super Series


McLaren Automotive will launch of the second generation of its Super Series at the Geneva International Motor Show this March. 

The first of the 15 new cars cited in the company’s Track22 Business Plan, the second-generation Super Series is also the first replacement of a product family by the British manufacturer of luxury sports and supercars.

“Super Series is the core of the McLaren business and personifies the blend of extreme performance, crafted luxury and unparalleled driver involvement that is the McLaren heartland,” explained McLaren Automotive CEO, Mike Flewitt. “This is the first time we have replaced a product family and the new Super Series will be absolutely true to McLaren’s pioneering spirit in being a revolutionary leap forwards, both for our brand and the supercar segment.”

The new Super Series is created around an ultra-lightweight, carbon fibre central structure. Immensely rigid, yet weighing less than the carbon fibre and metal cockpit architecture of the first-generation Super Series, the Monocage II contributes to a lightest dry weight of just 1,283 kg for the new car – lower than the closest competitor and 18kg lighter than a McLaren 650S with comparable specification.

The development of Monocage II has allowed McLaren to incorporate a wider cabin entrance and lower sill to improve access into a driver environment that will offer excellent all-round visibility. The new chassis structure also enables a lower centre of gravity, further sharpening the dynamic performance of the new Super Series. Owners wishing to showcase the carbon-fibre construction chassis can specify a ‘Visible Monocage’ option that exposes the material on the inside area of the A-pillar.

The Super Series lineage began in 2011 with the launch of the groundbreaking 12C. The 12C Spider followed in 2012 and in 2014 McLaren introduced the 650S Coupé and 650S Spider. The first generation of the McLaren Super Series was further expanded in 2015 with the launch of the limited edition 675LT Coupé and 675LT Spider.

Full details of the new, second-generation Super Series will be confirmed in March, when pricing will also be available.

McLaren Automotive is a British manufacturer of luxury, high-performance sports and super cars, located at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, Surrey. For the past 30 years, McLaren has pioneered the use of carbon fibre in vehicle production and since introducing a carbon chassis into racing and road cars with the 1981 McLaren MP4/1 and 1993 McLaren F1 respectively, McLaren has not built a car without a carbon fibre chassis.

Following the launch of McLaren Automotive in 2010, the groundbreaking 12C was revealed in 2011, the 12C Spider in 2012, and the limited-run McLaren P1 went into production in 2013. 

In keeping with its plan to introduce a new model each year, the company unveiled the 650S, in Coupé and Spider form in 2014, while 2015 proved to be a year of unprecedented growth of the product portfolio with five new models launched across the full range. The strictly limited edition 675LT Coupé premiered at the Geneva Motor Show alongside the track-only McLaren P1 GTR which, with 1,000PS, became the most powerful model ever produced by the brand. The much-anticipated Sports Series became the third – and final – model tier in the McLaren range with the 570S Coupé and 540C Coupé debuting in New York and Shanghai respectively, less than one month apart. 

The end of 2015 saw the launch of the fifth model, the 675LT Spider, which was as a direct response to customer demand. The year also saw the end of production for the first model in the Ultimate Series as the 375th McLaren P1 was completed, closing what had become a defining year for the British brand. 

2016 continued where 2015 had left off with the introduction of the 570GT - a second bodystyle for the Sports Series and the most luxurious car McLaren has ever built, as well as the 570S GT4 and 570S Sprint track variants. 2016 also marked the introduction of the company’s new business plan, Track22, which sees the company investing £1 billion ($1.23 billion) in research and development to deliver 15 all new cars or derivatives by the end of 2022, of which at least 50 per cent will feature hybrid technology. The uplift in sales in 2016 also saw the launch of the second shift at the production centre as well as the company’s third year of profitability in just six years of trading.

The 87th Geneva Motor Show will run from March 9 to 19 at the Palexpo centre in Geneva, Switzerland.





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