McLaren today unveiled a plan to produce its new range of sports cars at a brand new facility situated next to the existing McLaren Technology Centre in Woking.
The proposed plant would assemble up to 20 McLaren sports cars a day by 2011, a production rate that would create over 800 automotive jobs and an estimated additional 1500 indirectly in the local economy.
The proposed 17,760 square metre McLaren Production Centre will follow the lead set by the current McLaren headquarters – and will also be designed by Foster+Partners.
I bet the new McLaren facility will look like a 007 film set!
The single-storey structure with a basement will be submerged into the landscape to minimise visual impact and create substantial new areas of tree planting and recontouring to camouflage the site’s visible façade slap bang next to the Technology Centre. Woking Borough Council will announce its decision by the end of July 2009.
The new McLaren facility is designed to be the UK’s most modern and efficient automotive production facility, claimed McLaren Automotive chairman Ron Dennis. ‘Designing, developing and selling globally the best sports cars in the world is just half of that equation,’ said Dennis.
‘Building them to previously unmatched levels of quality, with ground-breaking technologies in a production facility in the UK is key to satisfying that dream.’
But I heard they were going to build McLarens abroad?
The move to create a domestic production centre quashes rumours that McLaren would be looking to outsource production to Europe. ‘It would be easy enough to consider building McLaren sports cars in existing productive and experienced foreign factories, a number of which are knocking on our door,’ said Dennis.
‘However, McLaren is a great British company founded over 40 years ago that should, in my view, continue to design and build our own products.’
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