McLaren to open 35 car dealers in 2011, 35 more in 2012

UPDATE McLaren Automotive has unveiled ambitious worldwide plans for a network of up to 70 dealers for its new range of supercars. Claiming to be represented by "the world's best automotive dealers", the firm said its UK outlets would be in London, Birmingham and Manchester.

It will have a total of 35 outlets – variously described as "partners" and "retailers" – in 19 countries in 2011 with further growth planned from 2012. The firm said it would confirm details of its first 23 outlets ahead of the global debut of its MP4-12C supercar at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, in July.

Other European retailers will be in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Brussels, Monaco, Paris, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid and Zurich. North American outlets will include Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, while those in the Middle East will include Doha, Jeddah, Riyadh and Dubai. The firm will also have a presence in Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.

Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive's managing director, said: "This is a landmark day for McLaren Automotive as we confirm the locations of the first of our partners that will represent us around the world. We will develop a global network that has fewer retailers than our competitors, selling a smaller volume of higher quality cars with more useable technology and performance; almost the perfect scenario for experienced retailers of premium high-performance sports cars."

The MP4-12C will go on sale in early 2011 with a price tag of about £150,000. It follows the McLaren F1 supercar of the mid-1990s, which had a top speed of 240mph, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren which ended production last year.

05/25/10 McLaren Automotive says its dealer network plans are almost in place with the first retailers announced soon. 35 dealers will open in 19 countries by next year – and McLaren will name the first 23 at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.

There are going to be 12 in Europe, with the UK represented by car dealers in London, Birmingham and Manchester.

Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive’s MD, said: ‘It has been incredibly encouraging to experience the demand to sell McLarens from the world’s best car retailers – in every country in which we planned to launch and at the heart of all performance car markets.’

There was no shortage of car dealers to choose from, he revealed. Nearly 600 were on the consideration list to be McLaren Automotive retailers – 100 pre-selected by the firm, and 500 more making direct approaches to him.

The expectations from the brand, he says, are ‘sensible, but high quality’. Car dealers have duly responded: ‘nearly half are building brand new flagship showrooms.’