McLaren says record sales in 2015, upping production

McLaren Automotive has announced that 2015 was a record year in terms of sales – the British automaker said that a total of 1,654 cars were delivered to customers across 30 markets last year. Such is the global demand for its offerings that production is being ramped up – a second shift will begin from February at the McLaren Production Centre and 250 new skilled production team members are set to be added to the workforce.

The company said the record year was supported by the launch of no less than five new models as well as the introduction of the new three-tiered product family – the Sports Series, Super Series and Ultimate Series.

In Geneva, it launched the P1TM GTR in the Ultimate Series and the 675LT Coupé in the Super Series. Built in response to requests from existing P1TM customers, the P1TM GTR was designed as the ultimate track car – hand-assembled to the exacting specification of its owner, the cars are used on a selection of the world’s most famous racing circuits as part of the McLaren P1 GTR Driver Programme.

As for the 675LT, the first modern-day McLaren to wear the ‘LT’ or ‘Longtail’ name, the 500 cars that were announced were sold out almost immediately. The track-focused coupé was joined in December by a Spider variant – again limited to 500 units, the car sold out in just two weeks.

At the New York Autoshow in April, the automaker unveiled the new Sports Series family. The first car launched, the 570S Coupé, was followed by the reveal of the 540C Coupé at the Shanghai Autoshow later the same month. Despite production only having started in November, the company says its retailer network is already holding over six months worth of orders for the Sports Series cars.

By the time the Sports Series is complete in 2017, the range will include two further bodystyles and is expected to account for two thirds of total annual sales volumes. Elsewhere, production of the P1 ended in 2015, after 375 examples were built.

Alongside the record sales, the automaker’s global retailer network also grew in 2015 to 80 retailers covering 30 markets. Twelve new retailers opened in 2015, Seoul, Mexico City and Houston among them. Further development is planned in 2016, but the focus will be on controlled and sustainable growth within existing markets rather than significantly increasing the total number of markets covered.

GALLERY: McLaren P1 GTR

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