Isbark.com

McLaren has officially been bought out by the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Mumtalakat Holding Company. This is hardly a surprise, as Mumtalakat has shown great interest in the British brand for the last few years. When McLaren was at its lowest and had to sell cars from its Heritage Collection, Mumtalakat was there to scoop them up.

The biggest shock related to this deal is the fact that Mumtalakat purchased everything. Instead of buying the roadgoing supercar division, it scooped up the technology department, and all of its motorsport teams. It even owns McLaren’s famous technology center in Woking, which the brand sold off in 2021 and rented back from the new owners.

Straight off the bat, McLaren is in a better position than it used to be. It’s Heritage Vehicles can come back to Woking to inspire the workers, and it won’t have to pay rent to use its own facilities anymore.

According to reports, McLaren’s new Bahraini owners are most interested in the car division. It also wants to get rid of the complex shareholding structure, which has been standing in the way of signing mutually beneficial deals with other automakers.

By all accounts, McLaren has been in a better position than ever before. Its cars are arguably class-leading and the Formula 1 team is finally claiming podium spots regularly. It will be interesting to see what it does with all of this new sweet Bahraini money, but if we were in charge, this is what we’d do.

Step 1: Fix The Production And Quality Issues

McLaren is not the first high-end manufacturer to miss the mark when it comes to quality. In the late ’90s and early 2000s, Mercedes-Benz decided to dip more into its profits instead of spending the required money to keep its cars up to the required standard. As a result, the quality dropped, and the brand suffered massive reputational damage. The Germans ended up spending a billion dollars getting its build quality on track, but the reputational damage from that era continues to linger.

McLaren’s suffer from a wide range of maladies. At best, they can be deeply annoying due to infotainment glitches, rattling dashboards, and general electrical problems like windows that won’t go down properly. At worst, they went up in flames, though McLaren took these risks very seriously and immediately performed a recall.

Related

Every McLaren 600LT In America Is At Risk Of Catching Fire

The culprit? Ironically, it’s coolant.

Not only will improved quality do wonders for the brand, but it will sort those pesky resale values. Apart from a select few limited edition models like the P1, Senna, Speedtail, and the Elva, McLaren values take a massive dive as soon as the car leaves the dealership. You might think this isn’t a problem for the kinds of people who can afford to drop $300,000 on a new McLaren 750S, but that’s not the case. The people who buy these kinds of cars are known for investing money wisely, which makes any Ferrari a much better bet.

To give you an idea of how much value Macs lose over time, let’s use the 650S Coupe and Spider as examples. When new, the MSRP for these two models was between $265,000 to $280,000. These days, you can pick up a low-mileage 2016 model for as little as $114,000. Compare that to the Ferrari 488 GTB and Spider, which retailed for roughly the same when new in 2016. These days you can expect to pay $260,000 to as much as $300,000 depending on specification. If you were a financially savvy millionaire, where would you put your money?

Step 2: Build An SUV And Find An EV Partner

McLaren is fortunate in the sense that it hasn’t fully committed to either an electric vehicle or an SUV. With EV sales rapidly declining and governments realizing the ICE bans they set out aren’t viable, we wouldn’t commit to a mass production EV yet. But now that certain obstacles have been removed, McLaren can make partnership deals with a host of electric vehicle suppliers. Lucid supplies Formula E, for example, and is even working with Ason Martin. If it’s good enough for Formula E and Aston, it’s probably good enough for a limited-production electric Mac.

Unfortunately, McLaren needs an SUV. If you look at the demand in the upper echelons of the automotive industry, SUVs are big sellers. There’s big demand for the Porsche Cayenne, Bentley Bentayga, and Rolls-Royce Cullinan. It’s impossible for this particular market to become oversaturated because, in this league, customers don’t buy cars instead of, but rather in addition to.

Still, McLaren needs to be careful with an SUV to ensure it remains a supercar maker first and foremost. It needs to take the same approach to building an SUV as Ferrari. There is massive demand for the Purosangue, but Ferrari will only build a certain amount to ensure that it never accounts for more than 20% of its output. By doing this, Ferrari retains its pedigree as a supercar builder that simply dabbles in the SUV segment a bit.

If McLaren wants to build pedigree, limiting SUV production would be the smart move.

Step 3: Go hard with McLaren MSO And Build Pedigree

McLaren does have a bespoke vehicle department called McLaren Special Operations (MSO). It has the ability to create unique vehicles that the British manufacturer can sell for loads of money.

This is a fantastic way of making money, as proven by Rolls-Royce and Bentley. For 2022, the average customer spent $533,655 on a new Rolls-Royce, and it received the most bespoke commissions ever. In 2023, it received so many commissions that we compiled a list of the top 10. People with money want something unique that will never be replicated again, and they’re willing to pay big bucks for the privilege.

McLaren is a niche manufacturer, and it already has all the equipment necessary to create cars that are a step above what MSO currently offers. Imagine a 750S with a completely unique body. Sure, it will cost the customer millions, but we happen to know that high-end customers are willing to pay $30 million for something that nobody else has. For proof, look no further than the Rolls-Royce Arcadia Droptail. McLaren has a rich history it can tap into, including one of the most famous supercars to ever exist, the F1.

Related

Rolls-Royce Arcadia Droptail Is Heaven On Earth

The British carmaker has revealed the third Droptail bespoke commission and it is utterly breathtaking.

Go Ballistic With The P1 Successor

McLaren is already well on track with this one. It has already stated that it won’t chase high horsepower figures in favor of keeping weight low. The P1 successor will also be powered by a hybrid V8 powertrain, just like the OG car. “Our new high-performance, hybrid V8 powertrain will form an integral part of McLaren’s next-generation product line-up, delivering best-in-class performance and thrilling driver engagement,” said McLaren CEO Michael Leiters.

Interestingly, McLaren has already learned a lot about hybrids since it introduced the P1. The all-new Artura is a shining example, but McLaren also used what it had learned to improve the P1 years after it went out of production. In 2022, it introduced an all-new battery pack for the P1, seven years after it went on sale. Sure, the battery pack cost the same as an entire Porsche 911 GT3, but that’s pocket change in this league.

Related

The McLaren P1 Successor Could Be Called The W1 Or MP1

We’ve found two new trademarks that could each apply to the P1 replacement expected later this year.

Build A Porsche 911 Turbo Rival

Once the halo model is established, it’s time to take on an institution. The Porsche 911 Turbo is an icon because it’s the perfect blend of sports car and supercar. The AWD Turbo S can hit 60 mph in as little as 2.6 seconds, but it’s easy to drive and it has 2+2 seating. Simply put, it’s the ultimate everyday driving machine, and in the history of the automotive industry, nobody has been able to match it. Mercedes-Benz might give it a go with the all-new GT, but a rival from McLaren would be more special.

McLaren was already on track with the 570GT, but it needs to develop a new carbon tub. At the moment, all of its cars are built around the same tub, which limits what the engineers can do. We’d develop a new tub that is cheaper to build but that can accommodate 2+2 seating. It already has a glorious twin-turbocharged V6 that can easily run without all the hybrid bits. Without the hybrid bits, the Artura’s V6 produces 577 hp, which is more than enough.

All McLaren needs to do is put it in a practical-ish RWD car that’s more affordable to produce and, therefore, more affordable to buy. You’ll note that we put this entry last because a few things need to happen before McLaren can take the 911 on. First, it needs to fix the quality issues. If you’re going up against Porsche, you had better have an infotainment system that’s screwed together properly. Secondly, you need a halo car to create buzz. And finally, you need that bespoke department to keep the brand from being diluted.