2023 Mclaren Artura on 2040-cars

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McLaren gets a $185 million boost

DUBAI — British supercar manufacturer McLaren Group, which includes its Formula One team, has arranged a 150 million pound ($185.2 million) financing facility with the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), the Gulf bank said on Monday. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the company hard, with sales plunging during a factory shutdown. It announced 1,200 layoffs in May. "Final documentation has been signed and all the necessary approvals have been granted in relation to a ... 150 million (pound) financing facility," NBB said. Bahrain sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat Holding Co is the majority shareholder in McLaren Group, with a 56% stake. Mumtalakat also holds a 44.06% stake in NBB while the government of Bahrain holds a 10.85% stake. McLaren's Formula One future was never in doubt despite the cash crisis, team principal Andreas Seidl said on Tuesday. "It was a tough period for the team, steering a team through these financial difficulties we were in," Seidl told reporters. "The positive news we had yesterday about the funding which is in place now, is I think an extra boost, an extra motivation for all of us who are fully focused again on what we like to do most and what we do best." McLaren was the first team to furlough staff, with drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz also taking pay cuts, and the team also went through layoffs, a move that also reflects Formula One's 2021 budget cap. "With me and (McLaren Racing Chief Executive) Zak (Brown) having detailed knowledge of what was actually going on ... there was never a doubt of McLaren not being on the grid next year," said Seidl. The financial issues had not affected this season, he added, with regular performance upgrades planned. While some infrastructure projects had been put on hold, Seidl said he was pushing to get them going again although McLaren still had to be cautious due to uncertainty over how many races there would be and the impact on revenues. The German suggested some headlines that triggered alarm, with talk of mortgaging historical cars and the McLaren headquarters building in Woking, England, or selling a minority stake in the team, reflected McLaren's search for the best possible option in terms of funding. "(It was) finding the right funding which would not only get us through this crisis but also put us in the best possible position to be competitive in the future. So I am very happy with the news from yesterday," he said.  

McLaren confirms 650S ahead of Geneva reveal

McLaren has a big reveal in store for next month's Geneva Motor Show. It has just announced a new model called the McLaren 650S for the Swiss show, but at the moment, it's not saying much more, releasing just the single teaser image shown above and no real details about its new sports car. McLaren promises that the 650S sits between the MP4-12C and P1 in its lineup and says the new model incorporates the lessons from both of those supercars' development. According to the announcement, the 650S is "designed and developed to offer the enthusiast driver the ultimate in luxury, engagement and excitement, as well as dramatic yet beautiful styling." There have been at least two rumors of upcoming McLaren models in the past month, and either of them could conceivably be the 650S. A high-performance version of the 12C is rumored to boost power to around 650 horsepower, while adding carbon-ceramic brakes and a new front end. The British boutique automaker is also rumored to be working on a dedicated model between the 12C and P1 codenamed 'P15.' "All I can tell you at this stage is that the McLaren 650S being revealed at Geneva is not the much rumoured P13 and that it doesn't replace 12C," said Wayne Bruce, McLaren Global Communications Director, in an email to Autoblog. We shouldn't have to wait long to have our questions answered, because McLaren will have more details about the new model in the coming weeks before its March 4 unveiling. Scroll down to check out the teaser press release, and let us know which you think this new model is in Comments. The McLaren 650S: A New Chapter For McLaren Automotive And The Supercar McLaren Automotive will reveal at the 84th International Geneva Motor Show the latest addition to its range of groundbreaking supercars - the McLaren 650S. Designed and developed to offer the enthusiast driver the ultimate in luxury, engagement and excitement, as well as dramatic yet beautiful styling, the McLaren 650S is the result of 50 years of competing, and winning, at the highest levels of motorsport. It takes learnings from both the 12C as well as the sell-out McLaren P1™ and will be positioned between the two on McLaren Automotive's supercar grid. More details of the McLaren 650S will be announced in the run-up to the car's global reveal which will take place on Stand 1240, Hall 1 at 12.00CET (11.00GMT), Tuesday 4 March 2014 in Geneva.

The McLaren 570GT is slower and softer, and maybe that's a good thing

If there was ever a car that could do with a bit less going on, it's the new McLaren 570S. The company's design chief, Robert Melville, says that McLaren design is a "purist statement" with no excess. We think he need to examining the prescription of his spectacles. In the case of the 570S particularly, there's a distinct possibility that less might actually be a great deal more. Now, meet the new GT version of the 570S, which makes its debut at the Geneva Motor Show next week. The on-sale date is in July, with the first US deliveries taking place in late 2016. This is a case where GT does not mean performance, but instead the traditional definition of Grand Touring. With a swipe of his felt tip pen over a just a few panels (roof, rear wings, and deck), Melville and his team transformed the look and mien of this British mid-engine supercar. They've transformed its usefulness, too, with a sizeable hatchback behind the driver and passenger that gives an additional 7.8 cubic feet of space, now 12.4 in total. As vehicle line director Andy Palmer puts it, "more than that in a Ford Focus." And he should know, having worked on that ubiquitous Ford in a former life. The side-hinged glass rear hatch means curbside loading is possible, although you'll have to luggage across the coachwork, so watch for those brass sliders and zips. The hinge side varies according to left-versus right-hand-drive markets. The redesigned aluminium panels and additional trim adds more than 80 pounds to the car's claimed weight – 2,976 pounds compared to 2,894 in the 570S. There's an associated (though negligible) reduction in acceleration time with the GT, too – 3.4 seconds to 62 miles per hour, up from 3.2 in the 570S. The larger 0-124-mph sprint takes 9.8 seconds, compared to the S' 9.5, but never fear, the top end remains unchanged at 204 mph. The basic carbon-fiber tub remains, as does the mid-mounted Ricardo designed-and-built M838TE engine – a 3.8-liter, 90-degree, quad-cam, dry-sump, twin-turbo V8, which pumps out 562 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque, running through a seven-speed, twin-clutch, semi-automatic transmission to the rear wheels. There are, however, chassis changes to suit the GT car's long-distance ambitions. While a significant minority of 570S owners will take their car to the track for the occasional speedy lap or two, McLaren says that even fewer GT owners will indulge themselves like this.