McLaren: F1 woes won’t affect road car sales

McLaren’s Formula 1 woes aren’t likely to impact its road car sales.

That’s the view of George Biggs, Managing Director of McLaren Asia Pacific. Speaking to MOTOR at the Australian reveal of the new McLaren 720S, Biggs stated that while McLaren’s current dry spell wasn’t a preferred situation, it had little bearing on the company’s road car operation.

“We’re all McLaren fans, we’re not where we want to be, we can all admit that,” explained Biggs, “but the reality is you don’t choose this car based on if our Formula One car is winning. We’re McLaren fans, we’d like to see the team doing better, but do I think it affects [sales]? Not really.”

Biggs’ assertion is backed by data, with McLaren doubling its sales in 2016 compared to 2015, primarily thanks to the success of its new Sports Series range, specifically the 570S Spider which is now McLaren’s best-selling model. In total, 3286 cars were sold.

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McLaren is currently last in the Formula 1 constructors’ championship with zero points, following on from two largely unsuccessful years primarily due to the disastrous performance and reliability of the Honda power unit.

Recent rumours suggest McLaren will sever ties with Honda before year’s end and revert to Mercedes power for the 2018 season. Its last win came at the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Biggs also revealed that Australian McLaren customers are keen drivers, with many using the British sports cars for daily use: “In some of the areas that I look after, let’s take some of the traffic-heavy metropolises like Jakarta, you’re simply not going to be able to drive on a daily basis because you’re going to get stuck in traffic for hours on end.

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“In Australia you can use the car on a daily basis, but Australians are really into driving their cars, the kays that get put on cars here is probably, between here and Japan, the biggest in our region.” The McLaren 720S is available now, priced from $489,900 plus on-road costs.