McLaren Automotive, a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, has posted a 70 per cent increase in sales in the Middle East and Africa during the first half of 2016 compared to the same period of 2015.

The rise in sales has come from the same number of retailers in the regional network, a statement said.

Additionally, deliveries to customers of cars in the McLaren Super Series range which includes the 650S Coupé and Spider, along with the limited production 675LT models, improved in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period of 2015, by 19.3 per cent.

This performance is a result of a continued focus by McLaren retail partners to meet customer expectations and also the introduction of a broader range of models offered, specifically within the Sports Series, which includes the 570S Coupé, voted the Middle East Car of the Year Awards 2016 ‘Best Performance Coupe’.

McLaren Automotive has also forecasted further success for the remainder of 2016 due to the introduction of the 570GT, which is the third model to be launched in the Sports Series range and is the most luxurious and refined of any McLaren to date.

Such strong performance in light of market conditions sees a strategic change to regional operations in which the McLaren Automotive Middle East and Africa regional office, based in Bahrain, will expand its responsibilities to also oversee company operations in Latin America.

The  decision is a result of the strong brand management which has delivered 2016 performance to date in the Middle East, which is akin to Latin America in that both are highly competitive markets which offer significant growth opportunities, and also have a similar dynamic nature.

The change of management will also ensure support to deliver Track22, the business plan which represents investment of over £1 billon ($1.3 billion) in the next six years.  Andreas Bareis, current Managing Director of McLaren Automotive Middle East & Africa also assumed responsibility for Latin America from 1 July.

Andreas Bareis, managing director of McLaren Automotive Middle East, Africa and Latin America, said: “The first half of 2016 has shown McLaren has a bright future, especially in the Middle East and Africa region. The launch of the Sports Series has opened McLaren up to an entirely new audience and has been pivotal in developing our sales volumes from the 2015 levels, whilst retaining the same retailer network base.”

“With the first customer deliveries of the 570GT taking place in the near future we can look forward to another strong sales performance for the rest of the year. I am also delighted to have taken over responsibility for Latin America, an exciting region in which we plan to grow our footprint in the coming years and it is an indication of the region’s strategic importance to merge management with that of the Middle East.  We are sure McLaren fans will be thrilled with all that is to come in the next 6 years as a result of our recently launched Track22 plan.

“However our immediate focus in Latin America is on deliveries of the McLaren 570S to customers. We believe this car, the first in our Sports Series range, is a sports car suited to support the sales growth which we know we can achieve as we enhance our retail network throughout this region,” he added.

2015 financial results

McLaren Automotive recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of the first car rolling off the production line with another record-breaking year. Operating profits increased to £23.5 million – the company’s third successive year of profitability - from revenues of £450.6 million with revenue projected to increase by 50 per cent over the next two years and double by the end of 2022 – an unprecedented performance in the early years of a car company.  Last year also marked the fifth successive year of increasing global car sales to 1,654 cars, supported by the launch of no less than five new models.

Looking forwards, McLaren Automotive has revealed details of its Track22 Business Plan, taking it through to 2022.

With a continued focus on building the world’s finest two-seater sports and super cars, the business plan reiterates a commitment to its industry-leading 20-25 percent of turnover invested in Research and Development for future products and technology.

Over the six-year Business Plan period, this represents an investment of £1 billion and will lead to the launch of 15 all-new cars or derivatives. Of these cars, at least 50 percent will feature hybrid technology by the end of the Business Plan period and the company is also in the early prototype stages of the development of a fully-electric powertrain to evaluate its possible use in a future generation of an Ultimate Series car. – TradeArabia News Service