McLaren, formally known for its Formula One racecar designs, has announced that they plan to make a road car officially entering the market of every day vehicles instead of exclusively racing cars where cost cutting measures are becoming drastic.
The company will build the new road car which is aimed at rivalling the Aston Martin and Ferrari at a new manufacturing plant in Woking alongside their headquarters.
This is good news for staff members who may have been worried that their jobs were in jeopardy from reduced F1 budgets, as they can now simply just move over to the automotive division.
Chairman of McLaren Ron Dennis announced that he is sure now is the right time for the company to enter the automotive business.
Once the factory is built the company will be ready to go with an estimated production rate of 4,000 cars a year with 800 workers. However, despite the fact that the company could produce this amount, managing director of McLaren Anthony Sheriff stated that they will probably stick to 1,000 per year at first until the economy picks up.
The new model is tentatively referred to as the McLaren MP4-12C and will cost drivers about £160,000 to drive home.
The vehicle will be built mostly of carbonfibre which will leave the car weighing very little with excellent pickup.
The engine of the new MP4-12C will be a 90 degree V8 engine with 2.8 litre that can produce around 443lb of torque and 600bhp.
