McLaren has renewed its contract with engine supplier Ricardo for a third time, securing a powertrain partner to help the supercar maker achieve its Track 25 strategy targets.
UK-based Ricardo has been the sole manufacturer of engines for McLaren since 2011. It has supplied more than 15,000 engines to date, with McLaren's increasing popularity among supercar customers seeing around 5000 delivered in the last year alone.
The engine partnership, with Ricardo building McLaren-designed engines, began with the McLaren 12C and has included the P1 hybrid hypercar. The two companies’ relationship goes back much further, with Ricardo building the transmission for the original McLaren F1 road car. McLaren’s entire current line-up, including the McLaren 720S, 600LT and McLaren Senna, uses engines produced under the partnership.
“Ricardo shares McLaren’s passion for exceptional performance, product innovation and quality,” McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt said of the renewed deal. “We look forward to working with Ricardo and to receiving its full support as we implement our Track 25 business plan.”
The £1.2 billion Track 25 plan will see McLaren introduce 18 new cars by 2025, by which time all of the company’s mainstream models will have made the jump to hybrid power. It will include a successor to the P1, as well as the three-seater Speedtail hyper-GT.
The renewed agreement is the largest in Ricardo’s history, and will see the company invest in its Shoreham assembly facility to allow for greater manufacturing capacity. The expansion will also allow for multiple product lines.
Flewitt told Autocar earlier this year: “Hybrid design is part of the next platform – it is designed-in from day one rather than having to adapt an existing chassis.”
Current McLaren models use a twin-turbocharged V8 engine, while a future hybrid powertrain could move to a smaller-capacity turbocharged V6. However, McLaren has said that future limited-production hypercars might still remain powered solely by internal combustion engines.
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So,no SUV then?
McLaren have apparently taken over the Supercar sector with there Lego type Car, so would it be entirely unreasonable for them to do an SUV....?
Yes Peter.
Yes Peter.
One engine, stretched across
One engine, stretched across far too many extremely similar cars, is deeply silly.
18 new cars in the next 7 years (still with the same engine) is sillier still.
Why's that then?
Same block in varying states of tune, a known quantity in my book. Building variations on a theme, based around the same tub/chassis seems sensible to me. The bigger manufacturers are moving towards common, adjustable platforms to minimise on costs. 5000 sales PA for a company of MacLaren's size is to be applauded. It's a policy that should have served Lotus well but failed to do so.
18 variants over seven years is quite modest, VAG have based 28 models on the MQB platform
Audi A3 Mk3[2] (1, 2, 3, c)Audi TT Mk3 (r)Audi Q2 (x)Audi Q3 (x)SEAT Ibiza Mk5[9] (3)SEAT León Mk3[2] (1, 3, sw, x)SEAT Arona[10] (x)SEAT Ateca (x)SEAT Tarraco (x)Škoda Karoq (x)Škoda Kodiaq (x)Škoda Octavia Mk3[2] (4, sw, x)Škoda ScalaŠkoda Superb B8[11] (4, sw)Volkswagen Arteon (4)Volkswagen Atlas / Teramont (x)Volkswagen Bora (China)Volkswagen Golf Mk7[2] (1, 3, sw, x)Volkswagen Golf Sportsvan (mpv)Volkswagen Jetta MK7 (2)Volkswagen Lamando (2)Volkswagen Lavida (2)Volkswagen Passat Mk8 (2, sw, x)Volkswagen Polo Mk6 (3)Volkswagen T-Cross (x)Volkswagen T-Roc (x)Volkswagen Tiguan Mk2 (x)Volkswagen Touran Mk2 (mpv)
Ans
Because VAG make millions of cars a year MacLaren make less than 10,000
And as someone presumably
And as someone presumably interested in cars, do you really think this strategy of changing the socks and calling it a new outfit is appealing?
MQB, and the hateful fake variety it embodies, sums it up like no other. It is killing the spirit of cars.
Where did Maynard fit in ?
When Mclaren first acquired the engine, I believe it was a Maynard Racing Project ?