13/01/2015
NEWS STORY
The McLaren Group has 'got an 'ology', as it changes name to the McLaren Technology Group.
A press release issued this morning (Tuesday) reads:
The change represents an ongoing shift at McLaren, as we increasingly develop into a diversified high-technology company, applying our unique innovation and technology to industries such as oil and gas, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, aviation and financial services.
Explaining the change, Ron Dennis CBE, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the McLaren Technology Group said: "McLaren is a company with the expertise and innovative culture required to make a positive impact on the world.
"We have long proven our capabilities on the world's racetracks, and Formula 1 racing is and will always be a core area of activity for us. Racing fuels our competitive spirit, it is our crucible of innovation, it enables us to attract the world's best engineers, scientists and data analysts, and the enormous popularity of Formula 1 provides a unique global marketing platform. We exist to win, and nothing will ever divert McLaren Racing's focus away from that ambition.
"However, some time ago we set McLaren on a path of diversification, and as a result we are today far more than just a racing team. The McLaren companies now employ more than 3000 people, three-quarters of whom are not involved in motorsport. Technology drives everything we do - creating the world's most advanced road cars, working with blue-chip companies to enhance their performance and their products, and/or developing the world's most robust electronic control systems. Our new name therefore reflects our ever-increasing focus on innovation and the creation of disruptive technologies that will have a positive and far-reaching impact.
"McLaren Applied Technologies has already established an enviable reputation as one of the world's most innovative technology companies, and its shareholders will continue to provide the investment and the support it requires to grow - and grow quickly. With that support and direction, we are confident that the entire McLaren Technology Group can make a positive difference in the years to come."
The company that has developed into today's McLaren Technology Group was formed 52 years ago and is synonymous with success in Formula 1, having won 182 Grand Prix races and 20 World Championships. But we began to diversify more than 25 years ago, when we made the decision to design and manufacture high-performance electronic control systems, which are today supplied to every team in Formula 1, Nascar and IndyCar, and are also utilised in a wide range of disparate non-automotive industries.
Subsequently, we began to develop and manufacture roadgoing supercars, beginning with the iconic McLaren F1 in 1993, before establishing McLaren Automotive, which today produces the world's most technologically advanced high-performance production sports cars.
Now, as a stand-alone company, McLaren Automotive produces more than 1600 cars per year (1648 in 2014, which was a year-on-year increase of 21% over 2013), which are exported to 30 countries around the world. Fourteen new McLaren Automotive retail locations were established in 2014, bringing our total number of global sales network dealerships to 68 - in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, Central America, South America, Australia, Asia and Asia Pacific. More development is planned for 2015, and, as and when new models are added over the next three years, production will increase to more than 4000 cars per year.
McLaren Applied Technologies was established to harness and apply the technical know-how and expertise developed during more than half a century at the pinnacle of global motorsport, to a range of different industries including oil and gas, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, aviation and financial services.
McLaren Applied Technologies has formed long-standing partnerships with global blue-chip companies such as SAP, utilising its game-changing SAP HANA analytical software, and GSK, which uses McLaren technology to enhance the development process of new medicines while also improving the efficiency of its manufacturing facilities. Equally, McLaren and KPMG recently unveiled a strategic alliance which will apply McLaren Applied Technologies' predictive analytics and technology to KPMG's audit and advisory services, enabling KPMG to improve the service it offers, and providing McLaren access to a range of new markets.
To facilitate McLaren Applied Technologies' planned growth, we have submitted a planning application for the construction of a new 'applied technology centre' of 57,000 square metres (gross internal area), including additional aerodynamic research facilities, workshops, research and development space, offices, meeting rooms, teaching and training space, and vehicle preparation and assembly areas, thereby doubling the existing McLaren Technology Group footprint.
McLaren Applied Technologies' new partnerships were, are and will continue to be made possible by virtue of the fact that the McLaren Technology Group has developed world-leading expertise and capabilities in disciplines ranging from predictive data analytics, to simulation and modelling, to advanced manufacturing. Paired with our innovative culture and will to win, that know-how can and will continue to inspire and enable the development of high-performance products, processes and collaborations for years to come.