McLaren Automotive will invest £500 million to expand UK operations, building engines and transmissions in-house for the first time. Backed by shareholder L’IMAD, the programme supports McLaren’s hybrid strategy, a new assembly facility, a performance SUV, and up to 1,000 new UK jobs by 2032.
McLaren Automotive, headquartered in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom (UK), is to design and build its own engines and transmissions in-house for the first time in its history, as part of a £500 million ($670 million) investment programme to expand its UK manufacturing and engineering operations.
The company said the new powertrains, comprising two engines and transmissions, will support its hybrid engine strategy, building on technology it first introduced with the McLaren P1 hybrid supercar. The investment, announced September 16, forms part of a larger commitment from McLaren shareholder L’IMAD, a sovereign investor of the government of Abu Dhabi.
A new UK vehicle assembly facility will support production of McLaren’s next generation of models, including a newly confirmed performance sport utility vehicle (SUV). Alongside the new plant, McLaren will expand its existing McLaren Production Centre in Woking and the McLaren Composites Technology Centre, a carbon-fibre manufacturing and research facility in South Yorkshire, strengthening the company’s in-house capability in lightweighting and advanced manufacturing.
The programme also builds on two UK sites McLaren opened recently: a design and innovation centre at the McLaren Creation Centre in Bicester, and a testing and vehicle development facility in the Midlands, which together form an integrated UK operation spanning design through to manufacturing.
McLaren said the investment is expected to create at least 1,000 new direct and indirect jobs across its UK operations by 2032, doubling its UK manufacturing workforce, with new apprenticeships planned to support the powertrain and manufacturing expansion. The plans could unlock up to 3,000 additional jobs across the UK automotive supply chain.
According to Jassem Al Zaabi, managing director and group chief executive officer at L’IMAD, the shareholder has worked with McLaren’s management team over the past 20 months. “This investment reflects our confidence in its potential and our commitment to backing the business through its next chapter, building on the heritage, engineering excellence, and distinctive brand that has defined McLaren for more than six decades,” he says.
According to Nick Collins, chief executive officer at McLaren Group Holdings and McLaren Automotive, the investment gives the company “the platform to grow, develop and build on what makes us distinctive, while investing in the people, technologies and products that will keep us competitive for decades to come.”
According to Andy Burnham, UK prime minister, McLaren is “doubling down on Britain, keeping the design, the engineering and the building of every future car here, and taking on a thousand more people to do it.” He adds that the investment will “create high-quality apprenticeships, jobs and drive growth far beyond their factory gates.”
