New supercar player: McLaren Automotive

Longtime McLaren Formula One team boss Ron Dennis has officially announced he will head up the new McLaren Automotive operation for the famed company. Dennis (left in photo) stepped down from his role as racing team principal at the start of this year to focus on the new endeavour.

Having previously built the McLaren F1 and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren road cars the new organisation represents a change in focus for the brand. McLaren Automotive is expected to launch a range of sportscars to compete with the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini.

The first product is expected in 2011 and has been caught testing recently in Sweden (more here). It is believed to be aimed at the Ferrari 430 and Porsche 911 with a range-topping successor to the F1 also in the planning.

As part of the announcement at the McLaren Group headquarters in Woking, England it was also announced that McLaren Automotive will be set-up as a separate company for the first time. Dennis will take on the role of Executive Chairman of McLaren Automotive while businessman Richard Lapthorne (right in photo) will take on the title of Non Executive Director of operation.

The change means Dennis relinquishes his position as Chief Executive Officer of McLaren Racing and officially brings his Formula One career to an end having started out as a mechanic on Jack Brabham's team in the 1960s. He bought McLaren in 1980 and has been at its helm ever since.

"I passed the role of Team Principal of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes to Martin Whitmarsh on January 16th, the day of the launch of our new Formula 1 car," Dennis says. "That day I was asked many times whether I would attend the 2009 Australian Grand Prix. My answer was 'yes'. I duly attended it -- albeit not as the person in charge of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. It was, I admit, a strange feeling.

"The next race, the Malaysian Grand Prix, I watched on TV in the UK -- an activity I found surprisingly easy. I'd expected to be more emotional about it, after an unbroken run of attending so many grands prix for so many years."

Dennis's departure comes with the team embroiled in the controversy surrounding driver Lewis Hamilton and former team manager Dave Ryan being found guilty of lying to the F1 stewards. This follows the 'spygate' saga that saw the team fined US$100million in 2007 when its technical director was caught with detailed documents from arch-rivals Ferrari.

Despite Whitmarsh, Hamilton and the team facing further sanctions by the sports governing body, the FIA, Dennis is convinced now is the right time to change.

"I admit I'm not always easy to get on with," he says. "I admit I've always fought hard for McLaren in Formula 1. I doubt if [FIA president] Max Mosley or [F1 commercial rights holder] Bernie Ecclestone will be displeased by my decision. But no-one asked me to do it. It was my decision.

"Equally, I was the architect of today's restructure of the McLaren Group. Again, no-one asked me to do it. It was my decision.

"I feel enormously enthused about the prospects for the McLaren Group and for McLaren Automotive, and have no qualms about leaving Martin to report to the board regarding matters connected with Formula 1."

Dennis and Lapthorne are now in the process of raising more equity for McLaren Automotive to fund the road car range.

"This is a very exciting time to be joining the McLaren Group and to be working closely with Ron and his team on McLaren Automotive's expansion into the sports car market," Lapthorne says. "It's a rare opportunity to be involved at a key stage in the development of a British sports car company of an entirely new sort, especially one that has such a great racing pedigree and such a world-class reputation as McLaren."

Despite Mercedes-Benz having a 40 per cent stake in the McLaren Group it is believed the company will have no official involvement in the new sportscar project. It is expected that the P11 will be powered by a Mercedes-sourced 5.5-litre V8 but that it will carry no three-pointed star badging. Instead Mercedes-Benz is working on its own successor to the SLR McLaren, the SLS AMG (more here and here).

Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at www.carsales.mobi