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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1985 |
| Headquarters | Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Richard Lapthorne, Non-Executive Chairman Martin Whitmarsh, Chief Executive. Ron Dennis, executive chairman McLaren Automotive |
| Industry | Motorsport |
| Revenue | GB£241 million (2005) |
| Operating income | GB£14.3 million (2005) |
| Net income | GB£12.3 million (2005) |
| Employees | 1,289 (2005) |
| Website | McLaren Group |
| Source: ICC Financial Analysis Reports | |
The McLaren Group, based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking in the United Kingdom, is a group of companies created by Ron Dennis, described by the International Herald Tribune as "a small conglomerate".[1] The Group is focused around the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes racing team and Formula One constructor, and was originally formed from the team established by Bruce McLaren in 1963. The company hopes to expand its market from Formula 1 to manufacturing cars as the team perpares to launch the successor to the McLaren F1, the McLaren MP4-12C.
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Beginnings of McLaren
McLaren originally started in Formula 1 as a constructor in 1966 under Bruce McLaren. The company is based in Woking. Bruce McLaren was killed in 1970 when testing a Can-am seires car. The group was under the direction of Teddy Mayer. Under his direction the team won their first Constructor and Drivers title with Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi.
Beginning of car manufacturing (1992 - present)
In 1992 McLaren began producing its first road car, the McLaren F1, which had many similarities to its F1 car. In total 106 were produced from 1992-1998, and even though it has been out of production for 11 years, there are still few cars faster than the F1. Among those that are faster are the Koenigsegg CCR and the Bugatti Veyron.[2] In September 2009 McLaren announced the successor of the McLaren F1 which was to be the McLaren MP4-12C. Dennis said that parting ways with Mercedes was a "win-win situation for both sides".[3] McLaren also produced the Mercedes SLR with Mercedes as a joint project.
Formula 1
McLaren originally started as a Formula 1 team in 1966 under its founder Bruce McLaren. However three years after creating the team he died in a crash. The team was saved by Teddy Mayer who helped the team win their first Constructors' and Drivers title. After Teddy Mayer Ron Dennis took over the McLaren Racing team he has worked for the company ever since. However at the beginning of the 2009 season Ron Dennis handed over the F1 department to Martin Whitmarsh so the Dennis can focus on expanding McLaren overall especially in the road car market[3]
Pre-Mercedes era (1966 - 1994)
Before Mercedes became the engine supplier in 1994 the team used Peugeot engines, after they had used Cosworth engines in 1993. Before then, they used Honda engines for the past 4 years and won Constructor's and Drivers titles in the late 80's and early 90's with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. Before Honda supplied engines to McLaren they supplied engines to Williams.
Partnership with Mercedes (1995 - 2009)
The partnership between McLaren and Mercedes began in 1995 with McLaren choosing to use Mercedes engines. This partnership was to last 15 years because McLaren and Mercedes parted ways on November 16th 2009 as Mercedes had bought the debut-season driver & constructor winning team Brawn. It was re-branded as Mercedes GP. Ron Dennis said one reason McLaren and Mercedes parted ways was because of his "ambitious plans to turn McLaren into a car manufacture." Dennis insisted that in the "21st Century to survive in F1 you need to have more than just a team". However Mercedes will continue to supply engines to McLaren until 2015. It is reported that after that McLaren might be capable enough to build their own engines.[3]
Post-Mercedes era (2009-present)
On November 16th 2009 Mercedes bought a 75.1% stake in Brawn GP and rebranded it as Mercedes Grand Prix. Mercedes will continue supplying engines and sponsorship until 2015 and the team's official name will remain Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. McLaren also said "The McLaren Group will become a fully independent stand-alone corporate entity" as McLaren is to buy back stock from Daimler in phases up until 2011.[4]
Subsidiaries
- McLaren Racing, the company behind the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One constructor
- McLaren Electronic Systems, which develops and manufactures automotive control systems and components for motorsports, including systems for Team McLaren
- McLaren Marketing, primarily serving the marketing and media requirements of McLaren Racing
- Absolute Taste, caterer to Team McLaren and corporate clients.
- Lydden Circuit, which manages a racetrack of the same name near Dover in Kent.
- McLaren Applied Technologies, which develops commercial applications for the Group's technologies and provides an internal resource for facilities and expertise.
- McLaren Automotive, the sportscar company produced the McLaren F1 road car, and in conjunction with Mercedes-Benz, produced the SLR McLaren. The current project is the McLaren MP4-12C.
Ownership
On 3 January 2000 Daimler AG (then DaimlerChrysler AG) exercised an option to buy 40% of the then TAG McLaren Group. Since 1995 Daimler has supplied British-built Mercedes-Benz engines to the McLaren Formula One team under the Mercedes-Benz brand. Ron Dennis and the Techniques d'Avant Garde Group (owned by Mansour Ojjeh) each retained a 30% share.[5] In November 2003 TAG McLaren Group announced it was to change its name to McLaren Group, and its associated companies would also drop the TAG name.
In August 2006 it was reported that Daimler was considering acquiring the 60% held by Dennis and Ojjeh.[6] However in January 2007 it was announced that Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, wholly owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain, intended to purchase 15% from both Dennis and Ojjeh. The shareholding is thus Daimler 40%, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company 30%, Ron Dennis 15% and Mansour Ojjeh 15%.[7] On 16 November 2009 Mercedes bought Brawn GP and announced that McLaren was to buy back Daimler's 40% share of that company in a deal which is reported to be worth about £0.5bn.[3]
References
- ^ Spurgeon, Brad (2000-06-24). "TAG McLaren Group Revs Up Off Track". International Herald Tribune: p. 9.
- ^ "SSC Aero - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia". En.wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSC_Ultimate_Aero_TT. Retrieved 2009-11-22.
- ^ a b c d Benson, Andrew (2009-11-16). "BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Formula 1 | Mercedes takes over Brawn F1 team". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8362295.stm. Retrieved 2009-11-22.
- ^ By NESHA STARCEVIC Associated Press 2009-11-17 12:58 AM (2009-11-17). "Mercedes takes over Brawn GP - Taiwan News Online". Etaiwannews.com. http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1110392&lang=eng_news. Retrieved 2009-11-22.
- ^ DaimlerChrysler acquires an interest in TAG McLaren. Daimler website. 2 February 2000. Retrieved 3 July 2006.
- ^ "Mercedes may raise McLaren stake, no decision yet". Reuters. 2006-08-16. http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=motorSportsNews&storyID=2006-08-16T120110Z_01_L16595138_RTRIDST_0_AUTOS-DAIMLERCHRYSLER-MCLAREN-UPDATE-1.XML. Retrieved 2006-08-16.
- ^ "Bahrain company buys into McLaren". 2007-01-09. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/56174. Retrieved 2007-01-11.
Coordinates: 51°20′45.0″N 0°32′54.0″W / 51.34583°N 0.54833°W
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