Photo: McLaren
McLaren has a new CEO as of last summer, and the new boss had to make a few unpleasant decisions from the start. We are writing about Michael Leiters, who left Ferrari back in December 2021, and previously worked for Porsche. Leiters was the person who decided to delay the launch of the Artura and later explained that it was a quality-based decision.
While the strategy was risky, as the Artura's production and deliveries had already begun, the new CEO of McLaren believes that the time has come to repair quality issues before the vehicles are delivered to customers.
According to Leiters, the described situation had been a problem for McLaren for many years now, and it was even common practice to send out a vehicle that was "non-mature."
In an interview with the Brits at Evo, Michael Leiters explained that McLaren continues to have a start-up mentality, despite the firm already having over 30 years of making vehicles.
In his view, the brand should no longer request excuses for quality issues because the resulting vehicle is fast and engaging to drive. The described excuses might be suitable for a brand that is just starting out, but not for McLaren, not anymore.
Instead, Leiters wants customers to know that future vehicles, with the Artura being the first, will have quality as their focus, not just performance. Therefore, production and deliveries were stopped to fix any underlying quality issues that may have been a nuisance for owners.
While it may be frustrating to wait even more for your beloved Artura, at least you may rest assured that it should have its quality at a higher level than it could have had. It is unclear what the issues that made Leiters decide to stop deliveries were, but it will make things tricky to explain for McLaren dealers if or when the customers will come in for issues that need to be resolved over warranty.
Leiters went on to explain that McLaren will continue to have mid-engined vehicles, but the range will be refined for clarity. The same will happen from a design perspective, which means that all new models will stop looking so much alike.
As for the future of McLaren, the company's new CEO claims that EVs are not yet ready to become supercars, but the firm will not rule out an SUV or a front-engined vehicle with an ICE. There is no timeline for the latter two, but the firm's rivals are already offering electric supercars, while other competitors are experimenting with the idea. Ironically, the McLaren CEO had a different approach to EVs in an interview from last month.
According to Leiters, the described situation had been a problem for McLaren for many years now, and it was even common practice to send out a vehicle that was "non-mature."
In an interview with the Brits at Evo, Michael Leiters explained that McLaren continues to have a start-up mentality, despite the firm already having over 30 years of making vehicles.
In his view, the brand should no longer request excuses for quality issues because the resulting vehicle is fast and engaging to drive. The described excuses might be suitable for a brand that is just starting out, but not for McLaren, not anymore.
Instead, Leiters wants customers to know that future vehicles, with the Artura being the first, will have quality as their focus, not just performance. Therefore, production and deliveries were stopped to fix any underlying quality issues that may have been a nuisance for owners.
While it may be frustrating to wait even more for your beloved Artura, at least you may rest assured that it should have its quality at a higher level than it could have had. It is unclear what the issues that made Leiters decide to stop deliveries were, but it will make things tricky to explain for McLaren dealers if or when the customers will come in for issues that need to be resolved over warranty.
Leiters went on to explain that McLaren will continue to have mid-engined vehicles, but the range will be refined for clarity. The same will happen from a design perspective, which means that all new models will stop looking so much alike.
As for the future of McLaren, the company's new CEO claims that EVs are not yet ready to become supercars, but the firm will not rule out an SUV or a front-engined vehicle with an ICE. There is no timeline for the latter two, but the firm's rivals are already offering electric supercars, while other competitors are experimenting with the idea. Ironically, the McLaren CEO had a different approach to EVs in an interview from last month.
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