McLaren Reveals UK Retail Network

Sports car manufacturer McLaren announced today its three UK partners, ahead of the 12C debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this July. The retailers in question are Rybrook in Birmingham, Jardine Motors Group in London, and Sytner in Manchester. They will begin selling the 12C from early 2011.

The UK, along with the USA, will reportedly be McLaren’s biggest market. McLaren targets around 70 retailers worldwide.

“British car enthusiasts are demanding; they enjoy and appreciate performance cars, and traditionally buy what’s best – not necessarily what’s British. We now have the ideal partners in the UK who have enormous experience in delivering extraordinary customer service to help us deliver on those expectations,” Antony Sheriff, McLaren Automotive’s Managing Director, said in a release.

With the addition of the three British retailers, McLaren’s network will total 35 partners that plan to sell together some 1,000 12C units. The European network will also be revealed throughout this month, with the North American, Middle Eastern and South African retailers due to be confirmed this summer. The Asia Pacific market will be announced in the autumn.

The 2011 McLaren MP4-12C is powered by a 3.8L V8 twin-turbo engine producing approximately 600 horsepower mated to a 7-speed Seamless Shift dual-clutch gearbox (SSG). The supercar can reportedly go from naught to sixty in the low 3-second range with a top speed of more than 200 mph.

However, pricing for the UK has not been disclosed yet, but is expected to sit in the £125,000 - £175,000 range.

A brand-new manufacturing facility, the McLaren Production Centre (MPC), began building this vehicle on March 1 2010, and will start manufacturing cars for the UK starting next spring.