Remember when McLaren was sponsored by Vodafone? The good ol’ days are long gone, and after a disastrous spell in the V6 hybrid era, the Woking-based automaker decided to team up with a Chinese phone manufacturer in a “long-term technology partnership.”
An unveiling is set for December 11th at the McLaren Technology Center in the United Kingdom, and we’re not expecting much else than a limited edition of the 6T. OnePlus and Oppo are controlled by the BBK Electronics Corporation, and not that long ago, Oppo unveiled a Lamborghini-themed Find X. Without further beating around the bush, don’t expect anything surprising from OnePlus and McLaren.
Care to guess how the companies explain their partnership? Describing themselves as “fearless challengers,” OnePlus and McLaren claim that “ours is a history of speed.” As far as the Chinese part is concerned, everyone knows that Chinese manufacturers engage in intellectual property theft like there’s no tomorrow. Of course, this misconduct takes speed, and the Chinese certainly excel in this regard.
“Envisioned by small teams with big ambitions, OnePlus and McLaren came out of nowhere to take their industries by storm.” Asto this jibber-jabber, let’s not forget that OnePlus started out with a lot of funds and technology from BBK while Bruce McLaren had to race his heart out to put McLaren on the map.
“Since its founding in 1963, McLaren has left an indelible mark on Formula 1. OnePlus has emerged as one of the world’s premier flagship smartphone brands, fueled by their devotion to never settle.” Back on planet Earth, OnePlus is hardly a competitor to the establishment and the Woking-based Formula 1 team hasn’t won a race since November 25th, 2012.
The embellishments of marketing pale in comparison to the factual background, and both companies are not fooling anyone with their cooperation. McLaren doesn’t have a title sponsor since Vodafone left the team at the end of the 2013 season while OnePlus is right behind Xiaomi and Huawei in terms of market share.
Would you consider buying a OnePlus 6T now that the Chinese partnered up with McLaren? The answer is too obvious to put it into words.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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