British sports car manufacturer McLaren Automotive has hit an important milestone in December 2016, when it built its 10,000th vehicle. The 570S model finished in Ceramic Grey paintwork from the McLaren Special Operations "Defined" palette rolled out of the Production Centre assembly plant just over five years after the first car, a McLaren MP4-12C, was completed.
According to McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt, it took McLaren 64 months to build 10,000 cars. However, while the first 5,000 arrived after 42 months, it took only 22 months to produce 5,000 more. This figures speaks volumes about the company’s development over the last couple of years, and especially in 2016. Earlier this year, the arrival of the new Sports Series family, which includes the 540C, 570S, and 570GT prompted McLaren to add a second shift at its Production Centre in order to handle the extra volume. The move doubled the plant’s capacity from 10 to 20 cars per day. As of December 2016, the McLaren Production Center employs around 750 people out of a total of approximately 1,750 employees working for McLaren Automotive.
2016 also marked the announcement of the company’s third year of profitability in its first five years on the market as a vehicle manufacturer. This is unprecedented in the automotive industry. For instance, Tesla, which is considered a successful manufacturer, has yet to reach profitability in 2016.
McLaren also revealed that it’s on target to almost double its sales in 2016 compared to 2015, from 1,654 to "over 3,000 cars". The brand said that this volume increase is thanks, in large part, to the ramp up in production and success of the Sports Series models. I guess it’s fitting that the 10,000th car is a 570S. Speaking of which, this vehicle will be retained by the company in its Heritage Collection.
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from Top Speed http://ift.tt/2hX5mJE
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