McLaren Automotive Officially Launches Itself into the Automotive Stratosphere [w/Video]

This morning McLaren Automotive held a press conference at its technology center outside London England to officially unveil itself and its first new product to the world. An off-shoot of the McLaren Formula One team, the new automaker picks up where the previous efforts that produced the F1 of the mid-1990s and the more recent Mercedes-McLaren SLR left off.

Chairman Ron Dennis discussed the philosophy of passion behind the new enterprise while Managing Director Anthony Sherriff went over the MP4-12C in some detail. The over-arching design goal was performance through efficiency. By keeping size and weight down, the car is able to achieve extraordinary levels of performance. McLaren has developed an all-new bespoke powertrain consisting of a twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter V8 with 600 horsepower and a lightning fast dual clutch transmission.

Sherriff promises a compliant ride for everyday driving with handling that will top anything in the world. McLaren is currently in the process of appointing 35 dealers in 19 countries to sell its cars when they start production in 2011. First year production is pegged at 1,000 cars with that number rising to 4,000 annually by 2015 as at least two additional models are added. Pricing and final performance figures will be announced later this year. Check out Autoblog for more technical details on the McLaren MP4-12C. There is a video of McLaren formula one drivers Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton testing the 12C after the jump.



[Source: McLaren]