H McLaren ανακοίνωσε ότι η πρώτη αντιπροσωπεία της, από τις 35 που ετοιμάζει σε 19 χώρες, άνοιξε στο Λονδίνο στο One Hyde Park στο Knightsbridge. Στα εγκαίνια βρέθηκαν τόσο οι δύο πιλότοι της Jenson Button και Lewis Hamilton, αλλά και όλα τα μεγάλα κεφάλια της εταιρίας, όπως ο Ron Dennis, ο Antony Sheriff αλλά και ο Martin Whitmarsh. Εκεί παρουσιάστηκε και μια χρωμιομένη MP4-12C.
Πρόσφατα μάθαμε ότι η MP4-12C έχει κάνει Sold out 3 ετών με την προϋπόθεση ότι η McLaren θα κατασκευάζει 1000 MP4-12C το χρόνο. Μόλις όμως λειτουργήσει η νέα γραμμή παραγωγής της εταιρίας στο Woking η McLaren θα μπορεί να κατασκευάσει έως 4.000 μονάδες το χρόνο.
Οι υπόλοιπες αντιπροσωπείες στην Αγγλία θα βρίσκονται στο Μάντσεστερ και στο Μπέρμιγχαμ ενώ στην Ευρώπη θα υπάρχουν αντιπροσωπείες στο Βέλγιο, Γαλλία, Γερμανία, Ιταλία, Ισπανία και Ελβετία. Στη Βόρειο Αμερική θα υπάρχουν αντιπρόσωποι στο Σικάγο, Ντάλας, Λος Άντζελες, Νέα Υόρκη, Μαϊάμι, Newport Beach στην Καλιφόρνια, Φιλαδέλφεια, Σαν Φρανσίσκο, Τάμπα και Τορόντο.
Περισσότερες αντιπροσωπείες θα προστεθούν μέσα στα επόμενα δύο χρόνια.
[Πηγή: McLaren]
[learn_more caption=”Δελτίο Τύπου”]
McLAREN GLOBAL RETAILER NETWORK LAUNCHES WITH OPENING OF PRESTIGIOUS McLAREN LONDON SHOWROOM AT ONE HYDE PARK
– McLaren London to open new showroom at One Hyde Park on 21 June 2011
– Flagship showroom opening marks the launch of a McLaren global retailer network totaling 35 locations in 19 countries
– World’s best car retailers responsible for sales and service of the groundbreaking new MP4-12C high-performance sports car from bespoke McLaren showrooms and high-tech aftersales sites
On 21 June 2011, McLaren Automotive will open the doors to its first global retailer, McLaren London. By the end of this year, McLaren will have 35 bespoke retailers in 19 countries worldwide selected by McLaren to offer the best in customer sales and service for a range of McLaren cars, beginning with the ground-breaking new MP4-12C high-performance sports car.
McLaren Automotive has invested nearly £800m since 2005 to establish itself as the world’s newest sports car company. The launch of a new global retailer network is the latest milestone in this development programme.
The flagship McLaren showroom is located at London’s newest and most prestigious address – One Hyde Park: The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, London and, as with every retailer in the new McLaren Automotive network, has been selected for its ability to demonstrate an outstanding track record in offering excellent customer service and aftersales support. McLaren Automotive is committed to ensuring the experience customers have with their dealers in every market is as revolutionary as the MP4-12C sports car itself. For example, unlike any other automotive manufacturer, McLaren is stocking its retail network with a spare of every serviceable part for the MP4-12C: what McLaren calls its ‘pitstop’ service concept that ensures fast and efficient repair.
Following the London launch, two more McLaren retailers for the UK will open in Manchester on June 30, and Birmingham on July 5. The remaining 32 sites in the global network will be operational by the end of this year, beginning in July and through the summer with the European network in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.
The innovative new MP4-12C will be the first in a range of high-performance, highly efficient, carbon-fibre based sports cars from McLaren Automotive. The 12C will take on the world’s best premium performance cars and is lighter, more powerful, more fuel efficient and more exclusive than its key competition.
All future McLaren sports cars will be built in the new £40m McLaren Production Centre (MPC), situated adjacent to the stunning McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, England. Up to 1,000 cars will be hand-built at MPC for worldwide distribution this year, with an annual production run of approximately 4,000 McLarens per year when the model line-up is complete by the middle of the decade.
Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton join Ron Dennis and guests at McLaren London for the launch of McLaren’s retail network
- First McLaren showroom opens at One Hyde Park, Knightsbridge
- Star-studded opening event hosted by McLaren Group, Executive Chairman, Ron Dennis, Formula 1 world champions, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, and guests from the worlds of sport, entertainment and business
- New short film covering the landmark event at www.youtube.com/mclarenautomotivetv
- Flagship showroom opening marks the launch of a McLaren global retail network of 35 locations in 19 countries
- Bespoke McLaren showrooms and high-tech aftersales centres offer luxury sales environment and innovative service standards
- Retailers appointed in Germany, Japan and Singapore complete first phase of global network development as phase two looks ahead to 2012
McLaren London, 21 June 2011: McLaren Automotive opened the doors to its first dedicated McLaren retailer, McLaren London, with a star-studded celebration at its One Hyde Park, Knightsbridge location on June 21. By the end of 2011, McLaren will have 35 bespoke retailers in 19 countries worldwide. All have been carefully selected by McLaren to offer the best in customer sales and service for a range of high-performance sports cars, beginning with the ground-breaking McLaren MP4-12C.
The opening, hosted by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes drivers, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, and McLaren Group and McLaren Automotive Executive Chairman, Ron Dennis, celebrated ‘Defining Moments in Time’. Recognising the launch of the global network of McLaren car retailers, and the arrival of the first ‘pure’ McLaren sports car, the event also presented past McLaren track successes with iconic trophies and two of Lewis Hamilton’s race-winning Formula 1 cars.
Ron Dennis said: “We are fiercely proud of the McLaren brand and I am personally proud that we are welcoming into the McLaren family some of the world’s best car retailers, many of whom are with us tonight. I look forward to delivering great cars to them, as I know we share a common objective: we are driven to succeed and we try to be the best at everything that we do.
“Jenson, Lewis, our hosts, and many of our guests represent tonight a group of people who share a particular value: that is that somewhere along our careers and lives we have experienced an iconic, or defining moment. Tonight is that moment for McLaren Automotive,” Dennis concluded.
McLaren has invested nearly £800m since 2005 to establish itself as the world’s newest sports car company. That investment has focused on the development of a range of innovative, technologically ground-breaking, and bespoke high-performance sports cars, as well as the construction of a brand new manufacturing facility (the McLaren Production Centre – MPC) at the company’s headquarters.
This solid foundation requires similar commitment to the McLaren brand from retailers in order to turn McLaren’s dream into reality; the launch of McLaren London, to be operated by the Jardine Motors Group, marks that commitment as the first of 35 retailers that will supply and service McLaren customers in all major global markets.
McLaren anticipates expanding its global retail network to around 70 locations by the middle of the decade when the full range of cars is under production at the MPC in Woking, England: as the MP4-12C goes on sale, three further models or derivatives are currently already under development.
The McLaren network will be small in number compared to other premium brands, driving McLaren’s partners to ensure a high-value is placed on McLaren customers. McLaren’s strategy is to support its retailers in servicing customers to a high level by keeping volumes low and business profitable, rather than stretching retailers through high volumes and too many locations.
The initial 35 strong retail network was recently completed with the confirmation of McLaren retailers in Frankfurt, Munich, Osaka, Singapore and Tokyo whilst attention now moves on to securing up to six more retailers in 2012. Markets that McLaren is considering include China, Russia and Scandinavia. The company’s first ‘pure’ McLaren sports car is experiencing high demand with over 18 months of production currently accounted for.
McLaren’s 2011 global retail network:
Europe: UK (Birmingham, London, Manchester); Germany (Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich); Benelux (Brussels); France (Monaco, Paris); Italy (Milan); Spain (Madrid), Switzerland (Zürich). North America: Canada (Toronto); USA (Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Newport Beach, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Tampa). Middle East / Africa: UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai); Qatar; Saudi Arabia (Jeddah); Bahrain; South Africa (Johannesburg). Asia Pacific: Hong Kong; Singapore; Australia (Sydney); Japan (Osaka, Tokyo)
McLaren launches in Europe
The flagship McLaren showroom is located at London’s newest and most prestigious address – One Hyde Park: The Residences at Mandarin Oriental. As with every retailer in the new McLaren Automotive network, Jardine Motors Group has been selected for their ability to demonstrate an outstanding track record in offering excellent customer service and aftersales support.
McLaren Automotive is committed to ensuring the experience customers have with their dealers in every market is as revolutionary as the MP4-12C sports car itself. For example, unlike any other automotive manufacturer, McLaren is stocking its retail network with a spare of every serviceable part for the MP4-12C: what McLaren calls its ‘pit-stop’ service concept that ensures fast and efficient repair.
Following the London launch, two more McLaren retailers for the UK will open: Manchester (Sytner Group) on June 30, and Birmingham (Rybrook Motor Holdings) on July 5. The remaining 32 sites in the global network will be operational by the end of this year, beginning in July and through the summer with the European network in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.
The McLaren MP4-12C
The innovative new MP4-12C will be the first in a range of high-performance, highly efficient, carbon-fibre based sports cars from McLaren Automotive. The 12C will take on the world’s best premium performance cars and is lighter, more powerful, more fuel efficient and more exclusive than its key competition.
McLaren Production Centre
All future McLaren sports cars will be built in the new £40m McLaren Production Centre (MPC), situated adjacent to the stunning McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, England. Up to 1,000 cars will be hand-built at MPC for worldwide distribution in the car’s first full year, with an annual production run of approximately 4,000 McLarens per year when the model line-up is complete by the middle of the decade.
The first 12C is due off the MPC production line in mid-July, with the first 12C’s for delivery to the European network over the coming weeks having been produced on the existing production line at the MTC.
MCLAREN AUTOMOTIVE LAUNCH BACKGROUND: RETAIL NETWORK DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING
Building a global retailer network
Almost as soon as the first outline of the McLaren MP4-12C was conceived, a retail distribution network plan had been developed at Woking.
“We were very aware that however well the 12C is designed, however meticulously it is assembled, and however rewarding it is to drive, McLaren Automotive objectives could not be met without a network of partners that shared our values. Especially an obsession for ultimate customer care,” explained Antony Sheriff, Managing Director.
“Driving a great sports car is only part of the experience of owning a McLaren. The level of care and support that our customers get after they buy the car is just as important as a fast lap time. Therefore, we began planning our distribution strategy at the earliest point in the whole project. We are now confident not only that we have chosen the right locations, but also that we will have the finest group of retail partners in the sports car sector.
“We stretched our small team to unprecedented levels, visiting all the potential retailer locations around the world. We dissected their business plans and operations, met their service technicians, watched how they treated their customers; all to ensure that 12C owners get the very best treatment. There is very little point in us beating ourselves up over the feel of a switch in the 12C if we have not taken the trouble to ensure that the owners are looked after,” he concluded.
Delivering a global network
The network plan had four distinct phases – desk research, field visits, active dealer prospecting and finally, selection and training.
Beginning with an exhaustive research programme on the major metropolitan areas that support large volumes of sports car sales, McLaren analysed concentrations of high net worth individuals and the likely locations to serve each potential market.
The company divided the world into four regions: Europe, North America, the Middle East/ Africa and Asia Pacific, each of which is managed by a local McLaren Automotive management team. 35 retailers have been initially selected in the following regions:
- Europe: UK, France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland
- North America: USA, Canada
- Middle East / Africa: UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, South Africa
- Asia Pacific: Japan, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong
Having decided on city locations within the regions, McLaren Automotive then looked at all the major businesses representing premium car manufacturers by visiting each city and understanding the environment.
“This was not just a plan to be run from the centre,” explained Greg Levine, Sales and Marketing Director. “Our desire was to fully understand each market by being there; touching and feeling the environment, talking to dealers and customers. The aim was to physically understand what we needed in terms of a design for each dealership and the processes for building a unified McLaren team on the ground.
“It is vital that our preferred retailers absolutely behave in a way we call ‘fit for McLaren’ – they have to deliver on the tangible and intangible qualities that are commonplace at McLaren; great performance, high quality, reliability and passion. ‘Pure McLaren’ is not just about the car itself; it’s about providing a 100 percent McLaren experience. We therefore talked to a large number of key players in each city in order to understand the market opportunities and to identify how strong each was across a matrix of five key competences,” said Levine.
The five key competences in the dealer selection process
- Experience in serving luxury, high-end sports car customers is not the same as selling executive or luxury cars: they require one to one relationships between the dealer and the customer. The potential customer must have confidence that the dealer understands his special, and often bespoke, needs in relation to his car, rather in the same way that a yacht, a personal jet or a fine antiquity is bought, sold and serviced. It is a close relationship that engenders trust and confidence on both sides.
- The second competence is evidence of professional systems and processes. McLaren Automotive wants partners that use business management tools and systems that aid their development, a fine understanding of great aftersales, and an outstanding bodyshop process too. They need to understand the special and unique demands of customers in this sector. Retailing high-performance sports cars is, and will remain, a highly sophisticated process with discerning customers who expect and deserve special relationships.
- Thirdly, each McLaren dealer needs to be well-funded – able to ride out the economic peaks and troughs without impact to the customer experience.
- Fourth, they need to have an intimate knowledge of their local market. Relationships are absolutely crucial to success. Just because a dealer sells sports cars successfully in, say, Beverly Hills does not automatically qualify it to be equally successful in San Francisco. One of the dynamics observed to a greater or lesser extent across all markets is that customers in McLaren’s segment like and expect the process to be managed by a knowledgeable product expert and brand advocate. But, they also want access to the dealer principal – the man or woman at the top. Therefore each McLaren dealer needs to be an integral part of the social fabric of their city and market and to know most of the potential customers in that area.
- Finally, every McLaren dealer must understand and ‘live’ McLaren brand values. The goal is a long-term partnership with a retail network that has a complete empathy with McLaren DNA – trust, ethics, professionalism, efficiency, confident humility and to believe in, and deliver, the very highest standards of customer service.
The retail distribution network
Having undergone this exacting process McLaren arrived at a shortlist of two preferred candidates for each location by the end of 2009. Each was invited to prepare a full business plan, a marketing plan and a facility plan and they were then invited to present their plans to the management of McLaren Automotive. From these presentations a decision was made and the full dealer network appointed by spring 2011.
“There is no fixed template to the size and background of the retailers selected, except that all have outstanding reputations in serving the luxury sports car segment,” explained Nick Barnley, Head of Network Development.
“We have groups and individual entrepreneurs; we have some of the largest organisations with multiple locations representing a large number of brands, contrasting with single operators in single sites. What is important is that each of these dealers will be McLaren Automotive’s eyes and ears across the globe – an integral part of our company: McLaren Automotive is not the car retailer – our partners are,” he concluded.
McLaren has spent a great deal of time in developing a robust financial model for the retail network including costs, investment, revenue and margins to satisfy the company and its partners that the McLaren franchise offers a solid and profitable opportunity.
The McLaren brand has demonstrated its strength during the dealer selection process. Enthusiasm from the retail sector was very strong from the beginning from those ‘in the know’. Although this was encouraging and reinforced the company’s conviction that the business plan was attractive to retailers, the virtual reveal of the 12C in September 2009 brought forth a torrent of dealer enquiries; around 500 by December 2009, in addition to the 100 the company had already identified, displaying supreme confidence in the company, the brand and the business proposition.
“The team had over 500 enquiries, visited over 150 sites, and selected 70 short-listed dealers. From this they chose our 35 initial retailers after a final site visit from a team including our managing director, sales directors, and aftersales director. These visits have been followed by thorough training at the McLaren Technology Centre in sales, aftersales, and test-drive handover processes. We are putting the same level of due diligence and analysis in choosing and training the very best retailers as we do in conceiving the car,” explained Barnley
Training
McLaren Automotive has initiated an intensive training programme for aftersales technicians and sales executives.
‘”We are focusing on people development within the McLaren network: this is where we see the key investment,” stated Greg Levine, Sales and Marketing Director.
“With an initial 35 retail outlets we have the capacity at Woking to invite technicians, sales executives and other customer-facing dealership employees to the heart of our business. This offers the benefit of imbuing our people with a deep and thorough understanding of the product and the conceptual thinking behind 12C, but also a comprehensive insight into the unique culture and philosophy of McLaren Automotive,” he said.
In a programme unique to the motor industry, every customer-facing technician and sales executive will not only receive comprehensive training in their discipline, they are also seeing the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 team preparing Jenson Button’s and Lewis Hamilton’s racing cars, as well as meeting engineers who designed, tested and proved the major elements of the 12C.
In the case of the technicians, they actually participate in the production process giving them an unprecedented knowledge of the design and functionality of the car. In short, they are closer to the heart of the McLaren Automotive product concept, the company credo and feel much more a significant part in the process of building a car for a customer.
“It is vital that all of our representatives across the world feel part of our team; that they feel part of the McLaren DNA. They can’t just know the facts about the car and its service regime, but feel and understand the whole car and company concept. They should be proud to be part of the McLaren story,” Levine concluded.
MCLAREN AUTOMOTIVE LAUNCH BACKGROUND: A FOCUS ON AFTERSALES AND EASE OF REPAIR
Ease of repair, low-cost of servicing, maintenance, and availability of parts are of paramount importance to the customer relationship and have been key targets since the beginning of the 12C project. McLaren aims to offer segment-leading performance here too. The principle being that a high-performance sports car should not just be a pleasure to drive, but also to own; a car that is efficient to run and own retains a high residual value and ensures its owner becomes a repeat purchaser.
Although McLaren Automotive’s intense development programme and demanding production standards will limit any problems in service, the company has installed a comprehensive range of aftersales safety nets that are designed to ensure the ownership experience is exemplary.
Technical Support Managers at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) provide a solid base for this, but McLaren Automotive has also appointed a group of regional Aftersales Zone Managers who are following exactly the same training process. They will be available 24 hours a day to go anywhere within their region to help resolve any intractable problems that might occur. The next level of support will be the ‘flying doctors’ based at the MTC in Woking who will fly anywhere in the world if an issue cannot be resolved locally. The ultimate support mechanism, and one established for McLaren F1 owners, is that McLaren is committed to bringing a car back to its UK headquarters if an issue cannot be resolved locally.
McLaren expects an innovative combination of new technology and rapid diagnosis to deliver its aspirations for a world-leading level of aftersales support.
Three new market-leading diagnostic processes will form the heart of this service:
- Tele-diagnostics determine whether or not a car has an issue:
In the event of the car suffering from a technical or driving related issue, such as a warning light illuminating or an engine or transmission problem, the driver can send a detailed diagnostic message containing vehicle values and error codes from the car’s onboard ECU’s to McLaren, the nearest retailer or the local Technical Aftersales Zone Manager. Within minutes, the customer can expect a return call from a technical specialist to confirm whether or not the car has a genuine technical issue. The specialist can then advise as to the best course of action and this personal and expert service also prevents the huge inconvenience to a driver who has been wrongly informed that he should stop driving simply through a fault in the car’s warning system. McLaren believes this rapid and direct assessment is unique in the industry.
- Desktop Diagnostics determine from the MTC what that issue may be:
This saves time by centrally communicating how to resolve an issue before a retailer’s technician tries to determine a fix.
Setting up a relatively small retailer network of an initial 35 locations from scratch allows McLaren Automotive’s aftersales support team to develop a unique system whereby it can control each retailer’s aftersales diagnostic tools from the MTC.
- Dynamic Diagnostics communicate how to fix an issue:
McLaren-developed diagnostics will deliver a ‘customer symptom code’ from a customer’s verbal description of an issue. The code is assessed and compared by the same diagnostic tool that has also downloaded information from the car itself. This, again, speeds up the diagnosis by comparing the theoretical – from the car’s own diagnostic feedback – with the reality – exactly what the customer has reported translated into the same digital language as the car’s diagnostic systems.
Looking further along the ownership process, McLaren Automotive will also impose systems that ensure warranty claims are speeded up. A new pre-approval process, managed by the company’s Aftersales Zone Managers, will give aftersales teams instant approval for warranty work.
Warranty and repair work in bodyshops also aims to be industry leading. McLaren Automotive will be supporting retailers in stocking one spare part of each and every component, guaranteeing that parts will be in stock at the dealer should a car need repair. This will speed up repair processes to ensure customers have their 12Cs off the road for the minimum time necessary.
Mike Sopp, Head of Aftersales at McLaren Automotive said, “Despite all the focus on development and production, and our aspirations to build cars that are as reliable, robust and useable as they are exhilarating to drive, we are not so arrogant as to believe that every single car will be completely faultless throughout its lifecycle.
“Owners will be involved in accidents, and some cars will require maintenance, so it is our ambition to ensure that firstly, our customers are treated better than others, secondly, we resolve issues more effectively than any of our competitors and thirdly, we get 12Cs back on the road more quickly than our competitors.
“We know that in the automotive business customers are, more often than not, more concerned about how issues are resolved, rather than the issue itself. Starting from scratch, with a relatively small retailer network planned, and with the technical support we have at McLaren, we have been able to develop brand new bespoke systems and devices that will support quick and effective communication with the customer and resolution of issues. We are not prepared to let poor aftersales support spoil the ownership experience,”concluded Sopp.
Carbon at heart
McLaren’s unique one-piece moulded carbon fibre-based MonoCell chassis offers a genuine innovation in the high-performance sports car market. Providing strength, rigidity, stability under crash impacts and a predictable form from which to mount key components such as the revolutionary ProActive chassis suspension, the MonoCell is far from just a contributor to weight reduction. It also provides a stronger and simpler solution to chassis construction when compared to the likes of aluminium, especially where repair is concerned in the event of an impact.
Claudio Santoni, McLaren Automotive’s Function Group Manager responsible for the MonoCell said, “In the extreme case that the MonoCell may have been damaged, the damage is assessed by McLaren regional technicians at the dealership in conjunction with engineers at the McLaren Technology Centre. Repairs are possible on sections of the MonoCell that are not critical for crash performance. If there is any doubt over the repairability we will simply replace the MonoCell, rather than risking a repair. One of the commercial opportunities that industrialisation of carbon chassis production gives us is exactly this; the ability to take this ‘no risk’ decision-making to our quality control. It is also, we believe, a clear advantage over aluminium and steel vehicle structures, which are more often repaired, but run the risk of retaining undetected weaknesses.”
Aluminium crash structures, front and back, mimic the chassis design of racing cars and have been designed to soak up the forces associated with most front and rear impacts. These are ‘bolt-on-bolt-off’ structures and are therefore easy (and relatively inexpensive) to replace. Just as with the exterior and interior design of the MP4-12C, everything that lies under the skin plays a part in delivering a new type of sports car to the market.
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