Until now, everything from McLaren Automotive had come out of Woking. Therefore the news of a Composites Technology Centre, located close to the
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
at the University of Sheffield, is a big development. Firstly as it reflects McLaren's ongoing expansion, which has to be good news, and secondly because it's rather nice to see industry news focused on God's own county. There may be an element of bias here from the PH editorial team...
Anyway, the new site will be responsible for researching, developing and building the Monocage (as will underpin the next
Super Series
) and the next generation Monocell (which will see service in the Sports Series replacement). Construction will begin soon, with the first pre-production chassis due into Woking by the second half of this year - full production from the CTC (we can call it that, right) will commence in 2020.
The centre has been funded by McLaren, the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and Sheffield City Council; in total nearly £50m is said to be behind the project, which will also create 200 jobs.
McLaren CEO Mike Flewitt said of the news: "At the AMRC, we will have access to some of the world's finest composites and materials research capabilities, and I look forward to building a world-class facility and talented team". Interestingly, the addition of in-sourced carbon fibre will add typically eight per cent (by value) to the amount of parts in a McLaren that are from the UK - all the more reason to buy British!