Gordon Murray Group unveils five-year plan
New £300m investment earmarked to deliver new people, new HQ and new cars - EV included
Nobody needs reminding what a prospect the GMA T.50 is: it has a manual gearbox and a 12,000rpm V12, for heaven's sake. But by its very nature as a £2m supercar, the T.50 isn't going to be produced in large numbers for a long time. Which is as clear to its maker as it is to anyone else. Now we've been given a clearer idea of what will come next.
While there are umpteen well-intentioned ambitions in the firm's latest announcement, the most significant statement regards money: £300m is set to be invested over the next five years. The new people joining the Gordon Murray Group are also notable: Philip Lee, now GMG Chief Financial Officer and CEO of Gordon Murray Automotive, was CFO at Lotus. John McLaren, former Chairman of Rouse, is joining as Non-Executive Director of the Gordon Murray Group.
Lee said of his new position: "With such significant investment behind the ambitions of the Group, there is real impetus to expand and play an even bigger role in the global automotive industry. I am looking forward to playing a role in the company's future success."
Speaking of that bigger role, GMA has begun to outline what its next steps look like. Murray has stated principles that all cars will adhere to: Exclusivity, Premium, Beauty, Driving perfection, Lightweight, Engineering Art, Customer service. Crucially, there will never be more than 100 of each GMA model, and all are intended to be the most driver focused cars in their segment.
"The T.50 supercar clearly shows the path that we will take for future Gordon Murray Automotive products," noted Murray. "All future models will be strictly designed to deliver these principles as part of our mission to be the world's most exclusive automotive brand". Certainly this will include a commitment to hand-building cars to the highest possible quality and ensuring they are as light as they possibly be. Which sounds as good a set of ideas as any to build great cars from...
It isn't just going to be reincarnated McLaren F1s, either. A new Gordon Murray Electronic business unit will help develop electrified powertrains for OEMs, from which it's been confirmed that GMA will develop its own hybrid and electric powertrains. "The automotive future will be increasingly electrified and it's essential that we design the world's lightest, most efficient and advanced EVs. This significant investment in Gordon Murray Design and the formation of Gordon Murray Electronics will be realising that goal," noted Murray. The firm has indicated that an 'revolutionary' ultra-efficient electric vehicle architecture is already in the works.
In addition, the new Group HQ at Windlesham - construction of which is set to begin in July - will focus on creating a 'superlight' platform. Aiming to reduce the weight and complexity of vehicle architectures, the superlight idea (under the auspices of Gordon Murray Design) will supply Gordon Murray Automotive. The facility in Surrey will be complete in 2024, promising "a truly unique culture of collaboration, innovation and interaction."
As for the T.50 itself, development is said to remain on track: prototype testing is underway, and the first cars will be built at the Dunsfold factory early next year. Murray said of the car: "The T.50 supercar clearly shows the path that we will take for future Gordon Murray Automotive products. All future models will be strictly designed to deliver these principles as part of our mission to be the world's most exclusive automotive brand". Given what we know so far, the T.50 is set to be quite the opening gambit for a new company.
Full steam ahead for the Gordon Murray Group, then. A year from now, the first customers should have their T50s, the Windlesham HQ will be in build and further progress should have been made in both the Electronic and Design divisions - all with, hopefully, proper financial backing. Gordon Murray has already achieved an enormous amount in a glittering career; here's hoping these next steps are just as triumphant.
Probably more money in it for the backers to stay super exclusive, but would love to have seen a Mclaren sports series (or whatever they're called now) competitor
Gordon is 74. I wonder when he expects to retire?
Can't wait to read more about the T.50.
But this costs, so it makes sense to focus on the hyper premium segment to begin with. Innovation, use of high quality materials and engineering excellence will be evident in the final product, thus speaking for itself. I imagine that unlike McLaren that clearly rested on its laurels by rehashing the same formula over and over again, GMA will continue to push the envelope and innovate. This is the type of company that will flourish and be successful imho. Lets hope it is realised.
Or the fact the T50 is pretty much ready by the looks of it ?
Or McLaren F1 prices ?
Apart from being increasingly disinterested in the continued Murray iHype (tm), I disengaged completely at the sentence that said no more than 100 of any model will be built.
That pretty much guarantees that the company will never do anything more than turn out expensive trinkets for the glitterati. What's happened to his evangelical bulls
te about city cars and desire to do a new Lotus Elan?For all its ugliness, the T25 was at least relevant to daily use.
I'd personally like to see a modern-day Elan, similar to the Yamaha prototype for Elise money (now that the Elise is going out of production and Lotus heading back up-market), but that's not going to happen under this production model and truth be told, Murray has never demonstrated any ability whatsoever to work to non-F1 budget limitations.
Apart from being increasingly disinterested in the continued Murray iHype (tm), I disengaged completely at the sentence that said no more than 100 of any model will be built.
That pretty much guarantees that the company will never do anything more than turn out expensive trinkets for the glitterati. What's happened to his evangelical bulls
te about city cars and desire to do a new Lotus Elan?Unfortunately no one seems to have been particularly interested which is a shame. Link here: https://www.gordonmurraydesign.com/en/istream.html
You can't blame Gordon for focussing on the fun (and successful) stuff when no one seems interested in the mass-market platforms.
In a world saturated with £1m+ Hyper cars, I have little interest in yet more £1m+ hyper cars. Seams a new one comes out every other week. I couldn't even give one statistic on the T50. Never read a thing about it.
But, good luck to him anyway. Hope it's a success.
There's a slight bitter tone from people who'll never be able to own one above. Ferrari have never made an affordable car, but would the world be a better place if Ferarri didn't exist? If the McLaren F1 had stayed on the drawing board? Would you even be on a car forum?
Cars like this inspire people. Their job is to inspire the next generation and ensure the survival of values worth remembering.
People complained that going to the moon was a waste of tax money. If the space program had stayed as building ballistic missiles and satellites, would the next generation of privateer space investors ever have happened? It inspired a generation of science fiction writers, engineers, scientists & entrepreneurs, Elon Musk among them.
I am equally unlikely to own a T.50 in my lifetime as I am to go to the moon in my lifetime, but I hope generations to follow may have opportunities that would not have existed if these endeavours were never undertaken. They make the world a better place.
Without him, the company is finished as it's too young to have the ingrained DNA of a Henry, an Enzo or a Fiorrucio.
Still, I wish them luck and will be following with interest. At least they're trying to do their own thing, rather than just chucking out the same stuff everyone else is.
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