New McLaren boss is former Ferrari CTO
Michael Leiters will be charged with leading McLaren out of the status quo and into the electric era
McLaren has had a tumultuous few years, essentially ever since the 'C' word became common parlance. We mean Covid, of course. Sure, the Formula 1 side has seen a general uptick in performance over the last three years, but sticky financials have prompted redundancies, a major cash injection from majority McLaren Group owner Bahrain's Mumtalakat group, a secured loan from Bahrain's national bank and a buy-in from MSP Sports Capital, a consortium of US sports investors that took a stake in the racing division. It's even had to sell its iconic Woking headquarters to raise funds and lease it back on a long-term deal.
In among this turmoil, there have been rumours of a buyout by BMW and Audi, and then there is the delay to the Artura - its new, mid-engine hybrid challenger to the Ferrari 296 GTB. Some have credited the latter, along with the internal friction that resulted, as being one of the reasons for Mike Flewitt's departure last year, following an eight-year stint at the top. Either way, with a considerable to-do list looming, a high profile replacement was clearly due - and today arrives in the form of Michael Leiters, who starts as CEO of McLaren Automotive from the 1st July 2022.
Leiters has predictably strong credentials, and would seem to be the man McLaren needs at this time. He will be based at Woking, but he's German. This isn't of itself a point to focus on, but, as is often the case with German board members of car companies, his grounding is in engineering - he has a doctorate in engineering rather than a fluffy MBA in business. And he has held high office at Porsche AG - where his deep involvement in the Cayenne's development may or may not have had a bearing on his appointment - and, more lately, Ferrari, where he was Chief Technology Officer.
"On behalf of everyone at McLaren, I am delighted to welcome Michael as the new CEO of McLaren Automotive. His extensive industry leadership experience combined with his passion for engineering and future technology will help guide and develop our team as we enter an exciting second decade," noted Paul Walsh, the Executive Chairman of the McLaren Group.
Leiters' role will include steering McLaren's 3,000-strong workforce and ensuring the Artura's smooth transition into the market, with deliveries set to begin soon. Naturally he will also focus on maintaining demand for current products, which have positives stories attached: the 765LT Coupe and Spider variants have sold out, along with the Ultimate Series Elva. Nevertheless, as Leiters' himself indicates, his performance will ultimately be graded on the next steps he takes as McLaren is obliged to conceive of a world beyond combustion.
"I could not be more excited to be joining McLaren Automotive as CEO at this important moment in its journey," he remarked. "McLaren is already recognised as one of the world's most admired luxury supercar companies. I look forward to growing that reputation for our loyal customers, employees, fans and partners as we write the next chapter in McLaren's illustrious history."
"A buy-in from MSP Sports Capital, a consortium of US sports investors that took a stake in the racing division" - that is a shame. The Mericanisation of F1 continues. The rules have been watered down to help US teams enter, last year was all about garnering more US fans by amping contraversy and now McLaren's Zak Brown has invited in US investors. At the same time, he is badmouthing Monaco in the same instant that there is another US street circuit on the week planner and talk of another one to be added. Yeeeeha to more CART racing.
"A buy-in from MSP Sports Capital, a consortium of US sports investors that took a stake in the racing division" - that is a shame. The Mericanisation of F1 continues. The rules have been watered down to help US teams enter, last year was all about garnering more US fans by amping contraversy and now McLaren's Zak Brown has invited in US investors. At the same time, he is badmouthing Monaco in the same instant that there is another US street circuit on the week planner and talk of another one to be added. Yeeeeha to more CART racing.
It is interesting that Ferrari's current applause for the SF90, 296 GTB and coming Purosanguy may be credited to Leiters. I hope Leiters can work some magic at McLaren, a company with considerably less resources than Ferrari, and keep it afloat. For now, he'll have to do that with sports cars only as no McLaren SUV cash cow is on the horizon. Engineering might be his forte but some effective capital raising, and deployment, seem to be critical right now.
No joke. He really would.
No joke. He really would.
I’m not saying Ron was perfect (not by a long way) but when it came to the MTC everything had to be perfect.
A crack in a tile, or a scuff on door would be rectified within minutes. The maintenance team were constantly patrolling looking for anything that might trigger Ron.
Hell, even the cafeteria has airtight doors and a slightly lower air pressure so no food smells escape when the door opens.
The man was obsessed.
For those unaware, the one most-oft repeated idiosyncrasy (to me) of working for McLaren during the Dennis years was an obsession with red. One of my former PhD students was told at his job interview that he'd always be a brand ambassador and so must never wear anything red, even on his days off. Another was a friend of a friend, who is a chef who caters for large formal dinner parties at people's homes. Dennis came into the kitchen and threw one because some knives had a red stripe on them.
I bet he was waiting for geneticists to be able to re-engineer haemoglobin so his employees wouldn't have had the ignominy of containing red blood.
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