Forseven boss takes the reins at McLaren
After less than three years in the job, Michael Leiters steps down
In case there was any doubt about how swiftly progress would be made under McLaren’s new ownership, it has been confirmed that CEO Michael Leiters will step down. He began at McLaren as recently as July 2022, joining from Ferrari and with the unenviable task of heaving McLaren out from its Covid mire.
‘His contribution and leadership were crucial to the company’s transition, including important phases like the recapitalisation and change of ownership’, reads the press release. In terms of product, the Leiters era has been a busy one, with the Artura update, W1 and sensational 750S arriving in the past couple of years. The latter launch has been managed better than the 720, too, with fewer cars flooding the market straightaway and values holding firm as a result. They’re from £235k, if you’re interested.
With Leiters’ departure taking effect immediately, his role will be taken over by Nick Collins - the man who’s leading up the entire McLaren Group Holdings operation, Forseven included. So a busy few months ahead for him. It has not been made clear yet whether a replacement for Leiters will be recruited, or if Collins will take on the position full time.
What the future holds for 53-year-old Leiters isn’t clear for the moment, though given his CV there’ll likely be a few places keen on tapping into his expertise. “I am honoured to have led McLaren Automotive over the past three years. I am thankful having worked alongside such a dedicated and talented team. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together and confident that the business is on a strong path for success. I wish all involved the very best in the future.”
All amicable enough, it would seem - in press release form at least. It’s hard to imagine he foresaw his role lasting just three years.
Nick Collins added: “We thank Michael for his leadership and tremendous contributions made during a pivotal time for McLaren Automotive. I wish him well in his personal and professional future.” Expect plenty more comings and goings as the company, under its new Abu Dhabi-based backers, embarks on its bold new future.
Having been around in a few FTSE100 companies during transitions the process is usually a year in the making from selection to departure.
It'll be interesting to see how this pans out.
They do have unlimited funding for producing nothing though,I guess that's a good thing but her and colleagues are now hoping they'll be moving down to McLaren's HQ
They do have unlimited funding for producing nothing though,I guess that's a good thing but her and colleagues are now hoping they'll be moving down to McLaren's HQ
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/mclaren-annou...
McLaren deserve to survive with Gordon Murray and other visionaries within the group ... and amazing technology at their fingertips.
Why would any car enthusiast vote against that ??
The standout comment for me that may shed some light on the CEO-shuffle is that Forseven is run by the chap who run McLaren previously and who was of the opinion McLaren need a EV SUV desperately to allow it to do a “Cayenne”.
The current boss of McLaren has since day 1 very clearly distanced himself from the McLaren SUV idea and has doubled down on establishing McLaren as a pure sports car brand. Very much the mindset of the “pre-Ferrari-going-public” era. I can imagine the boardroom strategy from day 1 was McLaren producing not only a SUV, but an EV SUV, which would not have sat well with him as we all know EV+SUV combines all the worst attributes of vehicle dynamics into a single package.
My other concern of the Forseven group is that employees names reads like an English prep school old scholars list. It’s almost 100% English blokes from English companies “golden eras”. This can be good as it could signify a really tight cultural and technical group where the combination punches well above its collective, or it could point to a possible entitled, bully-ish, and ignorant culture. Let’s see how this pans out.
The standout comment for me that may shed some light on the CEO-shuffle is that Forseven is run by the chap who run McLaren previously and who was of the opinion McLaren need a EV SUV desperately to allow it to do a “Cayenne”.
The current boss of McLaren has since day 1 very clearly distanced himself from the McLaren SUV idea and has doubled down on establishing McLaren as a pure sports car brand. Very much the mindset of the “pre-Ferrari-going-public” era. I can imagine the boardroom strategy from day 1 was McLaren producing not only a SUV, but an EV SUV, which would not have sat well with him as we all know EV+SUV combines all the worst attributes of vehicle dynamics into a single package.
My other concern of the Forseven group is that employees names reads like an English prep school old scholars list. It’s almost 100% English blokes from English companies “golden eras”. This can be good as it could signify a really tight cultural and technical group where the combination punches well above its collective, or it could point to a possible entitled, bully-ish, and ignorant culture. Let’s see how this pans out.
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