Wednesday 2nd July

McLaren confirms Luca di Montezemolo on new board

The rumours were true - legendary Ferrari boss is now on Woking Board of Directors 

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It really is all change at McLaren right now. The new McLaren Group Holdings Limited has announced a recapitalisation of the business by its shareholder CYVN Holdings LLC (owned by the Abu Dhabi government), repaying all previous loans. That would have seemed extremely unlikely just a few years ago, and surely puts McLaren on a good footing for its future with Forseven.

Also confirmed today is a new Board of Directors for McLaren Group Holdings Limited, a nine-strong group that will ‘provide visionary leadership to fuel McLaren’s next chapter, firmly focusing on strategic transformation and the evolution of McLaren into a global leader in high performance luxury vehicles’.

The most notable name on that list has to be Luca di Montezemolo; rumours were swirling about the former Maranello man earlier this week, with his name appearing in Companies House documents, and now it’s been made official. The man who transformed Ferrari through the 1990s and early 2000s is now on the board at McLaren. 

That’s really not an understatement, either. Montezemolo was Chairman and CEO of Ferrari from 1991 to 2014; think of how the company was transformed in that time. The front-engined V12 flagship returned to great acclaim with the 550 Maranello (and look where it went from there), the sub-par 348 was replaced by the sensational F355, and the F1 team enjoyed a drastic change in fortunes. Prior to the Schumacher era, there hasn’t been a Ferrari Constructors’ Championship since 1983, and a Drivers’ title since Jody Scheckter in 1979. Even more than a decade since Luca di Montezemolo left Ferrari, his presence on this new board feels like a significant coup. 

Other interesting names on the list include Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls-Royce from 2010 to 2023 and, from the non-automotive world, Pierre Yves Roussel - he spent 14 years as Chairman and CEO of the LVMH Fashion Group. That’s LVMH for Louis Vuitton, Moët, Hennessy, four of the group’s 75 brands. The other names are Her Excellency Mariam Al Mheiri, His Excellency Jasem Al Zaabi (Chairman), Michel Combes, Kaj-Erik Relander, Paul Walsh and Nick Collins, the CEO of McLaren Group Holdings. 

Collins said of the new appointments: “We are shaping a business that reflects where McLaren is going, not just where it’s been. I warmly welcome our new directors to McLaren Group Holdings. Together, we will provide the strategic oversight to support the next phase of McLaren’s bold ambitions, united by the belief that McLaren can be more, can do more and can offer more.” Don't expect to wait long before the next big announcement. 

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• New McLaren Group Holdings created by merger
• Forseven boss takes the reins at McLaren

[jorders500]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 02 July 2025 at 12:51

[SuperPav]

jorders500 said:

All you business school students: watch this one carefully. Whichever way it goes, it ll be highly instructive.

reading the press release I was literally thinking "this reads like a case study".

Really interested in how it works out and what comes next! Fingers crossed and excited for McLaren (even though they're very much a competitor in my day job...)

[jmcc500]

"That’s really not an understatement, either."

I think you meant overstatement :-)

/pedant

[georgeyboy12345]

Ferrari churned out some great cars when he was at the helm 20-odd years ago, but now he’s too old (77) and Italian. It won’t work.

[GreatScott2016]

georgeyboy12345 said:

Ferrari churned out some great cars when he was at the helm 20-odd years ago, but now he s too old (77) and Italian. It won t work.

Intrigued to understand why “too old” and “Italian” should be an issue? After all, Gordon Murray is 79 and is still going strong

[The Pistonsdead]

GreatScott2016 said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

Ferrari churned out some great cars when he was at the helm 20-odd years ago, but now he s too old (77) and Italian. It won t work.

Intrigued to understand why too old and Italian should be an issue? After all, Gordon Murray is 79 and is still going strong

Exactly

[BVB]

LdM a living legend! He'll turn McLaren automotive into profit.
Andrea Stella working wonders with the McLaren F1 team too. Another ex Ferrari guy.

[don logan]

GreatScott2016 said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

Ferrari churned out some great cars when he was at the helm 20-odd years ago, but now he s too old (77) and Italian. It won t work.

Intrigued to understand why too old and Italian should be an issue? After all, Gordon Murray is 79 and is still going strong

I had no idea Gordon Murray was 79

But of course he must be, extraordinary

[DonkeyApple]

Woking Board of Directors

Sounds like a political lobby group.

[SR]

That’s LVMH for Louis Vuitton, Moët, Hennessy, four of the group’s 75 brands.
I only count three brands there?

[BigChiefmuffinAgain]

Strange that the board has a lot of people without current automotive experience. The big issues for McLaren are managing the transition to electric and expanding the range from 2 seat mid engine sports cars. Not sure how many of this lot will be able to advise them on this.

Wish them luck - ultimately it will boil down to how much more money someone is willing to pump in to them to make the transition, as it won't be cheap and they can't finance it with current cashflow...

[Frimley111R]

I am sure he will appreciate not being slagged off by the mainstream media.

[EK993]

Chris Harris on the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOVK4uPrjzU

[scrapped]

Why didn't Nick Collins / McLaren announce this properly?

Why were they caught on the back foot after the information was published on Companies House?

This is very weird. I can't work out if Fourseven are for real or not.

[BunkMoreland]

Wherever he is right now, Ron Dennis is utterly furious.

[650S]

Ron Dennis has nothing to prove.

F1
Carbon fibre structure 1981, TAG Porsche 1.5 engine, the rest is history

Automotive
Clean sheet car Company, First mass produced carbon structure, zero mainstream supplier assistance, zero state funding, open diff - 100mph six and a bit seconds, stunning body control - no arb's, class leading dynamics from the first model, P1 (see C. Harris review)

Ferrari wish they had his genius

F355 sensational? no disrespect - its a piece of junk compared to a base model McLaren

[tallsopp]

GreatScott2016 said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

Ferrari churned out some great cars when he was at the helm 20-odd years ago, but now he s too old (77) and Italian. It won t work.

Intrigued to understand why too old and Italian should be an issue? After all, Gordon Murray is 79 and is still going strong

Great news! Former chairperson of Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo at McLaren! Are we going to see a big front engined GT roll out of the gates of Woking in the same way Montezemolo did at Ferrari to re introduced a front engined GT with the stunning 550 Maranello?, or dare I say, a super car SUV to rival to the Ferrari PUROSANGUE heading due north towards Cheshire in the very near future?

Which direction will they go? The current mid engined super cars McLaren build need to get into other markets. Not necessarily global markets, because existing customers of course are there already, but the aspirational generation who love the SUV and rely on that market for family reasons can then have another option other than a Ferrari or a Porsche Cayenne?

[georgeyboy12345]

Imagine a McLaren SUV

[ManyMotors]

It is unlikely Luca di Montezemolo will make any difference to the success of McLaren, which is on the precipice of failure. Also note that Ferrari's current great success is due to the departed Sergio Marchionne. Both John Elkann and Marchionne viewed Luca as a stiff and dumped him prior to the IPO.

[SSO]

I covered this in an article posted on Sunday. Don't think it is actually that big a deal or much of a surprise. It’s now been over a decade since Fiat & Ferrari severed all ties to di Montezemolo. Since the split, di Montezemolo has been openly critical of Stellantis, Ferrari and its current Chairman (his former mentee), John Elkann.