Following Mike Flewitt's admission earlier this month that the coronavirus pandemic had significantly "interrupted our momentum", McLaren has today moved to "ensure its long term future success" by shedding 1,200 jobs in the short term. The redundancies are said to affect the entire McLaren Group as the firm kicks off a major restructuring effort.
Rumours of financial turmoil have been building for several weeks when it emerged that McLaren had investigated a number of options - including mortgaging its factory and extensive car collection - in an apparent pursuit for better liquidity. Today's announcement makes it plain that the company has been hit hard by the collapse of new model sales alongside the cessation of global motorsport.
"We deeply regret the impact that this restructure will have on all our people, but especially those whose jobs may be affected. It is a course of action we have worked hard to avoid, having already undertaken dramatic cost-saving measures across all areas of the business. But we now have no other choice but to reduce the size of our workforce," explained Paul Walsh, the McLaren Group executive chairman.
The job losses are expected to occur across the Applied, Automotive and Racing divisions, alongside back office functions. Autosport has reported that 70 jobs will go from the F1 team following the proposed budget cap for 2021, although the restructure is subject to employee consultation. "[The budget cap] will have a significant impact on the shape and size of our F1 team, we will now begin to take the necessary measures to be ready to run at the cap from 2021 onwards, in order to challenge again for race wins and championships in the future."
Regarding Automotive, Walsh said: "It is hoped the company's road car sales will be boosted by deliveries of a new 765LT supercar in October and the Elva, an ultra-exclusive open-top speedster." Both models were already confirmed for 2020, although - as PH reported last week - the reveal of its new PHEV volume model has been pushed back till 2021.
"This is undoubtedly a challenging time for our company, and particularly our people, but we plan to emerge as an efficient, sustainable business with a clear course for returning to growth."
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