A British maker of hand-built supercars based at the McLaren Technology Centre and Production Centre in Woking, Surrey.
McLaren Automotive designs and builds high-performance sports cars in Woking, Surrey. Its cars are assembled at the McLaren Production Centre, next to the McLaren Technology Centre, which was designed by the British architect Lord Norman Foster. The company traces its road-car story to the McLaren F1 of 1992 and has built supercars under the name McLaren Automotive since 2010.
The wider McLaren story starts with the New Zealand racing driver Bruce McLaren, who founded the racing team in 1963. The group's Papaya Orange racing colour is taken from his signature colour. Ron Dennis formed the McLaren Group in 1985. McLaren Automotive was sold to CYVN Holdings, an Abu Dhabi-based firm, in December 2024. We did not find a written mission statement for the car company, but visitors' accounts say it puts innovation and precision at the centre of its identity.
The UK base is in Woking, Surrey, not far from London Heathrow. The Technology Centre was completed in 2003 and opened by the Queen in 2004. A lake beside the building helps with heating and cooling, and koi carp keep the water clean. Inside, the BLVD displays historic and new McLarens, along with more than 670 original racing trophies, which race winners hand over in return for replicas.
A magazine visit describes the Production Centre as hand-building each car, including its carbon-fibre monocoque, with no conveyor belts. The people assembling them are called "automotive artisans", and about 22 cars leave the plant each day, according to the article. The McLaren Group reported 2,627 employees in 2024, and that includes the racing side. Culture detail beyond this is limited on the pages we read. Between 1998 and 2011 the group built both the Technology Centre and the Production Centre at Woking. The BLVD also displays a full-size LEGO McLaren Senna of more than 468,000 bricks, which took 30 people over 2,700 hours to build, and partners shown there include Bowers & Wilkins, Pirelli and Gulf.
Behind a McLaren sit roles in aerodynamics, composites, electronics, design, assembly, quality and customer experience. Racing heritage runs through the story, with 12 F1 World Championships and drivers such as Senna, Prost, Hunt and Hamilton. McLaren's own site and Technology Centre tours are good places to learn more.
Website: cars.mclaren.com
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