McLaren confident despite coronavirus sales hit in China
McLaren boss Mike Flewitt has told Morning Wire that the supercar manufacturer “probably won’t achieve [its] yearly goal for sales in China” due to the coronavirus impact.
However, despite the knock-on effect, he said that the luxury car maker would “still achieve a reasonable level of sales”.
Flewitt added that he was more concerned about the firm’s supply base, which includes a number of suppliers in China which have been out of action for “two to three weeks”.
Although they are back up and running now, he warned that McLaren needed “to make sure the supply chain is bridged” as the outbreak continues.
China makes up around seven per cent of McLaren’s sales, which have been “non-existent” in the country so far this year.
Sign up to Morning Wire’s Midday Update newsletter, delivered to your inbox every lunchtime
Flewitt said that he expected the lack of activity in China would continue through March, but that he had not seen any impact on sales around the world thus far.
He added that the supercar firm would have a better idea by the time it reports its results on 23 April.
Flewitt was speaking in Woking today as McLaren launched its latest supercar, the 765LT, to a global audience.
The launch had been scheduled to take place at the Geneva Motor Show, but coronavirus fears saw the event cancelled on Friday.
The retail price for the car, which the firm described as the “most powerful LT (long-tail) ever made”, is yet to be disclosed, but there will only be 765 models built in total.
The 765LT is part of the “longtail” family drawing on McLaren’s heritage in Formula 1 and grand touring races like Le Mans.