[Mikeyb]

Nothing new, at least for some of us, but at least reminds that he is moving the company in the right direction..

McLaren's next generation – new CEO Michael Leiters on his mission to reform the brand | Evo

New CEO Michael Leiters is on a mission to raise McLaren’s game, promising a streamlined range, higher quality and no more excuses

www.evo.co.uk

No mention of semi conductor shortages.. just honesty..

 

[ChrisK1982]

umm ... he comes from which company ??? hope he really means what he says, because current Ferrari and Porsche products more seem like a ongoing work in progress to fix problems ... even the 992 now has much more quality issues than the cars before, same I was told about SF90 and Roma ...


Rest of the interview I hope he does not want to copy Ferraris or AMs product portfolio ... bc that is somehow like what it sounds and would go away from the pureness of McL in regards to the cars they currently make - the overlap of course somehow is there - but on the other hand it makes a lot of trouble and takes many resources to make e.g V8 front engine, V8 mid engine, v6 mid engine, SUV, GT and than hypercars with non transferable tech when only making such small numbers - not sure how he wants to safe money that way ...

 

[Iron5]

Really honest and critical words, and that usually pays off in the long run. But criticizing is one thing, doing it better is another. Leiters will soon be measured by his own results. I'm curious. I am also amazed at the clear words regarding the maturity of EV technologies for supercars. I'm very excited about what the future will bring us from Woking.

 

[Iron5]

umm ... he comes from which company ??? hope he really means what he says, because current Ferrari and Porsche products more seem like a ongoing work in progress to fix problems ... even the 992 now has much more quality issues than the cars before, same I was told about SF90 and Roma ...


Rest of the interview I hope he does not want to copy Ferraris or AMs product portfolio ... bc that is somehow like what it sounds and would go away from the pureness of McL in regards to the cars they currently make - the overlap of course somehow is there - but on the other hand it makes a lot of trouble and takes many resources to make e.g V8 front engine, V8 mid engine, v6 mid engine, SUV, GT and than hypercars with non transferable tech when only making such small numbers - not sure how he wants to safe money that way ...

I think this is a crucial passage in the article "...To achieve this and deliver on Leiters’ strategy (Flewitt’s ‘Track 25’ plan is at the bottom of the MTC lake) will require McLaren to form a technology partnership with an OEM (think BMW rather than Audi)..."

 

[ChrisK1982]

I think this is a crucial passage in the article "...To achieve this and deliver on Leiters’ strategy (Flewitt’s ‘Track 25’ plan is at the bottom of the MTC lake) will require McLaren to form a technology partnership with an OEM (think BMW rather than Audi)..."

Yes true … from a quality side I would think Audi would be better, but there is a risk with VW bc of the many brands they have … BMW would probably look better after them bc they don’t have a own exclusive sportscar brand of which VW has a whole portfolio

 

[Iron5]

Yes true … from a quality side I would think Audi would be better, but there is a risk with VW bc of the many brands they have … BMW would probably look better after them bc they don’t have a own exclusive sportscar brand of which VW has a whole portfolio

yep, I'm with you.
I once heard that there was an initial plan to develop the 3.0Liter V6 from the Artura with BMW, but that fell through. Maybe that would have been the better way from the beginning...

 

[Mikeyb]

Really honest and critical words, and that usually pays off in the long run. But criticizing is one thing, doing it better is another. Leiters will soon be measured by his own results. I'm curious. I am also amazed at the clear words regarding the maturity of EV technologies for supercars. I'm very excited about what the future will bring us from Woking.

yeah i'd agree.. at some point, sooner rather tahn later, he'll be judged on what they have acheived... but it's best that they do things thoroughly... shutting down the factory to assess correctly quality concerns etc (we'll remember that they indeed wouldn't even let complete cars leave the factory.. ) .. cos you will always have this grace period where you can legitmately claim to have unearthed problems from the previous management.. but that doesn't last for ever..

but you have to get the problems you come across fixed, and as quickly as possible to move things forward.. .

 

[ChrisK1982]

yeah i'd agree.. at some point, sooner rather tahn later, he'll be judged on what they have acheived... but it's best that they do things thoroughly... shutting down the factory to assess correctly quality concerns etc (we'll remember that they indeed wouldn't even let complete cars leave the factory.. ) .. cos you will always have this grace period where you can legitmately claim to have unearthed problems from the previous management.. but that doesn't last for ever..

but you have to get the problems you come across fixed, and as quickly as possible to move things forward.. .

if its only quality issues in assembly that might work ... if its design issues or general problems bc a part does not hold the required strength (e.g., gorilla glass problems of the 720s), it might be a long way to go to get the production line running again

 

[Lotus000]

Saying all the right things is great. Delivering on those things is the hard part

 

[VRP14]

Would it be slight foreshadowing that the Artura uses BMW componentry for the battery pack?

 

[GVIrish]

I'm kind of interested in what product differentiation means to Leiter. I do think McLaren would benefit from having a different engine for the Ultimate series cars than the Super/Sport series. Ideally I'd like the Super series to keep the V8 even if it goes plug in hybrid, but I don't know that they can amortize the V6 properly if they do that.

I also think that if McLaren wants to have a GT offering they should actually make a front engined 2 seater or 2+2. I don't think just making a restyled 570 works. That may mean another version of the carbon tub, and maybe they can leverage that for a crossover of some sort.

One technology that might help McLaren with the SUV or front-engined GT products is Gordon Murray's iStream. From what I understand you get a lot of the benefits of a full carbon fiber chassis but at significantly less cost.

 

[ChrisK1982]

I'm kind of interested in what product differentiation means to Leiter. I do think McLaren would benefit from having a different engine for the Ultimate series cars than the Super/Sport series. Ideally I'd like the Super series to keep the V8 even if it goes plug in hybrid, but I don't know that they can amortize the V6 properly I'd they do that.

I also think that if McLaren wants to have a GT offering they should actually make a front engines 2 seater or 2+2. I don't think just making a restyled 570 works. That may mean another version of the carbon tub, and maybe they can leverage that for a crossover of some sort.

One technology that might help McLaren with the SUV or front-engined GT products is Gordon Murray's iStream. From what I understand you get a lot of the benefits of a full carbon fiber chassis but at significantly less cost.

Think McLaren needs to keep the 4 liter V8TT for the 720s hybrid replacement if they want to be on the same lvl with Lambo (Aventador Replacement) and Ferrari (SF90) .. a 3liter V6TT won't cut it

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Pretty pivotal quote IMO:

‘What I heard from my team here is that in the past we accepted a non-mature product and would launch it and deliver it to the customers. The Artura was the first project where we didn’t do that. We saw that the car wasn’t mature, so we stopped deliveries. We already had a significant delay in our production line at the time and we reduced [production] to zero [cars] a day to fix our quality problems.
...
‘Doing this risked the financial position of the company, but I think this was a very important change we made. A very important message we give to our dealers and customers: that we have understood that in the future quality will be our focus. No longer will we say “the car is driving so fast and is so engaging and whatever, so please forgive us some quality issues”. Not any more.’

 

[ChrisK1982]

Pretty pivotal quote IMO:

‘What I heard from my team here is that in the past we accepted a non-mature product and would launch it and deliver it to the customers. The Artura was the first project where we didn’t do that. We saw that the car wasn’t mature, so we stopped deliveries. We already had a significant delay in our production line at the time and we reduced [production] to zero [cars] a day to fix our quality problems.
...
‘Doing this risked the financial position of the company, but I think this was a very important change we made. A very important message we give to our dealers and customers: that we have understood that in the future quality will be our focus. No longer will we say “the car is driving so fast and is so engaging and whatever, so please forgive us some quality issues”. Not any more.’

He may say this … but he comes from Ferrari and there are many issues with the Roma and SF90 … so in theory maybe it’s possible to address all the issues, but these things have the nasty habit that once you addressed the current ones and the car gets updated or a new model is created other issues reappear …

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

umm ... he comes from which company ??? hope he really means what he says, because current Ferrari and Porsche products more seem like a ongoing work in progress to fix problems ... even the 992 now has much more quality issues than the cars before, same I was told about SF90 and Roma ...


Rest of the interview I hope he does not want to copy Ferraris or AMs product portfolio ... bc that is somehow like what it sounds and would go away from the pureness of McL in regards to the cars they currently make - the overlap of course somehow is there - but on the other hand it makes a lot of trouble and takes many resources to make e.g V8 front engine, V8 mid engine, v6 mid engine, SUV, GT and than hypercars with non transferable tech when only making such small numbers - not sure how he wants to safe money that way ...

It seems to me the GT is a placeholder for now. But I do wonder what a "complete" lineup would be?

1. GT: Some GT replacement to be the base entry model (but not sure what it would be, lets go crazy and say a V4 hybrid)
2. Supercar: Artura (V6)
3. Hypercar: 750->950 hybrid? (V8)
4. Megacar: An unlimited sales hypercard like an Aventador competitor (V10) and special occasion cars like the P2
5. SUV

 

[eMcL]

Would be good if McLaren takes up Elon’s offer of charging standard ..

Tesla officially makes its charging standard available to other companies

Tesla has invited other automakers to build cars with charging ports that can work with Tesla's charging format and for other charging companies to add Tesla-style plugs to their chargers.

kslnewsradio.com

 

[vtknight]

I am still trying to wrap my head around this...I know it is just talk - and the new CEO is well...new - but he is saying the RIGHT things in my humble opinion.

I personally hope these things all materialize...even most of them.

McLaren's next generation – new CEO Michael Leiters on his mission to reform the brand | Evo

We sit down with McLaren's new CEO Michael Leiters to find out how he plans to raise the brand's game -

headtopics.com

 

[ChrisK1982]

It seems to me the GT is a placeholder for now. But I do wonder what a "complete" lineup would be?

1. GT: Some GT replacement to be the base entry model (but not sure what it would be, lets go crazy and say a V4 hybrid)
2. Supercar: Artura (V6)
3. Hypercar: 750->950 hybrid? (V8)
4. Megacar: An unlimited sales hypercard like an Aventador competitor (V10) and special occasion cars like the P2
5. SUV

GT as nice as it is, is still more supercar than most real supercars and less GT … don’t get me wrong it’s a great car to have if you don’t care about things like traveling with lots of luggage or more than 2 ppl but on the other hand it’s competing with cars like Bentley GT, AMG GT 4 door, Audi RS7 or BMW M8 while still being more of a performance car than an Audi R8 … it’s a niche car for rich singles or couples that don’t mind having a bit less comfort but more sportiness and don‘t want sth. traditional like a Bentley and don’t travel with big trunks …

As for the others what you suggest is kind of suicidal for Mclaren if they don’t just rebrand other manufacturers cars … R&D for 4-5 independent cars with nearly no shared parts would probably kill all abilities for profits … non of these cars would have any shared costs with the others …

I would say 2 engines for the time being:
V8TT and V6TT both Hybrid and a future EV …

Layout is a problem if you wanna keep McL DNA … not so much for the SUV but for all the rest …

a Mclaren is a light 2 winged doors mid engine car with cf chassis !!! 2 or 3 seats … they never did anything else and it’s probably quiet an act to get ppl into a front engine GT or some kind of sports cross over with limited off road capabilities given that tradition … problem is you don’t only need to design some car, but that car has to appeal to ppl willing to spend 250-500k and it needs to be in their eyes better than the competing products … I don’t really see how Mclaren could do that with front engine GTs that would be measured against iconic cars like the 812 …

 

[Mikeyb]

if its only quality issues in assembly that might work ... if its design issues or general problems bc a part does not hold the required strength (e.g., gorilla glass problems of the 720s), it might be a long way to go to get the production line running again

it’s more the latter than the former. Or at least it was.

Pretty pivotal quote IMO:

‘What I heard from my team here is that in the past we accepted a non-mature product and would launch it and deliver it to the customers. The Artura was the first project where we didn’t do that. We saw that the car wasn’t mature, so we stopped deliveries. We already had a significant delay in our production line at the time and we reduced [production] to zero [cars] a day to fix our quality problems.
...
‘Doing this risked the financial position of the company, but I think this was a very important change we made. A very important message we give to our dealers and customers: that we have understood that in the future quality will be our focus. No longer will we say “the car is driving so fast and is so engaging and whatever, so please forgive us some quality issues”. Not any more.’

yeah.. the experience taht a lot of people in europe particularly experienced... long standing customers probably forgive most of it, new ones not so... nice to believe that that won't happen anymore.. it was always an incredibly poor strategy...

 

[Mikeyb]

GT as nice as it is, is still more supercar than most real supercars and less GT … don’t get me wrong it’s a great car to have if you don’t care about things like traveling with lots of luggage or more than 2 ppl but on the other hand it’s competing with cars like Bentley GT, AMG GT 4 door, Audi RS7 or BMW M8 while still being more of a performance car than an Audi R8 … it’s a niche car for rich singles or couples that don’t mind having a bit less comfort but more sportiness and don‘t want sth. traditional like a Bentley and don’t travel with big trunks …

As for the others what you suggest is kind of suicidal for Mclaren if they don’t just rebrand other manufacturers cars … R&D for 4-5 independent cars with nearly no shared parts would probably kill all abilities for profits … non of these cars would have any shared costs with the others …

I would say 2 engines for the time being:
V8TT and V6TT both Hybrid and a future EV …

Layout is a problem if you wanna keep McL DNA … not so much for the SUV but for all the rest …

a Mclaren is a light 2 winged doors mid engine car with cf chassis !!! 2 or 3 seats … they never did anything else and it’s probably quiet an act to get ppl into a front engine GT or some kind of sports cross over with limited off road capabilities given that tradition … problem is you don’t only need to design some car, but that car has to appeal to ppl willing to spend 250-500k and it needs to be in their eyes better than the competing products … I don’t really see how Mclaren could do that with front engine GTs that would be measured against iconic cars like the 812 …

they probably need a four seater now... whether that SUV or full GT who knows...