Sold: Why McLaren's new owners are a big deal

McLaren has a new owner that can bankroll its future expansion

Tiny oil-rich nation Bahrain has saved McLaren, ensuring it can take the fight to Ferrari and Porsche long into an electrified future.

Bahrain’s state-owned sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat increased its existing majority shareholding of McLaren Group to full ownership late last month, also taking a majority stake in McLaren’s Formula One team.

Until then the outlook appeared increasingly bleak for the financially troubled supercar manufacturer which lost A$533m in the first nine months of 2023 alone.
McLaren shed more than 1000 jobs in a restructure around the start of COVID-19 and in 2021 was forced to sell its Woking headquarters – the famed McLaren Technology Centre – for US$240m (A$370m) and lease it back for 20 years from new owner, US property giant Global Lease Network.

The brand’s all-new, hybrid V6 Artura sports car is a make-or-break model, and after being beset by parts shortages was finally presented to international media only to suffer embarrassing software glitches and even an on-track fire.

But the deal with Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund – a “major milestone”, said McLaren – means a new page is turned in the story of a brand founded by a Kiwi called Bruce.

With its finances shored up, McLaren can now focus on the hybrid and electric models in its product pipeline, required to meet a more efficient future head-on.

New funding will allow for a replacement to the McLaren Senna in the near-future

McLaren is reportedly developing a hybrid V8 powertrain for its next Ultimate Series supercar, the model range that spawned P1, Senna and Speedtail.

Automotive News reports the car will have a new carbon-fibre monocoque with the seat backrests built into the chassis, a concept borrowed from Formula 1. The doors will open out and pivot forward, like those of a Koenigsegg, while the suspension will be 3D printed.

All-electric models are also imagined for McLaren’s future, with the BBC reporting talks have been held with Polestar, BMW, Lucid and Hyundai over electric vehicle engineering partnerships.

McLaren hinted in a secret dealer conference that it’s also exploring a four-door, four-seat vehicle, potentially a super-crossover like Ferrari’s Purosangue.

The sale to Bahrain will also free McLaren to focus on improving quality and resale values of its cars – two key focus areas for new and existing customers, it has said in the past.

On the whole, however, for those who love sports cars and driving, you can thank Bahrain for guaranteeing there’ll be another brand making them well into the future – and not just any brand, at that.