McLaren Could Build Carbon Monocoques For Other Firms

As McLaren continues to expand and sell an increasing number of supercars

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by Brad Anderson

July 12, 2017 at 01:02

As McLaren continues to expand and sell an increasing number of supercars around the world, it has emerged that it could soon start providing carbon fiber monocoques to other automakers.

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the British marque said that by the end of the decade, it is shaping up to build 5,000 vehicles annually. Curiously, it said that its new plant in Sheffield, England will have an annual capacity of 10,000 carbon fiber monocoques by the end of 2019.

When pressed about these two different numbers by Car and Driver, McLaren chief executive Mike Flewitt said that the company could ultimately build more than 5,000 cars a year but that providing carbon fiber monocoques to other automakers is a serious possibility.

“We won’t do it until we’re fully up and running ourselves but it is something that we are considering as an obvious expansion,” he said.

McLaren revealed at the start of the year that its new flexible carbon fiber moncoque set to be built in the UK will be used by all its future models, including hybrids. Additionally, the tub is said to be so adaptable that it can be resized and could potentially be used by a single-seater track car or even a 2+2/four-seater.