McLaren will create 1,000 jobs in the UK as part of a £450mn investment in its technology centre in Woking, under a product and strategy overhaul led by chief executive Nick Collins. The investment follows last year's merger between McLaren and premium UK electric vehicle start-up Forseven Holdings, and will fund manufacturing and research and development at the Woking site. McLaren currently employs more than 2,500 people and produces all of its cars in the UK.
The announcement follows Jaguar Land Rover's confirmation on Monday of plans to cut 4,000 jobs, or nearly 10 per cent of its global workforce, over the next two years to address falling sales.
McLaren's automotive business was acquired last year by CYVN Holdings, the Abu Dhabi government-owned investment company, from Bahraini sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat. CYVN had laid plans to invest $2bn in the group over five years to revive what Collins has described as a business that had been in "a perilous position" before the acquisition, with cash losses severe enough to jeopardise the development of new models. Since the acquisition, McLaren's board has been reshaped to include former Ferrari chair Luca di Montezemolo and Torsten Müller-Ötvös, the former boss of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
The Woking investment sits against a backdrop of broader restructuring across UK premium carmakers. Aston Martin and Bentley have both streamlined their workforces over the past year following declining sales in China, the world's largest car market. The wider UK automotive industry has faced pressure in recent years from US tariffs, competition from Chinese manufacturers and government targets for EV sales.
The government of Prime Minister Andy Burnham has set out plans to attract further investment into UK vehicle production, but has struggled to convince manufacturers to commit capital, citing high energy prices and deteriorating trade conditions with the EU. From early next year, UK carmakers will face a 10 per cent tariff on EVs shipped to the EU, while UK-made vehicles do not currently qualify for "Made in Europe" subsidies under proposals as they stand.
The £450mn commitment adds fixed capital expenditure to McLaren's balance sheet at a point when the wider UK sector is absorbing tariff exposure on EV exports to the EU and the exclusion of UK production from proposed "Made in Europe" subsidy treatment, both of which bear directly on manufacturers' cost planning for EU-facing output.
