McLaren Automotive appoints Michael Leiters as Chief Executive Officer

British luxury supercar and hypercar maker McLaren Automotive announces the appointment of Michael Leiters as its new Chief Executive Officer from 1 July, 2022.

German-born Mr Leiters, 50, holds a doctorate in engineering and has held senior positions at Porsche AG and, more recently, was Chief Technology Officer at Ferrari.

Mr Leiters will be based at McLaren’s global-headquarters at the McLaren Technology Centre and the adjoining McLaren Production Centre in Surrey, England where all the company’s supercars and hypercars are hand-built.

Mr Leiters will lead the 3,000-strong workforce spanning all global activities, including the McLaren Composites Technology Centre, instrumental in innovating technology for the company’s ground-breaking high-performance hybrid series production supercar the McLaren Artura, deliveries of which are soon to commence.

McLaren now has more than 100 retailers in over 40 territories around the globe. Despite the pandemic, McLaren continues to see strong customer demand, particularly for its limited-production models with both the 765LT Coupe and Spider variants entirely sold out along with the Ultimate Series Elva.

“On behalf of everyone at McLaren, I am delighted to welcome Michael as the new CEO of McLaren Automotive. His extensive industry leadership experience combined with his passion for engineering and future technology will help guide and develop our team as we enter an exciting second decade.”
Paul Walsh, Executive Chairman, McLaren Group

“I could not be more excited to be joining McLaren Automotive as CEO at this important moment in its journey. McLaren is already recognised as one of the world’s most admired luxury supercar companies. I look forward to growing that reputation for our loyal customers, employees, fans and partners as we write the next chapter in McLaren’s illustrious history.”
Michael Leiters, Chief Executive, McLaren Automotive

Ends

Notes to editors:
A selection of high resolution images accompanying this release is available to download from the McLaren Automotive media site – cars.mclaren.press

About McLaren Automotive:
McLaren Automotive is a creator of luxury, high-performance supercars.
Every vehicle is hand-assembled at the McLaren Production Centre (MPC) in Woking, Surrey, England.

Launched in 2010, the company is now the largest part of the McLaren Group.

The company’s product portfolio of GT, supercar, Motorsport and Ultimate models are retailed through over 100 retailers in over 40 markets around the world.

McLaren is a pioneer that continuously pushes the boundaries. In 1981, it introduced lightweight and strong carbon fibre chassis into Formula 1 with the McLaren MP4/1.

Then in 1993 it designed and built the McLaren F1 road car – the company has not built a car without a carbon fibre chassis since. As part of the Ultimate Series, McLaren was the first to deliver a hybrid hypercar, the McLaren P1™. In 2016, it announced a new hybrid hyper-GT and confirmed in 2018 that the next Ultimate car would be the Speedtail.

2019 saw McLaren launch the 600LT Spider, the new GT and the track-only McLaren Senna GTR. It also unveiled the 620R and McLaren Elva before launching the 765LT the following year.

Most recently, the company unveiled its all-new high-performance hybrid supercar, the McLaren Artura.

The Artura is the first McLaren to benefit from the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA). The MCLA is designed, developed and manufactured at the McLaren Composites Technology Centre in the Sheffield region of England using world-first processes and will spearhead the brand’s electrified future.

McLaren Automotive also chooses to partner with like-minded, world-leading companies and organisations who push the boundaries in their respective fields. These include AkzoNobel, Ashurst, Dell Technologies, Gulf, InfiniteWorld, Pirelli, Richard Mille, Plan International and Tumi.

About McLaren Group:
The McLaren Group is a global leader in luxury automotive and elite motorsports with a focus on its Automotive supercar and Racing businesses.

Founded in 1963 by racer, engineer and entrepreneur Bruce McLaren, the Group is formed of McLaren Automotive, which hand-builds lightweight supercars; and a majority stake in McLaren Racing which competes in the Formula 1 World Championship and INDYCAR in the US.

The Group is globally headquartered at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England.

With a reputation for innovation and technological excellence, McLaren is one of the UK’s largest independent companies.

Further information:
Piers Scott
PR & Communications Director
+44 (0) 7387 548 837
[email protected]

Daniel Golding
Global Head of Corporate Communications
+44 (0) 7717 450 469
[email protected]

Paul Chadderton
Global Head of PR
+44 (0) 7990 776 749
[email protected]

Alex Kelly
PR Manager
+44 (0) 7920 500 685
[email protected]

Hunter Skipworth
Global Digital PR Manager
+44 (0) 7990 564 052
[email protected]

Charlotte Jatana
Social Media Executive
+44 (0) 7468 715 904
[email protected]

Kevin Ritson
Press Officer
+44 (0) 7979 546018
[email protected]

Chloe-Elise Bradford
Press Officer
+44 (0) 7920 363 479
[email protected]

Roger Ormisher
Vice President, Communications & PR, The Americas
+1 714 501 8137
[email protected]

Laura Conrad
Public Relations Manager, The Americas
+1 765 517 2186
[email protected]

Natalie Riordan
Press Officer, The Americas
+1 (817) 471 6314
[email protected]

Lauren Dowdy
Press Officer – United Kingdom
+44 (0) 7818 537 845
[email protected]

Adam Gron
Regional PR & Marketing Manager – Europe, Middle East and Africa
+973 (0) 66 398 339
[email protected]

Abe Quigley
Head of Marketing, China
+86 (0) 152 2199 6912
[email protected]

Michelle Zhang
PR Manager – China
+86 (0) 138 1085 8950
[email protected]

Gracia Yap
PR Manager – Asia Pacific
+65 6338 3700
+65 9109 3698
[email protected]

Mihoko Negishi
PR Manager – Japan
+81 (3) 6675 4313
[email protected]

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