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McLaren sells its Woking, England, headquarters for $236 million

McLaren has found a buyer for its headquarters in Woking, England. It sold the facility to a New York-based investment firm named Global Net Lease, but it's not planning on moving to a new home anytime soon. Hit hard by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the British firm put a "for sale" sign on its lawn in September 2020 with a major catch: The new owner would need to lease the facility back to McLaren in the foreseeable future. Canadian real estate firm Colliers listed the carmaker's headquarters at GBP200 million (around $256 million at the time), and Global Net Lease announced it haggled the price down to GBP170 million, which represents about $236 million. The deal includes the McLaren Technology Center, the McLaren Production Center (which manufactures road cars, like the GT), and the McLaren Thought Leadership Center. Parking lots and a small man-made lake are part of the transaction, too. Moving everything to a new location would be immensely expensive, not to mention time-consuming, so McLaren will lease the 840,000-square-foot site from Global Net Lease for the next 20 years. What happens after that isn't known yet; McLaren will presumably either sign another multi-year lease or buy the site back. This is the second time McLaren has received a nine-digit cash injection in less than a year. In June 2020, it arranged a GBP150 million round of financing from the National Bank of Bahrain. At the time, it said the funding would allow it to get through the coronavirus crisis while putting it in the best possible position to be competitive in the future.  McLaren's sale of its headquarters isn't unprecedented in automotive history. In 2012, PSA Peugeot-Citroen (which is now part of Stellantis) sold its historic headquarters on Avenue de la Grande Armee in the heart of Paris for about $327 million to raise much-needed cash; it still leases the building in 2021. And, in January 2004, troubled British carmaker MG Rover sold most of its Longbridge, England, site to a property developer with plans to rent it. It signed a 35-year contract, and it optimistically added a renewal clause, but it shut down in April 2005 after years of losses. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

McLaren previews P1 GTR concept ahead of Pebble Beach debut

McLaren, Ferrari and Porsche have all come out with their hybrid-powered hypercars, vehicles that boast the bleeding edge of what is possible with today's road-car technology. The next step, at least in the case of McLaren and Ferrari, is to push that bleeding edge just a hair further, with even faster, more focused versions of the P1 and LaFerrari. At the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, McLaren will be the first to give us a glimpse of that boundary-pushing machine. The British automaker has announced that the P1 GTR Design Concept will make its global debut smack dab in the middle of Monterey's legendary car week, with the veil lifting on Friday, August 15 at 6:00 PM EST. McLaren doesn't go into many specifics here, simply calling the P1 GTR a track-focused variant of the P1, which we kind of already knew. Based on what we can see from the lone teaser sketch, the new model will have a much more dramatic aerodynamic presence than the street model, with a massive rear wing and a huge rear diffuser. Sandwiched between those two items are a pair of exhaust tips that wouldn't look out of place on the deck of your average battleship. Carbon fiber should feature prominently, with a few exposed sections of the stuff visible in the teaser image. Production is slated to begin promptly after the final P1 street car rolls off the Woking production line, sometime in June 2015. Of course, we'll have much, much more on the P1 GTR when it makes its debut at Pebble Beach. Keep an eye on this space come August 15. Until then, scroll down for the official press release from McLaren. THE McLAREN P1™ GTR DESIGN CONCEPT PREVIEWED AHEAD OF PEBBLE BEACH GLOBAL DEBUT McLaren will use its presence at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance to showcase its ultimate track-focused model, the McLaren P1™GTR, in design concept form. Conceived in response to requests from buyers of the road legal McLaren P1™ for a track focused edition of their car, and available for purchase only to this group as a fully comprehensive programme to include driving events, training and vehicle support, the McLaren P1™GTRwill go into production in June 2015 when the 375th and final example of the road car has been completed - two decades on from the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans win by the legendary McLaren F1 GTR. The McLaren P1™GTR is being designed and developed using five decades of race-winning knowledge from the pinnacle of motorsport.

McLaren has a backup plan in case Alonso leaves

MONZA, Italy (Reuters) - McLaren have backup plans in place should Fernando Alonso leave the team at the end of the Formula One season in November, executive director Zak Brown said on Friday. "Negotiations are ongoing and they are going very well," the American told reporters at the Italian Grand Prix. "But you've got to have a Plan B and C in the event you don't reach an agreement. And we've got those plans." Double world champion Alonso, who is out of contract at the end of the year, is reportedly considering his options after becoming frustrated with Honda's inability to produce a competitive engine. Both the Spaniard and the team have denied, however, that he has told them that he will not stay if the team sticks with the Japanese manufacturer. McLaren's engine options appear to be as limited as Alonso's, however. McLaren's only realistic alternative to Honda is Renault, if Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso free up a supply of the French manufacturer's power units by switching to Honda. The only teams who might be in a position to offer the 36-year-old a seat - notably Williams, Renault or Force India - have either not won a race in years or not at all. Renault F1 bosses were seen entering the McLaren motorhome at Monza on Friday, increasing speculation that a deal was being struck, although Brown made light of the situation. "They have my Lotus 98T engine that I'm waiting for them to rebuild, so I was asking about that," he said. "They do have it, that's a fact." He would not comment on any talks with Honda. Some media reports have indicated that Toro Rosso need a decision this weekend but Brown said that was not the case for McLaren. "Nothing's finalised," he said. "We don't have to make a decision this weekend. I can't speak for Toro Rosso." Brown said the decision would be a sporting one primarily with McLaren, who last won a race in 2012, needing to be back on the podium. He did not rule out Honda raising their game in time for next season. "They're spending more money, so they're doing what it takes to be more competitive. They're doing different stuff now... they've acknowledged they are working with some outside consultants," he said. "We are going to sit down next week with guys that are much smarter on power units than myself and take a view on what we see their plans are and what they've accomplished and then take a view," added Brown (Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Christian Radnedge) Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.