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McLaren's 10,000th car shows how close it is to catching up with Ferrari and Lamborghini

The move from Formula One to road-worthy production cars isn't an easy one. Just over five years since production on the MP4-12C began, McLaren completed production of its 10,000th car. Even more noteworthy, it took 42 months to build the first 5,000 cars but only 22 months to make it to 10,000. The automaker, which until 2011 had only built a single line of road-going cars, appears to be on a roll with more volume and more models hitting the streets every year. McLaren is set to nearly double its year-over year sales in 2016. The automaker sold 1,654 cars in 2015 and expects to hit 3,000 sales in 2016. While those are good sales number for a relatively new full-line supercar manufacturer, they're still short of the competition. Lamborghini had its best year ever in 2015 with 3,245 cars sold. Ferrari plans to expand production to 9,000 cars annually by 2019. McLaren may be able to compete with the big boys on the track, but it still has a ways to go before it can match their sales. The 10,000th car to roll off the line was a 570S wrapped in Ceramic Grey, a color from McLaren Special Operations. MSO is the division behind awesome cars like the 679-horsepower McLaren MSO HS. The car will be held by the company for its Heritage Collection. The McLaren Sport Series (540C, 570S, and 570GT) were a big boon toward boosting the company's output. An additional production line was built, doubling output from 10 to 20 cars per day. We hope McLaren can continue this growth, and we're looking forward to more new products like the upcoming three-seat F1 successor. We just wish they could come up with some better names. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

McLaren to launch 650S replacement in 2018

McLaren only launched the 650S last year, but by 2018 it'll be four years old – and the 12C underpinnings on which it is largely based will have been around for seven. Looking at those time spans, it should come as little surprise that Woking is already gearing up to launch its replacement. According to Autocar, the successor to the McLaren 650S is due in 2018. It's anticipated to be based on the same carbon monocoque architecture and 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 engine that's widely used by the company. Frank Stephenson and his team are also tipped to be working on a new design that will depart sharply from the theme that has characterized the P1 (Ultimate Series), 650S (Super Series), and 570S (Sports Series). Look for that appearance to point the way forward for future McLaren models. Expect output to exceed the 641 horsepower in the 650S and possibly even the 666 hp in the 675LT. By the time it arrives, Woking's latest will have to contend with even more powerful versions of the Ferrari 488 GTB and Lamborghini Huracan, which produce 661 hp and 602 hp, respectively, in their current iterations. It remains to be seen, however, whether the new Super Series model will adopt hybrid propulsion like the P1. A hard-top convertible Spider is also anticipated to follow. The new model's internal designation of P14, as Autocar asserts, may finally put to rest the mystery of what Woking was saving that slot for: P11 was used for the 12C (and P11M for the 650S), P12 for the P1, P13 for the new Sports Series, and P15 is said to be earmarked for a new model to slot in between the 650S and P1. Related Video:

McLaren boosts sales by 99 percent in 2016, moves 3,286 cars

McLaren has been on a roll both critically and commercially since it returned to the road-car business in 2011. The MP4-12C was followed by the 650S, 720S, and the nearly unequalled P1. Sales have been up, and 2016 was the automaker's most successful year ever, moving 3,286 cars into customer hands. That's a 99 percent increase over 2015, and with 1,500 pre-orders for the 720S, 2017 is looking even better. The big news is McLaren's fourth consecutive year of profitability in just six years. News for the automaker looks good on all fronts (the struggling Formula 1 team is run separately). McLaren added 114 employees in 2016, raising the staff count to 1,606. Sales revenue is up 44 percent to $843.6 million with an $11.9 million profit. Like with sales numbers, things are looking good for 2017. McLaren Special Operations, the bespoke group behind cars like the MSO HS and the 720S Velocity, grew by 147 percent over 2015. Sales of the 570S and 570GT Sport Series totaled 2,031 cars. The addition of the new 570S Spider should only help matters. North America was the largest region for McLaren, with a total 1,139 cars coming across the Atlantic. For such a young company, this is all good news. Yes, McLaren has been around for decades in one form or another, but success like this is still surprising. Many automakers have grand ambitions to build world-class sports cars, but few are ever truly successful. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: McLaren Earnings/Financials McLaren mclaren automotive mclaren 720s mclaren 570s spider