'Stop accusing car firms of fuelling Project Fear - it's for real': McLaren boss warns on Brexit and says he's sorry for overseas investors who will suffer because of it
Title : 'Stop accusing car firms of fuelling Project Fear - it's for real': McLaren boss warns on Brexit and says he's sorry for overseas investors who will suffer because of it
Link : 'Stop accusing car firms of fuelling Project Fear - it's for real': McLaren boss warns on Brexit and says he's sorry for overseas investors who will suffer because of it
David Beckham, singers Will.i.am and Lady Gaga, and actor Anthony Hopkins are among the many super-rich fans of McLaren's sports cars.
But there is one famous name that Mike Flewitt, chief executive of McLaren Automotive, fears will never be associated with his luxury vehicles: James Bond.
'I wish!' is the 007 enthusiast's response when asked whether Bond will ever drive a McLaren. 'But I doubt it. He's so associated with Aston Martin as a brand.'
Liverpool-born Flewitt, 56, is speaking to The Mail on Sunday from McLaren's futuristic headquarters in Woking, Surrey, which would be a worthy lair for a Bond villain.
Hot seat: Mike Flewitt took over as chief executive of McLaren in 2013
The brainchild of legendary former McLaren boss Ron Dennis, the HQ is built on a former ostrich farm. The main building is a showroom-cum-museum – its floor scattered with McLaren cars old and new, and its walls lined with racing trophies.
McLaren Group was founded in the 1960s by teenage racing sensation Bruce McLaren and is probably still best known for its Formula 1 team. But the manufacturing division, McLaren Automotive, is the biggest part of the business.
Despite being just eight years old – McLaren previously sold some road cars, but not on a large scale – it makes up around 80 per cent of turnover, which Flewitt expects to top £1billion this year.
Flewitt, whose Swedish wife Mia is an amateur racing driver, took over as chief executive in 2013, having previously worked for Ford, Rolls-Royce and Bentley.
His cars – with prices ranging from £135,000 to £750,000 – currently sell in 31 markets across the world, and he has set his sights on expansion in Russia, India, South America and Africa. The company expects to sell 4,500 cars this year and will soon build this number up to 6,000. The UK market makes up only around 10 per cent of sales – or 450 cars – and the rest of the European Union accounts for a further 20 per cent.
What will happen on the first day of no deal? How will we import components ...and export cars?
Despite his international ambitions beyond Europe, Flewitt shares the industry's deep concerns over Brexit. Even after McLaren opens a new carbon-fibre manufacturing site near Sheffield, around 40 per cent of its components will come from the EU.
The loss of frictionless trade between Britain and the EU, therefore, could lead to delays and extra costs.
He is also concerned about the loss of skilled workers because 15 per cent of his engineering staff are EU nationals.
Flewitt styles himself as an optimist on Brexit – he predicts sensible economic decisions and common sense 'will prevail'. But he is frustrated by a lack of progress in negotiations, and increasingly concerned by the looming possibility of a 'no-deal' Brexit.
'What will happen on the first day of no deal? How will we be able to import components? Export cars? Well…we don't actually know how to trade with each other under those terms.'
Star appeal: David Beckham is one of a host of stars to own a McLaren
Previously vice-president of manufacturing for Ford across Europe, he is dismissive of those who accuse motor industry leaders, including the bosses of Jaguar Land Rover and BMW, of joining in 'Project Fear' for expressing their Brexit concerns. 'These are genuine fears,' he says. 'The people I feel most sorry for are some of the car companies that came and invested in the UK through the 1980s and 90s to make Britain their base for trading in Europe.
'If all of a sudden their trading terms change, that whole investment is almost called into question.'
For McLaren, the problems are not so great, he says.
'I think if the impact were bigger for us I'd probably be making a louder noise.
'We are broadly speaking supportive of what the Government is trying to achieve. Just like everybody else we're frustrated that we're not there yet.'
In the period since McLaren Automotive launched eight years ago, the UK's car industry had until recently enjoyed a resurgence.
Some 1.7million cars were built in 2016, a 17-year high. However, this figure dropped by 3 per cent last year, due to ailing economic confidence and confusion over government policy on diesel. Following the 'dieselgate' scandal of 2015 – where Volkswagen was found to have misled regulators by hiding nitrogen oxide emissions during vehicle tests – car-makers have come under increased pressure to develop hybrids and electric cars.
State of the art: The McLaren headquarters in Woking
Under the 'Road to Zero' initiative, the Government has announced a ban on the sale of new conventional petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040.
McLaren last month announced plans for all of its cars to be hybrid by 2025 – in other words, to be equipped with a fuel engine and electric motor.
It is also in the process of developing a fully electric car. But won't all this be anathema to super-rich petrolheads parting with up to £750,000? And aren't electric cars too quiet for drivers who want the roar of an engine when they buy a McLaren?
'The cars are all about excitement, they have to connect with people emotionally,' he says. 'Otherwise, frankly, there's no point buying them. There's no rational reason for buying a car like this.'
He adds: 'We don't have the answer today. I couldn't launch an electric vehicle today that would be as exciting as our 720s.'
One solution would be to recreate artificially the rumble of a traditional engine in an electric car. But Flewitt turns his nose up at the idea of 'fake noise'.
'That's really the problem,' he says. 'There are a lot of cars out there in the market now where the solution has been to effectively pipe noise through the speakers of the car – exhaust sound, engine noise.
'It's done incredibly well – I would challenge most people to actually know that's what's happening.
'But we have this philosophy of authenticity – so there is no fake noise [allowed].'
As a genuine car enthusiast, Flewitt sounds somewhat rueful as he adds: 'The days of V12s screaming as you drove them were wonderful. But that isn't the world we live in today.'
Bond fan loves sound of his motor
Age: 56.
Family: Wife Mia and a 31-year-old son who married earlier this month.
Lives: In the Cotswolds with Mia, a fellow car fanatic, and has a flat in Woking for work.
Rival: Daniel Craig and Judi Dench in Skyfall where Bond drives an Aston Martin
Drives: A Mini in the week and a McLaren 570s on weekends.
Heroes: James Bond, racer Jim Clark and his father.
Favourite film: Any James Bond, and Kim Basinger movie No Mercy.
Book: James Bond again – he collects first editions.
Music: Listens to the engine of his car and Radio 4.
Hobbies: Keeping fit, walking with his dog – and driving.
McLaren prices: £135,000 for Sports Series to £750,000 for Ultimate Series, such as the Senna and the Speedtail.
'Stop accusing car firms of fuelling Project Fear - it's for real': McLaren boss warns on Brexit and says he's sorry for overseas investors who will suffer because of it
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'Stop accusing car firms of fuelling Project Fear - it's for real': McLaren boss warns on Brexit and says he's sorry for overseas investors who will suffer because of it
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