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Why aren't the mclarens selling? You'd think the f1 winning company run by Ron dennis which made arguably the best car in the world, the F1.. Would have no trouble selling cars..
Is it:
-design, just not exciting
-dealer network lacking?
-poor reliability reputation?... Haven't heard this
-turbo.. Which wouldn't make sense BC there are many turbo cars which do sell well.
-price/value?
Why aren't the mclarens selling? You'd think the f1 winning company run by Ron dennis which made arguably the best car in the world, the F1.. Would have no trouble selling cars..
Is it:
-design, just not exciting
-dealer network lacking?
-poor reliability reputation?... Haven't heard this
-turbo.. Which wouldn't make sense BC there are many turbo cars which do sell well.
-price/value?
It really is surprising
1-resale value. You can drive a Ferrari 458 for a year and not lose much but the sales tax. With GT3, you lose much less than most sports cars. With McLaren, you lose 40-50% of the value.
2-lacks the passion of a screaming NA, and the NA throttle response.
3-no classic super car beauty, not ugly, but any Ferrari is better looking.
4-less usable than 458/GT3 both of which are comfortable enough to be daily driven if desired. Getting in /out of the carbon tub gets old fast, particularly for women. My girlfriend couldn't stand that about the 650 we test drove.
5-dealer network much smaller than Ferrari and Porsche.
The McLaren is an absolute beast on the track, but reasons 1-5 can't be ignored.
Last edited by Drifting; 02-12-2015 at 10:55 PM.
Reason: .
1-resale value. You can drive a Ferrari 458 for a year and not lose much but the sales tax. With GT3, you lose much less than most sports cars. With McLaren, you lose 40-50% of the value.
2-lacks the passion of a screaming NA, and the NA throttle response.
3-no classic super car beauty, not ugly, but any Ferrari is better looking.
4-less usable than 458/GT3 both of which are comfortable enough to be daily driven if desired. Getting in /out of the carbon tub gets old fast, particularly for women. My girlfriend couldn't stand that about the 650 we test drove.
5-dealer network much smaller than Ferrari and Porsche.
The McLaren is an absolute beast on the track, but reasons 1-5 can't be ignored.
Agree. Point number 1 is the key reason. Things will get worse when their Sports Series shows up in the $200k range. 650s retail for mid 300's is just not there. They drop the price 75k which is an issue.
They are not building the car to order but rather building as many as they can and pushing to dealers to sell--which they can't, and therefore they literally have a warehouse of them in he UK with hundreds just sitting there. Not a smart business model for $350k car.
Why aren't the mclarens selling? You'd think the f1 winning company run by Ron dennis which made arguably the best car in the world, the F1.. Would have no trouble selling cars..
Is it:
-design, just not exciting
-dealer network lacking?
-poor reliability reputation?... Haven't heard this
-turbo.. Which wouldn't make sense BC there are many turbo cars which do sell well.
-price/value?
It really is surprising
Combination of all of the above.
Plus, you forgot depreciation that makes a Ferrari look like a good investment.
I really like the looks of the 12C, seems like a really good deal at the right price point. Of course if you bought full price it hurts big time. Macs are such awesome cars in so many ways, but not a DD by any defintion
I personally disagree about resale and 'useability' being huge factors... For resale, they had trouble moving 12Cs in the first 6m they were available, before anyone knew what resale would be... Plenty of people buy Gallardo/Huracan's - I believe they sell more volume than 458, and their resale isn't exactly stellar... So few people use these cars as DDs, mostly weekend 'occasion' cars, so usability isn't such a hige concern... I agree, if they are driven more that it would be, but like the 458, most of these cars get <2k/yr in mileage...
I think their biggest challenges are 2/3 and 5 from above. Not so much throttle response, but the lack of the exotic sound at most times and the more subtle, less exotic looks are a big turnoff for many who are buying an 'exotic' - especially when cross shopping a 458 and huracan... I personally like that it is more subtle, but obviously many did not hence the more exotic 650s exterior. That said, the sound from my previous Gallardo and family's current 458 is intoxicating. Another really big issue from them is dealer network. In Chicago and S. Fla, we have them local, but I've read about others who are 8+ hrs from dealer for service - a pain most who can afford don't want to deal with...
With the current values of the 12C, it is a serious competitor for r8 and Turbo buyers.... Because it is less exotic than 458/huracan, it wouldn't draw the attention when used frequently and driven to the office... maybe even less attention than the r8...
I'm really interested in what they will do with the 'sports series'.. Assuming it's priced ~$150, they will need to improve the usability and dealer network for it to succeed.. Audi, Porsche, MB, etc dealers are everywhere...
Given the performance, I think they are too expensive. Priced more like a GT3, R8, or MB GT, I think it's a competitive car. Ferrari has earned the right to over charge for their cars with a long history of making amazing road vehicles. McLaren does not have that history.
Sadly, I also hear they aren't great on the track out of the box, which is odd for a company like McLaren.
Out of the box, my 12C spider is much better on track than my previous 458 coupe. Over 2 sec a lap faster on a 1.7 mile track. Oem tires on both.
I think the point I was trying to make is that it's an unfair comparison. McLaren is a racing company, and doesn't fill quite the right niche, I don't think. Ferrari will sell cars no matter what. Most people will not put their Ferrari on a track, so that's not a consideration for the target audience. Same with Lambo. I'm not sure I fully understand the McLaren audience, except that they're trying to fill the gap between Porsche and Ferrari owners (that aren't already Lambo, Aston owners). Personally, I like the looks of the McLaren, but it's just not insane enough to justify the premium over the GT3/Turbo or an R8. I wish it were more like a 650hp Lotus.
Anyone see any more info on this car yet? Limited images so far, but still think the 650S GT3 is one of the best looking cars around and if it looks similar like the GT3 RSR to GT3 RS I might have to get one...
People focus too much on resale. The ones who buy this and take the plunge, don't really care about resale. It's the people looking on the bargain who care about that, like most on car forums. The reason the mclaren doesn't sell well is because all they cared about was going fast and technology. They didn't care about interior quality, aesthetics so much, and most importantly sound.
The interior on the mclaren is junk. It looks nice, but as pointed out before, it is no ferrari. I think the 650s looks way better because the P1 is gorgeous, and it basically ripped off that.
If they could make a mini P1, but also sound nicer, mclaren would sell a lot more. They have to improve their interior as well. We need luxury leather and lots of deviated stitching.
02-12-2015, 10:39 PM
