MEDIA ADVISORY: McLaren Group supports drive to produce more medical ventilators to help tackle pandemic and save lives

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the McLaren Group - composed of McLaren Automotive, McLaren Racing (Formula 1) and McLaren Applied (data and electronics) - has joined the VentilatorChallengeUK consortium to help produce more medical ventilators for the UK.

The consortium is a group of significant industrial, technology and engineering businesses from across the aerospace, automotive and medical sectors.

Employing their unique blend of expertise in design, rapid prototyping, electronics and manufacturing, every McLaren company is taking part to support the consortium's production goal of ventilators to help treat coronavirus patients.

McLaren Automotive has designed and crash tested lightweight, bespoke trolleys on which the ventilators are fixed for use in clinical settings. It is also helping to duplicate and expand the production of existing devices to meet demand by reverse engineering and building more vital test boxes to validate new ventilators

These are being hand-built in the top secret McLaren laboratory where the next generation of supercar protypes are usually created.

McLaren Racing converted its 'machine shop' to manufacture ventilator components while also working with 100 of their suppliers and other UK-based Formula 1 teams.

McLaren Applied is supporting the ventilator device build assessments, in particular around electronics, and is working with McLaren Automotive to provide engineering expertise to design and build 'end of line' test equipment, ensuring that the ventilator units meet all of the functional and safety requirements.

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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 85 retailers in more than 32 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™.

Announced at Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2018, the company’s Track25 business plan will see it invest £1.2billion in research and development to deliver 18 new cars or derivatives by the end of 2025.

In 2018, the company launched its new £50m McLaren Composites Technology Centre in the Sheffield region in the North of England that will see it produce the next generation of lightweight carbon fibre ‘tubs’ that are at the heart of all McLaren cars.

2019 saw McLaren launch the 600LT Spider as well as the new GT, the track-only Senna GTR and unveiled the 620R and the McLaren Elva. In 2020, McLaren launched the 765LT.

To support the development, engineering and manufacture of its range of innovative sportscars and supercars, McLaren Automotive partners with world leading companies to provide specialist expertise, technology and solutions. These include AkzoNobel, Ashurst, Dell Technologies, OnePlus, Pirelli,  Richard Mille, and Tumi.

McLaren Group:
The McLaren Group is a global leader in luxury automotive and technology and comprises three businesses: Automotive, Racing and Applied.

Further information:

Piers Scott
Global Communications & PR Director | McLaren Automotive Limited
Phone:+44 (0) 1483 241380
Mobile: +44 (0) 7387548837
Email: piers.scott@mclaren.com

Daniel Golding
Global Head of Corporate Communications | McLaren Automotive Limited
Phone:+44 (0) 1483 261500
Mobile: +44 (0) 7717 450469
Email: daniel.golding@mclaren.com

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