Sheffield shapes the next generation of McLaren supercars

Luxury supercar maker, McLaren has revealed the new flexible and lightweight vehicle architecture that will be the back bone of its next generation of vehicles and was created in Sheffield.

The system which was designed to accommodate new hybrid powertrains, has been entirely engineered, developed and produced out of carbonfibre in-house at McLaren’s £50m state-of-the-art McLaren Composites Technology Centre (MCTC) in the Sheffield region.

The centre, which is located at the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre has utilised innovative, world-first processes and techniques to strip out excess mass, reduce overall vehicle weight, while also further improving safety attributes.

With the first cars to be built on this architecture due to launch next year.

Mike Flewitt, CEO, McLaren Automoative

Mike Flewitt, CEO of McLaren Automotive said, ““The new ground-breaking vehicle architecture is every bit as revolutionary as the MonoCell chassis we introduced with the company’s first car, the 12C, when we first embarked on making production vehicles a decade ago.

“This new, ultra-lightweight carbon fibre chassis boasts greater structural integrity and higher levels of quality than ever before with our new McLaren Composites Technology Centre facility quickly becoming recognised as a global centre of excellence in composite materials science and manufacturing.

“Our advanced expertise in light weight composites processes and manufacturing combined with our experience in cutting-edge battery technology and high-performance hybrid propulsion systems means we are ideally placed to deliver to customers levels of electrified high-performance motoring that until now have simply been unattainable.”