Mike Flewitt

Mclaren Automotive may have had a difficult start, but the arrival of CEO Flewitt has made it a supercar sensation, says Mark Tisshaw

“We’re open, friendly enthusiasts.” So says Mclaren Automotive chief executive Mike Flewitt on the company he has so quickly made great. “People like what they see and form a positive opinion. They like cars and have great experiences.”

Making exciting products sounds like an obvious way to run such a business, but that wasn’t always the case before Flewitt arrived. Flewitt is the recipient of our inaugural Editor’s Award, delivered to a person who has made the biggest impact on their company’s success over the past year or more. The award goes to Flewitt in recognition of the job he has done in quickly and comprehensively ironing out Mclaren’s teething problems and chiefly for delivering the company it has become on his watch.

“When Mclaren came out, there was a tone of arrogance,” says Flewitt of his firm, which launched its first model, the MP4-12C, in 2011. “‘We’re Mclaren and we’re going to do the best car in the world.’ It’s a set-up to fail. If we had come out more softly and humbly, people would have recognised 12C as incredible, but they could find that out for themselves. But we impressed it [on people]; people didn’t appreciate it.”

Flewitt joined the company as chief operating officer in June 2012 and was promoted to running the show as chief executive in July 2013. His to-do list was long and challenging, with short deadlines. Flewitt was tasked with rapidly improving the firm’s image and product range, with preparing and overseeing the launch of the ‘entry-level’ Sports Series models, starting with the 570S, and doing all this while launching the P1, the replacement for the firm’s iconic F1.

In the hands of Flewitt, all boxes got ticked. Since then, the company’s sales have more than doubled and Mclaren is now consistently profitable. That Mclaren has caused Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and the rest to up their game is perhaps the biggest compliment to Flewitt’s work. Indeed, every other person attending the launch of the new 720S at the Geneva motor show seemed to be from a rival supercar maker.

“It’s both the culmination and the start,” says Flewitt of the 720S’s positioning in Mclaren Automotive’s history. The change from 12C to 650S seemed a big one at the time, but Flewitt calls it “incremental”.

“We start again with this,” he says of the 720S. “It took two to three years to realise this. We’ve never had a completely new start.”

A new start also creates new challenges, such as how to deal with customers who’ve just shelled out more than £200,000 for a 650S, only to find a new model available months later. That’s particularly true given that Flewitt’s early strategy of offering free retrospective upgrades to MP4-12C/12C/650S customers as improvements were made to those models no longer applies.

“We’ve managed capacity with a six-month gap between the end of 650S production and the start of 720S,” he says. “Very few, if any, will have bought 650S on Monday and have had 720S on Tuesday. But it’s not disappointing to have a 650S. It’s like when an iphone 7 comes out; the 6 is not rubbish.”

What legacy for the 12C, then? “The 12C, without doubt, will be recognised for its strengths,” he asserts. “The base hardware and systems are still with us.” Indeed, Flewitt says early, original cars without any of the updates and with the infamous ‘swipe’ door openings are already in demand. (“I couldn’t wait to get rid of the swipe,” he adds.)

This means used values are going up on Mclarens, starting from about £125,000-£140,000 for an early 12C, and this is also good for the new car business. “There’s an indirect benefit as it narrows the gap on the cost of changing cars. When we had a model that depreciated, to make that change [was hard].

“People with a 650S will want a 720S, and we don’t want the cost of change to be prohibitive.”

The 720S also helps Mclaren to deal with the uncomfortable situation where the entry-level Sports Series models – crowned by the 570S – are seen by many to be better cars than the more expensive Super Series models such as the 650S, due to their combination of quality combined with value for money.

“The 570S is a different car to the 650S but much closer than we’d have liked,” Flewitt says. “Now we see distinction between the Sports and Super Series with the 720S. They sit next to each other very well.”

Flewitt has split Mclaren’s cars into three distinct series: Sports, Super and Ultimate, the most recent example of the latter being the P1, with the next in the works currently a three-seat ‘hyper-gt’, codenamed BP23.

“The P1 is the best thing we ever did in every way,” he says. “It brought in a range of customers who loved it and appreciated it. It demonstrated us technically and was at least the equal of competitors. It did wonders for the brand. What could have been better?”

Such was its impact and popularity that many of those who spot a Mclaren on the road incorrectly identify it as a P1 – not that that’s a bad thing in Flewitt’s eyes. “I’d rather a P1 than a Lamborghini! They mean it’s a Mclaren, not a P1.”

Ultimate Series models will come and go rather than remain a fixture in the showroom, but BP23, the next in line, will be the first to include some carbonfibre chassis elements produced at the firm’s new production facility in Sheffield. Until now, Mclaren has sourced its carbonfibre chassis overseas.

“Sheffield gives us control,” Flewitt says. “With a supplier, although we have no issues, you commission it and then you have it for the life cycle. Now we can involve the development and design process, material changes, build more structures. It’s what we’re about.”

The job Flewitt has done is admirable – and the growth continues, with Mclaren expected to sell 4000 cars this year, up from 1200 in 2012, the year before he joined the company. “The model range is now in place and we’re starting the next step of our journey,” he says. “Some days we feel like a newcomer still, but it’s an evolving process. We have more credibility.”

And how: with Flewitt at the helm, Mclaren’s transformation from upstart to world-class supercar maker is complete.