Dealership on North Freeway to sell high-end sports cars from McLaren
Luxury sports car dealer McLaren will bring its high-performance Formula 1 technology-based retail vehicles to Houston with a new dealership, the company announced.
McLaren Houston, a 24,000-square-foot dealership at 16210 North Freeway, is scheduled to open Jan. 15.
Dealership owner Ken Enders, who also owns Mercedes-Benz of Sugar Land, said Houston is a good market for the cars, which start at about $185,000. He called it an international city and energy epicenter, with one of the nation’s largest ports and a major medical center.
Though energy is in a slump, lower oil prices are benefiting parts of the petrochemical industry that, for
example, utilize cheaper byproducts, he said.
“There’s all these underlying positives people don’t think about other than the price of oil,” Enders said.
He cited sales of 2,500 vehicles per year at his Mercedes dealership as proof there’s a strong market for high-end vehicles.
McLaren Houston inventory will include the 650S, the 570S Sports Series and future models. The $185,000 price is down about $ 100,000 from a prior model, and the company’s five-year plan is to broaden its reach to more consumers in the high-end category, Enders said.
Pre-ordering now is available in Houston.
McLaren joins other exclusive luxury vehicle com- panies — including Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Maserati, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Lamborghini — with a Houston presence.
As Houston’s population continues to increase, the area has doubled the number of workers who earn more than $200,000 a year, said Wyatt Wainwright, president of the Houston Automobile Dealers Association.
“Obviously, t hose brands are successful,” Wainwright said.
McLaren Houston’s facility will contain a showroom with color and material samples, and a digital setup where customers can customize their vehicles. There already are more than 50 McLaren owners in Houston, Enders said.
It also will feature a service area with a team of technicians. Employees are undergoing training on the vehicles at McLaren headquarters in the United Kingdom.
There also will be a pre- owned high- end vehicle presence, with brands such as Porsche and Lamborghini. Enders said marketing will begin next week, and a gathering of existing McLaren private and race car own- ers is scheduled in coming weeks.
McLaren Automotive incorporates into its retail vehicles the technology used in the company’s race cars.
The Houston dealership is McLaren’s 16th in the U.S. The company also has a dealership in Dallas.