Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Mighty McLaren Automotive’s presence in the kingdom is receiving a massive injection of investment, time and energy under the wings of new partners Kanoo Motors … and it could not have come at a more opportune time as fans of the marque flock to snap up its new range of dream machines.
This month, the British company, with its strong Bahraini backing, is celebrating its first full year of production of the multi award-winning Sports Series, which comprises of the 570GT, 570S and 540C, and accounted for 2,031 deliveries globally.
Trevor Fletcher, 49, head of McLaren Bahrain, is thrilled by the challenge of taking the celebrated name forward. “I’m feeling very positive,” he said. “Bahrainis and those residing in Bahrain should look at the partnership as a long-term relationship.”
An accomplished automotive industry professional, Trevor has offered his knowledge and expertise to prominent international prestigious automotive brands for more than 25 years. His European career spanned 14 years in the UK and Germany with 11 years in the Middle East, specifically in Dubai and Qatar, before enjoying a successful spell as Motorcity’s retail passenger car sales manager in Bahrain.
His managerial capacity for nearly three years has now moved into a different dimension with Kanoo Motors, heading up the newly-acquired McLaren brand. The Perth-born Scot is also an avid McLaren F1 supporter and spends his time outside of work with his family and keeping fit. He’s married to Lisa and they live in Tubli Bay, conveniently close to the base of the new operation, and have four children - Syndey, 16, Charlie, 14, George, 10, and two-year-old, Ava.
His aims and ambitions are clear: deliver ‘excellence in customer service at every touch point’ to existing and new customers alike, and to ‘outsell direct competitors’ brands in 2017 and achieve the highest market share in the GCC’.
No pressure then … but the groundwork for achieving these heady goals are already well cemented. Kanoo Motors, as reported earlier in GulfWeekly, recently replaced Al Ghassan Motors, and has started providing McLaren service and aftersales care at its impressive state-of-the-art Kanoo Performance (KP) Centre located in Tubli, opposite to Toyota Plaza, manned by McLaren-trained technicians.
There is also a team at the facility offering to transform existing sports/super cars into a customised proposition for customers – whether it’s to enhance the performance of other marques or simply to change the appearance in terms of body trims, wheels, or exhaust systems, for example.
There’s a paint shop offering ‘top-end quality paint finishes’ too using the latest water-based painting techniques applied by fully-training body-shop technicians. Although customers and fans can currently still check out the McLaren range at a showroom next to Moda Mall, a new one is set to officially open around September time at the Tubli complex, to provide a ‘onestop shop location’.
Trevor said: “The KP facility is being worked on seven-days-a-week to completely finish off the current service and body shop facilities. The showroom is currently under construction and also has the same urgency to finish.”
And quality products simply add to the mix. The pull of the Sports Series, mixed with Kanoo’s glowing ‘personal touch’ reputation makes everything possible … and there’s one model in particular with instant pulling power and a starting price of BD75,000.
“The 570S has broadened the appeal of McLaren to a new customer audience,” Trevor explained. “It has made it more accessible to sports car buyers who can now enter into the ‘super car’ arena. The 570S is both a daily driver and can be taken straight to the track with no modifications whatsoever.”
He’s not the only one singing its praises. ‘A significant milestone in the short history of the company’ was how Mike Flewitt, CEO of the brand’s automotive firm, described the moment when a Ceramic Grey 570S rolled off the line to become the 10,000th car produced at the McLaren Production Centre in Woking (MPC).
The landmark has been achieved just over five years since the new production facility was opened in July 2011 and the first car – a McLaren 12C – began its journey down the line. “The fact that it took us 42 months to build our 5000th car and just 22 months to build the next 5,000 speaks volumes about the pace of development of the company,” added Mike.
“Much of that development is thanks to the introduction of the Sports Series family of cars and it’s therefore fitting that the 10,000th car is a McLaren 570S.”
GulfWeekly became the first English-language newspaper in the kingdom to put the McLaren MP4-12C – considered by motoring enthusiasts to be ‘the national car of Bahrain’ because of the kingdom’s investment fund Mumtalakat’s major stake in the company – through its paces on the island’s roads and then became the first Bahrain based publication invited to visit MPC.
We reported how the supreme driving machines were lovingly being put together by hand by a team of mechanics wearing trendy Hugo Boss tops in a spotlessly-clean environment. We also took the car for a spin through the English countryside before putting it to a performance test on a race track close-by made famous by TV’s Top Gear team.
This week GulfWeekly was given the opportunity to take the 570S for a spin around the kingdom … and enjoy 24-hours of driving pleasure.
