Following their Formula 1 engine supply deal, McLaren and Honda may collaborate on road cars as well, McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh revealed. Autocar quoted him as saying that the agreement may extend to McLaren’s automotive division too.
“It’s a pure Formula 1 contract, but we’ve already been looking at automotive technology and we’re sharing that very openly,” said Whitmarsh. “Our road car strategy at the moment has no other automotive partner and Honda would be a good place to collaborate,” the CEO added.
However, if the two partners decide to collaborate on road cars, the first results of their tie-up are not likely to appear for some years. McLaren’s 12C is still a new car, while the P1 has just launched this year. The P13 project – a rival for the Porsche 911 – is currently under advanced development but Honda hasn’t had any influence on the car.
“If you look at our product range, 12C is running and will run for a few more years. P1 has just been launched and P13, which is the follow-up car, is relatively developed, so actually it is something that you would see in quite a few years to come,” Whitmarsh said.
An extensive collaboration between McLaren and Honda would most likely go both ways, with the Japanese company to get McLaren technology in exchange for its engines. Given the UK carmaker’s expertise in lightweight materials, it’s safe to say both parties would benefit from the partnership. “Nothing’s fixed, but we’re open to that and so are they,” said Whitmarsh.
The news follows our exclusive insider report about Acura testing a McLaren 12C and Audi R8s as part of development work for the new NSX supercar. However, Autocar’s report refers to our story using the convenient “it has been reported” formula, without any reference to Carscoops exclusive whatsoever… And mind you, this isn’t a first for Autocar and its journalists…
By Dan Mihalascu
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