Giltrap and McLaren join forces
New Zealand’s only McLaren dealership opened in Grey Lynn last night with classic racing vehicles on display, including the MP4 – one of the most dominant Formula One cars ever built that won all but one race. Mike Flewitt, chief executive of McLaren Automotive says it was complex deciding to come to these shores with some people raising queries about the country’s small population. “One of the main reasons has been the Giltraps,” says Flewitt. “They share a passion and vision the same as ours, and we love the way this company treats its customers.” McLaren isn’t a marque set to make the top 10 sales chart any time soon with its cheapest model priced at $400,000, but Flewitt has still set a sales target. “With four-and-a-half million people it won’t be our biggest market, however let’s aim to have more McLarens per capita on New Zealand roads than any market,” he told the audience. “Our vision is to be the iconic sports car company.” Flewitt also mentioned beating a marque with green, yellow and red in its logo. Sir Colin Giltrap admits his friendship with racing driver Bruce McLaren in the 1960s was a motivating factor in being involved with the project. “It’s romance,” he says. “There certainly won’t be a lot of money in it.” Nevertheless, the marque has already sold eight vehicles including two P1 supercars priced at $2 million each and has another eight on order. Prior to taking on the role as sales specialist at the new McLaren dealership, Luke Neuberger worked as a consultant for Ferrari and Maserati at Continental Car Services for 10 years. He has found it inspirational working with the McLaren brand. “McLaren’s a brand New Zealand hasn’t seen since Bruce McLaren passed away,” he told Autofile.
