McLaren to Open its Own Carbon Fiber Chassis Facility

McLaren Automotive Ltd. plans to build a £50m ($62 million) factory in Sheffield, England, to produce carbon fiber chassis for its supercars.

Construction of the plant will start later this year, with production due to begin in 2020. By that time the facility is expected to employ about 200 people.

McLaren currently sources carbon fiber chassis from a supplier in Austria. Shifting production to the Sheffield plant is expected to save about £10 million ($13 million) per year.

The move also will increase the value of British content in McLaren cars from 50% today to about 58%, the company estimates. Noting the move has been in the works for about two years, McLaren says the decision was a “natural next step” and has nothing to do with England’s Brexit vote last year to leave the European Union.

McLaren plans to start training its apprentices immediately on the carbon fiber process. In addition, the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre will provide research and development support for the next two years.

McLaren has used carbon fiber chassis since launching the MP4/1 Formula 1 race car in 1981. Its 570S and 675LT Spider production models also use the lightweight material.

Last year McLaren sold nearly 3,300 vehicles worldwide, almost doubling its 2015 volume. A year ago the company announced plans to spend £1 billion ($1.4 billion) to launch 15 all-new supercars and derivatives between now and 2022. A replacement for the 650S will be introduced at next month’s Geneva auto show.