British luxury automotive manufacturer McLaren celebrated the grand opening of its new Coppell-based headquarters (HQ) on Saturday.
McLaren’s massive sales growth and successful business expansion since entering the market in the Americas in 2011 necessitated the relocation of its HQ from a 4,500-square-foot office suite in New York to a high-tech 31,000-square-foot facility located at 1405 S. Belt Line Rd. in Coppell, McLaren said in a news release.
“This new Texas facility means we now have both the space and the location to deliver even faster and more effective support for the retail network throughout the Americas, as well as be cost-effective in the maintenance of our own vehicles and provision of training courses to our retailers,” said Nicolas Brown, president of McLaren in the Americas.
Roger Ormisher, vice president of communications and PR in the Americas, told The Dallas Express, “Coppell has been very welcoming for business and was actually chosen as the site for McLaren’s new HQ in 2019 … However, the COVID-19 pandemic set the facility’s construction back a few years.”
Still, “Considering it’s a three-hour flight to most McLaren retail locations, Coppell’s transportation links and its central location to the DFW airport made it an ideal candidate for the new HQ,” said Ormisher.
McLaren’s new HQ boasts a state-of-the-art workshop, training facilities, a showroom, an executive suite, administrative offices, a high-tech sports car division, and more. Among the benefits of the new facility is the capability for McLaren to centrally maintain, service, and store company-owned vehicles on-site as well as integrate sales and technical training into a single location, according to the news release.
Dallas-based Merriman Anderson Architects (MAA) was contracted to conceptualize the facility’s state-of-the-art design.
“The design of the new headquarters reflects the luxury and innovative brand of McLaren Automotive,” Derek Dizon, project architect of MAA, said in the release. “The space is meant to display the genius of McLaren Group’s Automotive division and serves as the home base for North American operations.”
Coppell Mayor Wes Mays expressed pride in having a corporate partner like McLaren, which has already helped to support community events and engaged with our local schools in its short time there.
“On Friday, prior to the grand opening, about 90 school children from Coppell ISD came for a VIP tour of the whole facility,” Ormisher told The Dallas Express. “Many left genuinely excited about the future career opportunities in engineering and marketing,” he said.
Despite tightening macroeconomic conditions in the U.S., Ormisher does not believe it will have a negative impact on McLaren’s sales. He cited the release of the company’s latest high-performance hybrid vehicle model, the 2022 McLaren Artura, and McLaren’s general adoption by younger audiences.
The Artura is the first McLaren to benefit from the McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA), according to the company. The Artura has a 3.0L V6 engine with a top speed of 205 mph and is able to accelerate from 0 mph to 60 mph in 3.0 seconds.
McLaren’s fastest and most recognized vehicle is its McLaren Speedtail, which has a top speed of 250 mph and can accelerate from 0 mph to 186 mph in 12.8 seconds.
McLaren’s Speedtail was heavily featured by Jerome Clarkson in the hit British television series Top Gear. During a popular episode, the hosts set up a speed race between McLaren’s Speedtail and an F-35 fighter jet to depict just how fast the car can move, although the fighter jet was still the clear winner.
