Woking, England - McLaren’s first-half revenue has risen more than a third, driven by surging sales of its Senna.
The hypercar, named after late Formula One legend Ayrton Senna, was launched in March 2018.
Just ten were sold in the first six months, but sales rocketed to 217 in the six months to June 30 this year as revenue rose 36.4 percent.
Sales across the entire range climbed 7 percent to 2335 cars, with the biggest boost coming from the US, which grew by about a third.
However, other costs left McLaren with a £21.7 million (R397m) pre-tax loss, down from £53.8m.
McLaren refers to the Senna as a track-focused hypercar that’s been “legalised for road use, but not sanitised to suit it”.
Thanks to its carbon fibre body panels and Monocage III chassis, the Senna weighs just 1198kg, while motivation comes from a mid-mounted 4-litre twin-turbo V8 that produces 588kW and 800Nm.
Although it’s certainly not the prettiest hypercar ever made, McLaren admits that the Senna’s exterior design was purposefully fragmented in order to optimise performance and aerodynamics. To that end, the car introduced a new generation of front and rear active aerodynamic systems, said to raise downforce and aero controls to an “unprecedented level”.
The Senna also sports a particularly huge double diffuser at the rear, which begins beneath the rear axle and creates a low-pressure zone to keep the tail hugging the tarmac.
Pricing in the UK starts at £750 000 (about R13.7m in our money).