Beyond the cars, Wilhelmsmeyer explains why the community of owners and enthusiasts is an important part of the McLaren experience
Any passion is best enjoyed when it is shared, especially in the company of like-minded people. Things hit differently when you’re hanging out with a community that appreciates the intense ownership thrills that come with owning a McLaren sports car.
In the rarefied segment that McLaren Automotive operates in, the cars are elevated to a lofty status beyond mere modes of transport. These sports cars may satisfy the owner’s need for speed, but increasingly, buyers of such cars are looking beyond superlative performance statistics towards an ownership experience that engages them emotionally.
The lifestyle element of the ownership experience has grown in importance, especially in the realm of super-sportscars. In this segment, performance figures are largely similar, so it is up to the community activities and how the brand engages with it that makes all the difference.
Henrik Wilhelmsmeyer (pictured above), McLaren Automotive COO, nods in agreement, “McLaren is a fairly small luxury brand and developing communities is a clear focus, because it brings clients together. It is not just here in Singapore either, but something we are trying to grow regionally.”
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He goes on to say, “From a brand level, we organise the “Pure” driving events, which see owners from all around the world coming together. These are fantastic activities that go beyond driving, because it sees like-minded peers meeting, sharing the passion and spending quality time together, which often also includes father-son bonding. It is rewarding for us to run these events and this is something we want to foster going forward.”
It isn’t just about meeting people, but the right people. Wilhelmsmeyer agrees, “We are trying to curate our activities by bringing people we believe have something in common together in events so they can share and enjoy that experience together.”
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It isn’t unheard of for brands in this segment to establish lines of communication with their extra-special clients directly. However, Wilhelmsmeyer still believes in maintaining a close relationship with the respective country’s Authorised Distributor (AD), even though he has noticed growing instances of clients contacting them directly.
“The retailers are our partners, and they have a trusted relationship with our clients. This is incredibly important to us and we cherish this partnership. At the same time, we see an increasing interest by clients to interact directly with the manufacturer. There is a growing number of visitors coming to the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking to learn about the brand’s heritage and to see how the cars are built. They also enjoy talking to the people who design, develop and work with the cars every day,” he tells us.
There is a benefit in working with a relatively small group of clients, because such personal interaction makes all the difference in garnering feedback from actual owners.
“A personal client relationship is key to initiating channels of direct dialogue with the customers, and this is incredibly important, because it creates relevance. And nothing is more important for a brand than creating relevance with the audience it wants to address. Authenticity and credibility in brand management are two key success factors in running a luxury brand successfully,” he explains.
Some of McLaren Automotive’s new initiatives to engage its clients include “Project: Endurance”, a customer partnership programme that sees them owning a 2027 McLaren Le Mans Hypercar.
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This collaboration between McLaren Automotive and McLaren Racing embeds the customer participants in an exclusive motorsport development and testing programme. The customers enjoy full behind-the-scenes access to the McLaren Racing LMDh programme, key team personnel and drivers – and become a part of McLaren Endurance Racing’s story.
However, it will not be a one-off, because “Project: Endurance” goes beyond the WEC (World Endurance Championship) programme, and forms the nucleus for a broader track programme that we organise, as well as the “Pure” driving activities that we already have in place.
“The customer motorsports programme starts in Europe, and in phase two, will spread beyond Europe into Asia and North America, because at the moment, we have customers from all over the world coming to Europe,” he elaborates.
If every customer is special, how does McLaren Automotive determine who gets an allocation for the really special models? Ferrari and Lamborghini have their own styles of allocation, and it stands to reason that McLaren has its own too.
He smiles, “Obviously, we have very loyal customers to the brand, and loyalty means as much to us as much as it does to our clients. We honour their loyalty, such that whenever we have a very special project, these loyal clients are the first to know. This is the reason some special edition models are all spoken for before they are even available to the public. Whenever we start a new project, we strive to create something that is meaningful to our clients, as well as inspiring to the world.”
And what are the areas that the brand intends to work on in the near future?
“It is important that there is a buzz around the brand. We have identified some elements we would like to amplify, because there is so much about the McLaren legacy that is unknown. For instance, our founder, Bruce McLaren, is known as a race driver, but not much more is known about him and we would like to talk more about the brand’s and his legacy,” Wilhelmsmeyer says.
He goes on, “What makes the McLaren DNA so special? We will certainly expound on the “1” lineage (pictured above) – F1 (left), P1 (right) and now W1 (centre) – going forward. And lastly, we want to build a stronger connection with Formula One when it comes to amplification, because this has a huge global reach, and it is all under one roof.”