McLaren MP4-12C

After watching McLaren's media event of the Launch of the MP4-12C on Thursday made me think about the whole Supercar production and Supercar's in general.

The event showcased the technology behind the MP4-12C. With McLaren claiming that all the 1000+ parts in the new car being designed and manufactured for the sole purpose of the 12C, it makes me think about Supercar production in general.

From the production of the Composite Carbon Fibre Structure that is integral to the chassis from which the rest of the car is bolted onto, to how safe the car is after 3 consecutive car crashes.

Don't get me wrong, a Supercar that's been tested in car crashes and still been rigid is good news, but what does bother me is how much detail has been put into the car, and can other Supercar manufacturers afford to spend Millions on R&D???

My concern is that it doesn't seem like this will happen too often in the future.

Just like the Bugatti Veyron, a car that cost £5 million to make, and VW selling the car at a £4 million loss, could this be a rarity?

In the current financial state we're in, and with manufacturer's downsizing, or even closing their doors altogether (most recently, the news of Maybach possibly being written off by parent company Chrysler) are we going to see new Supercar's being built from the ground up?

As with many other manufacturer's borrowing parts from other cars, or just changing some of the internals of a car, and reworking some of the parts, it seems that car's are just evolving and having a few brand new parts.

Bugatti's Veyron, some say was built purely as a Technical Exercise, and therefore the costs spiralling to the £5million mark, wasn't using any parts that had been re-engineered, but built from the ground up. Hence the costs.

But will we see more cars like this?

Although McLaren has the technical know-how and resources (and how they can use F1 technology and application to the real-world!) we have seen many bigger manufacturer's drop models, or stop production of their cars altogether.

My theory is that less and less manufacturers that exist purely to be a Supercar Manufacturer will be able to spend this much time, effort and money on creating car's. Therefore we will see more and more "evolutions" of the Supercar. Rather than the Purpose built, one-off Supercar that we have seen in the MP4-12C and Veyron to name only a few.

Only time will tell what manufacturer's will do. Whether they will allow the R&D and designers the freedom they deserve to push the boundaries of what is capable and what they could achieve without the restriction of money and Board-member's dictating...