McLaren Automotive appoints first GCC chief

McLaren Automotive has taken the first step in developing its global business by appointing Ian Gorsuch as Regional Director of Middle East and Africa. The appointment comes in preparation for the world launch in 2011 of the first in the company’s new range of high-tech sports cars.

Gorsuch’s first task will be to begin appointing retail partners to market the exclusive British high-performance cars while assembling a sales and marketing team at the company’s new regional base.

The location for the Middle East and Africa headquarters is yet to be determined, as are potential retail partners, but Gorsuch is aiming to reflect McLaren Automotive’s quality and performance goals through the company’s marketing and customer service in the region. It is likely that they will setup in the UAE, possibly in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

Gorsuch said of the appointment: “This is a terrific opportunity to launch a new range of high-tech sports cars in a territory that will be a major market for McLaren Automotive. There is huge appreciation among this region’s car aficionados for sports cars old and new, as well as a huge interest in motorsport.

“McLaren’s racing pedigree, its engineering expertise and its sports car heritage, from the likes of past models such as the F1 and the SLR, makes the brand a well-known name among fans of high-tech and innovative sports cars. I am sure that there will be a huge and continuing demand when the first in the new range of McLaren cars is launched in 2011.”

Gorsuch added that his initial challenge would be to locate and work with the right retail partners who could offer McLaren customers the best of service the first time they visit the showroom, and continue this throughout their ownership. McLaren Automotive is open to all interested parties, regardless of the segments of brands they have already worked with. The important thing for a retail partner, he said, is demonstrating what they have done with those brands.

“McLaren Automotive’s plans for an exemplary network of dealer partners offering a relatively low volume of high-tech sports cars, which outperform rivals in all aspects, is an exciting business case that I expect will interest the region’s best retailers,” said Gorsuch. “The key areas of the GCC and South Africa will provide our initial markets, but we are researching opportunities across the regions. My aim for the network is quality over quantity; I would rather work with a few superb and profitable dealers than spread the business too thin.”

Gorsuch will report into Rob Lindley, McLaren Automotive’s Sales and Marketing Director, who is based at the company’s global headquaters, the McLaren Technology Centre, in Woking, UK.

Lindley said: “Ian is a great addition to our growing team. With his experience in the region in both premium automotive and leisure businesses, he is ideally suited to our plans for McLaren Automotive. We know there is already huge interest in the region for our new range of sports cars and we have challenged Ian to set up the best automotive network for both retailers and customers. Our new range of cars deserves that kind of platform and McLaren will support the investments made in our business by those parties. I wish him all the best and look forward to meeting his first retail partners and, ultimately, his first customers.”