McLaren Group Executive Chairman Ron Dennis believes the team will be stronger after the team and Mercedes-Benz realinged it’s long-term strategic alliance.
On the same day Mercedes-Benz have bought a 75.1 per cent share in the Brawn GP team it was announced that a new agreement has been signed by McLaren and Daimler AG taking their partnership to at least 2015.
In the announced deal the McLaren Group will undertake a phased purchase of the 40 per cent shareholding that Daimler currently own, once this is complete the McLaren Group will become a fully independant stand-alone entity once again.
“This is a win-win situation, for both McLaren and Daimler.
“I've often stated that it's my belief that, in order to survive and thrive in 21st-century Formula 1, a team must become much more than merely a team. That being the case, in order to develop and sustain the revenue streams required to compete and win Grands Prix and World Championships, companies that run Formula 1 teams must broaden the scope of their commercial activities.
“Nonetheless, all of our partners will of course continue to play a crucial role in our Formula 1 programme. For that reason, and because the engines they produce are very competitive, we're delighted that Mercedes-Benz has committed to continue not only as an engine supplier but also as a partner of ours until 2015 – and perhaps thereafter.
“The next few years will be a very exciting time for McLaren, during which period we intend to become an ever-stronger technological and economic force. Formula 1 will always be a core activity, for sound business reasons as well as for historical sporting reasons: to be clear, our Formula 1 business has traditionally enjoyed great financial security, largely as a consequence of the longevity of our contracts with our partners, many of which have exceeded 15 years of continuous involvement with McLaren. Indeed, two of our partners have been with us for more than 25 years.
“We're risk-averse by design. Over the past two years we've analysed in great detail the challenge of entering the high-performance production sports car market. In the MP4-12C, which will be introduced to market in 2011, we have a car that has inherited the genes of the iconic McLaren F1 of 1994 and has already been the subject of much global media acclaim. It is proposed that it will be produced in a new state-of-the-art production facility adjacent to the existing award-winning McLaren Technology Centre at Woking [Surrey, UK].”