America now buys more than half of all McLarens, and Britain's supercar maker wants even more
The most British of supercar brands is increasingly powered by American money
McLaren is about as British as a car company gets, born in Woking, forged in Formula 1, and built by hand in England. Yet the brand's future is being decided several thousand kilometres away, in American driveways. The United States now accounts for more than half of all McLarens sold worldwide, and CEO Nick Collins has made clear he wants to plant even more showrooms there.
America is now more than half the business
Speaking during Monterey Car Week in California, Collins confirmed that the US has grown into McLaren's single most important market, taking more than 50 percent of global sales. The brand already runs 27 dealers across the country, and Collins says prospective franchisees keep knocking on the door, which he called "a great problem to have." California alone accounts for around a quarter of US volume, and McLaren's Las Vegas experience centre at the Wynn draws roughly 800 visitors a day. Even McLaren's motorsport arm is leaning in, with its own one-make series expanding into America.
Up to 40 percent more dealers
The plan is concrete. Collins sees room for five to ten additional US stores over roughly the next two years, which would grow the retail network by up to 40 percent. On top of the franchised dealers, McLaren wants company-run experience centres in New York, Miami and Los Angeles, blending showroom, brand museum and clubhouse. The main brake on all this is not demand but paperwork: US state franchise laws let existing dealers file protests within set windows, so expansion tends to move slowly even when buyers are lining up.
Why now: recovery, Gulf money and new models
The timing is not random. McLaren is rebuilding after several turbulent years, now under the ownership of Abu Dhabi's CYVN, the same investment group behind a wider luxury-car push, which gives it the balance sheet to think bigger. That matters, because Collins is signalling entirely new product categories beyond today's supercars. For now the line-up spans the plug-in hybrid Artura, the W1 hypercar and the 788HS, confirmed as the definitive and final evolution of McLaren's traditional supercar and limited to just 200 cars, with fresh performance technology still arriving.
What it means for Europe
For European enthusiasts, this is a slightly bittersweet story. McLaren remains British to its core and still builds every car in Woking, but the centre of gravity has crossed the Atlantic, and investment, dealers and attention will increasingly follow the money to the US. It also stands in sharp contrast to the struggles of some home-grown rivals, with Aston Martin fighting its own financial battles. A healthy, growing McLaren is good news for Britain either way, but the brand's heart and its wallet are now pulling in slightly different directions.
AutoNext Take
Following the money is the only sensible thing McLaren can do, even if it feels a little disloyal from a European seat. When one country buys more than half your cars and keeps asking for more dealers, you build more dealers, and CYVN's backing finally gives McLaren the stability to grow rather than just survive. After the wobble of recent years, a brand confident enough to talk about expansion and new segments is a genuinely encouraging sign.
The quiet worry is what gets lost in translation. McLaren's appeal has always been engineering purity, the sense that these are racing cars with number plates, not lifestyle accessories. Chasing American volume, experience centres and whole new product categories is exactly how a driver's brand slowly turns into a luxury logo. Get the balance right and this is McLaren's comeback. Get it wrong and Woking risks winning America while losing the plot.
